hen leaking urates - looks like vent gleet - can you help me?

[jdu999]

The wormer was Ivomec.

I will try to get a picture of her poop but it won't be easy. For 3 days, until yesterday, I had her isolated from the other two and in a quiet dim place because someone I know who has chickens said that sometimes that helps birds who need to heal. But I really think it made things worse. I think it stressed her out big time. She was going a lot of open-mouthed breathing and not eating much except voraciously eating any greens I gave her. But while she was isolated I was able to see all her poop and it all seemed very good to me. Nothing runny or especially stinky. Because she is now back with the other two, and seems much more herself, so much more comfortable, I am reluctant to isolate her again, even for a short time.

 

[jdu999]

Here's a picture of her poop.

 

[TX2CA]

Did you ever figure it out? My hen does this too. I've done the all natural remedies and baths but it keeps coming back. No bad smell though, and no behavior changes. Are some hens just messy poopers lol

 

[JanetMarie]

Same problem here. The upper portion of my hen's vent had been cut by our rooster's spur. She seemed to start leaking at the same time. She acts normal, poop is normal except the urates are not solid and instead leaking. She is in the house healing. The rooster's spurs were trimmed and filed yesterday.

 

[jdu999]

I think I am finally getting it worked out. First though, I have to stress that this isn't messy pooping and the issue isn't the poop at all, it's the urates and urine that drip down, get her feathers all wet, the feathers eventually fell off due being wet with urine all the time, and now she just has inflamed bare skin below her vent that is always getting wet with urine, plus white urates crusting around her vent.

A few weeks ago I finally took her to a different vet because I just can't handle constant worry, especially with winter coming. This vet has been so much better. He looked analyzed her poop and identified two kinds of bacteria and two kinds of fungus in it. I have no idea why the first vet didn't do this, it is quick and not expensive. He put her on two new antibiotics to fight the two kinds of bacteria. He thought that it was possible that the fungi were there because of the bacteria and that once the bacteria were gone they might go away too. We were hoping for this because to figure out which fungicides were needed is expensive; plus, many have some serious side effects. I thought maybe she was getting a little better for a while but then it seemed that she was the same so I took her back again a few days ago. He tested her poop again. This time, almost all of the fungus was gone - fantastic news. Also both of the kinds of bacteria that we were treating her for were gone, but there were two new types. He didn't think that was so unusual - the new bacteria moved in to the opening created when we got rid of the first two kinds of bacteria. Now she is on two new antibiotics for the two new bacteria. We also tested stools samples from my other two hens and one had the same two types of bacteria (and so she's on the antibiotics now too) and one had no bacteria at all. It has only been a few days since the hen I was so worried about has started the new antibiotics but her symptoms seem a bit better and I'm feeling really hopeful.

 

[JanetMarie]

It's important to give them a avian specific probiotic after the antibiotic treatment. That will restore the good bacteria to their digestive tract and be able to fight any new bacteria from invading again.

My hen is still leaking but not as much, and there are more solid urates in her poop. She acts normal, and her comb and face are red. I believe her problem may be from her vent being injured. It has been sliced all the way through, and may just hurt so much that she can't control the urates from leaking. It is healing well though.

If she doesn't stop leaking after her vent is healed I'll probably end up taking her to the vet for testing, as you did.

Thanks for posting, that really helps.

 

[jdu999]

Yes, it does sound like it has to do with the injury in the case of your hen. Is there an avian specific probiotic that you recommend? Are they easy to find? Sometimes, when it comes to products that are recommended for chickens, I can find them very easily and sometimes I can't find them anywhere. I have been giving my hens something called ProBios that I got on Amazon. It lists dosages for birds as well as many other kinds of livestock so an avian specific one might be better.

 

[JanetMarie]

I use Avi-Cultrure. www.nationalbirddesigns.com. It's more expensive than the brands that can be purchased at feed stores but I believe it's a good product. I keep mine in the freezer, so it last a long time. I get it out of the freezer and quickly get what I need before moisture has time to condensate. From researching, I believe unless a probiotic is specific for avian it does no good.

 

[jdu999]

Thanks, this is very helpful. I appreciate it.

 

[StopTheWorldIWantToGetOff]

I know this was a long time ago, but how did things pan out for your hen? I think mine has same issue.