Is Bernice ill? Stopped laying, white substance

[SouthDakotaLiving]

Thanks so much for all your help! Bernice is looking a tiny bit better. She's vocalizing a little bit and this morning even had a few bites of scrambled egg and yogurt. I froze coconut oil and offered pieces; I was shocked that she seemed to like it--she ate around 8 little pieces.

I really could not find her crop this morning. I'm hoping that means it has shrunk back to normal, but it could just be that I'm new at this.

I think the white substance has stopped leaking from her. At the very least, she is defecating less. I'm smelling no yeast, but there is a pretty strong urine odor, so I suspect @Wyorp Rock that she is leaking Urates. I could not find very much on Urates and chickens on the web. Does the odor mean it probably is not vent Gleet? I ask because I'm not sure whether the treatment I'm providing is adequate and whether there is anything more she needs. I will definitely need to bathe her when she is feeling better.

Your hypothesis about ruptured material possibly re-entering her oviduct certainly fits with her behavior the other day when she was screaming after having passed 2 no-shell eggs. Maybe this then interfered somehow with regular defecation?

Today I have the door open with the screen, so at least she can look outside and feel the breeze. She has a few more days of medicine, so I will have to keep her sequestered.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'd finish the treatments recommended by the vet and go from there.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

really could not find her crop this morning. I'm hoping that means it has shrunk back to normal, but it could just be that I'm new at this.

This probably means that her crop emptied overnight, as it should.

 

[lightm]

I am hoping your girl is doing better. I want to chime in because my hen had very similar symptom when she was sick a week ago. She had squishy crop, she had white substance running down, she was not moving much and just standing.

The only thing we did was gentle massage of her crop and feed her coconut oil. She then got better gradually on her own.

 

[SouthDakotaLiving]

Hi everyone. I have an update on Bernice and a couple questions. I put her back with the flock a few days ago as she was bound to hurt herself in the laundry room. She continues to have vent Gleet, which I will continue to treat. Today I'm going to start putting vaginal cream outside/inside her vent and orally after her bath. She had not laid any eggs since 8/15 which is when her trouble started and when she laid 2 soft eggs. Today is the first day she started laying again and it was again just a yolk. I will resume giving her calcium powder mixed with water in a syringe. Should I continue that until she produces an egg with shell?

Does anybody know a good brand of medicated food for my hens and where to purchase?

I don't yet have the sort of set-up where I can humanely separate her from the others. So the others are now getting some of her treatment. I've been putting ACV in all the water for all the birds. I actually read on this threat that ACV can inhibit the egg production process so I want to make sure ACV won't harm Bernice or the others. This article makes me reluctant to continue giving ACV so I won't till I hear back from someone here. https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/apple-cider-vinegar-and-chickens/

I've also been giving them all yogurt and fermented feed as the main treats to get them back in run. I'll try to get away from scratch since it might contribute to digestive disorder. I've been scattering oyster shell on the floor of the run in hopes of encouraging its consumption.

I've read contradictory things about whether VentGleet is contagious. Assuming her problem is yeast and not/no longer bacterial (since she had a course of antibiotics), can this yeast infection spread to the others? Any feedback is much appreciated. Thanks so much for all the support here.

(Note: my computer has to go to shop tomorrow and I won't have internet for a little while. My apologies in advance if I'm not able to respond quickly).

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Vinegar dissolves calcium. Personally I would not give it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hard to tell in the photo but it looks like she may be leaking urates, but it could be vent gleet. Vent Gleet will have a strong yeasty smell. Urates *could* smell more like ammonia or urine. Depends on how advanced as to what odor you may detect.
With her having some production issues, then she this may be the main underlying cause of the symptoms she's exhibiting.

She continues to have vent Gleet, which I will continue to treat. Today I'm going to start putting vaginal cream outside/inside her vent and orally after her bath. She had not laid any eggs since 8/15 which is when her trouble started and when she laid 2 soft eggs. Today is the first day she started laying again and it was again just a yolk. I will resume giving her calcium powder mixed with water in a syringe. Should I continue that until she produces an egg with shell?

Personally, I'd give her calcium for no more than 5 days.
It's fine to treat with the vaginal cream, but I still think what you are seeing is urates.

You mention she laid again but it was just a yolk - no membrane at all?
Reproductive problems are what I'm still thinking. It's unfortunate and can be frustrating, but it's a common occurrence with laying hens.

Does anybody know a good brand of medicated food for my hens and where to purchase?

Not sure what you're looking for?
There's no food in available that has an antibiotic if that's what you are after. There is a "medicated chick starter" which in the US mainly contains Amprolium which is a Coccidiostat. While the amount of Amprolium is nominal in medicated chick starter and wouldn't hurt your hens, I see no benefit of feeding it to adult hens.

I've read contradictory things about whether VentGleet is contagious. Assuming her problem is yeast and not/no longer bacterial (since she had a course of antibiotics), can this yeast infection spread to the others?

Vent Gleet is a yeast/fungal infection. There's quite a few causes of course.
It's not really contagious, but you could have more than one hen develop the condition if there's a "common cause" from something like moldy feed/spoiled feed, contaminated water, etc.
It's possible that it could be passed along if you have a rooster. Mating involves touching of the vents (Cloacal Kiss), so the infection could essentially be passed from rooster to hens that way.