Possible vent gleet (or not) — What to do now

[Conan]

Hello all,
I have an EE hen that is not doing all too well.
About a month ago, she was injured by a rooster. He hurt her neck and she had a hard time pecking the ground for a week or so. During this time, I fed her scrambled eggs and her regular feed on an elevated platform. It worked nicely, and she seemed to regain her strength and even laid a few eggs.

About a week ago, I noticed that she had a poopy butt. I took her inside, gave her a little bath and removed the poo. Checked her vent for an egg. Nada. I checked her all over, but found little to go on. The skin around her vent looked good. She felt thin, so I fed her another scrambled egg. She perked up and began acting almost normal again.

Yesterday, she was lethargic and her vent area was poopy again. Brought her in, checked her out. This time, her vent had a chalky white ring around it. I did a little research and thought it sounded like vent gleet. I bathed her again, clipped the feathers and applied an apple cider vinegar solution to her rear as it's all I had at the time. I've used it for thrush on critters before with excellent success. I fed her a boiled egg and some meat. She went back outside and chickened around for the day.

I let the birds out this morning, and she was moving slow. After breakfast, I looked out the window and saw my other birds picking on her while she laid on the ground, her head sort of twisted to the side. She was silent and didn't try to defend herself at all. I ran out and shooed them away and brought her inside. She looked so bad that I thought she'd die in my lap right there. I gave her a little dose of Nutri-Drench, which perked her up. I fed her a boiled egg and some meat, and water. She ate most the yolk, drank a little water, and ate the meat. Then she pooped (see below). Her vent is pulsing most of the time. I applied vinegar solution to her rear, then an anti-fungal cream.

Does this sound like vent gleet? Or is this a symptom of something else?

@casportpony @BantyChooks @Texas Kiki @Eggcessive

Stature.

Poop.

Vent before treatment.

Vent after treatment.

 

[BantyChooks]

I have no clue either. Hopefully someone else will.

 

[Conan]

I have no clue either. Hopefully someone else will.

Me too!

 

[Eggcessive]

I don't know if she has vent gleet or is suffering from a reproductive issue that may be causing her to not feel well. Could you take some droppings in to a local vet to have them check her droppings for worms and coccidia, and do a gram stain for enteritis or yeast infection? Call ahead to see if any would do that. Enteritis can be common and may look like vent gleet. It is caused by clostridium in the soil, and causes a foul odor. It is treated with antibiotics, but a yeast infection should not be treated with ABs. Vent gleet or a yeast infection is better treated with antifungals such as Nystatin or Medistatin—available here:
https://www.jedds.com/shop/medistatin/
You may want to use probiotics a couple of days a week in her water or food, and acidify her water.
Here is a link about vent gleet:
https://www.tillysnest.com/2012/12/vent-gleet-prevention-and-treatment-html/

Edited for bad spelling

 

[Conan]

Indon’t know if she has vent gleet or is suffering from a reproductive issue tha t may be causing her to not feel well. Could you take some droppings in to a local vet to have them check her droppings for worms and coccidia, and do a gram stain for enteritis or yeast infection? Call ahead to see if any would do that. Enteritis can be common and may look like vent gleet. It is caused by clostridium in the soil, and causes a foul odor. It is treated with antibiotics, but a yeast infection should not be treated with ABs. Vent gleet or a yeast infection is better treated with antifungals such as Nystatin or Medistatin—available here:
https://www.jedds.com/shop/medistatin/
You may want to use probiotics a couple of days a week in her water or food, and acidify her water.
Here is a link about vent gleet:
https://www.tillysnest.com/2012/12/vent-gleet-prevention-and-treatment-html/

Thanks much for your input. I will look into Enteritis.
I can check around and see if anyone does chickens. My vet does not.
Her feces have almost no odor, which is odd. Not even normal poop odor. I did stick my face down there, and she does not smell. She smells like a normal chicken, not stinky.
I managed to get her to eat enough to fill her crop up a bit, then brought her outside while I worked. She wandered off eating grass and bugs, then went back into the coop. She is currently roosting. I'm going to bring her back inside and make sure she eats enough to fill her crop, then I will put her to bed.

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is your hen? I ask this because many hens over 2 will have reproductive problems, such as internal laying, egg yolk peritonitis, or ascites. If her lower belly is enlarged, that sometimes can be a sign.

If there is no bad odor around her vent, I would doubt that it is either vent glent or enteritis. But it wouldn’t hurt to at least get a fecal test. Vets nowadays usually won’t do fecals unless they see the chicken, but a regular trusted vet who knows you might well.

It looks like her feathers have been pecked out around the vent by the others. Her bullying could be related to the rooster injury, or because she is getting sick. It would be good to check her crop early in the morning to see if her crop is emptying normally overnight. It should feel empty and flat before she eats. If it is full and hard or puffy, she may have a crop disorder.

 

[Conan]

How old is your hen? I ask this because many hens over 2 will have reproductive problems, such as internal laying, egg yolk peritonitis, or ascites. If her lower belly is enlarged, that sometimes can be a sign.

If there is no bad odor around her vent, I would doubt that it is either vent glent or enteritis. But it wouldn’t hurt to at least get a fecal test. Vets nowadays usually won’t do fecals unless they see the chicken, but a regular trusted vet who knows you might well.

It looks like her feathers have been pecked out around the vent by the others. Her bullying could be related to the rooster injury, or because she is getting sick. It would be good to check her crop early in the morning to see if her crop is emptying normally overnight. It should feel empty and flat before she eats. If it is full and hard or puffy, she may have a crop disorder.

I cut the feathers off. They were very poopy and her poo is watery. She's out and about currently picking at bugs in the yard. Her keel is pronounced. She is thin. No enlarged belly. She is not even a year and a half old.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I cut the feathers off. They were very poopy and her poo is watery. She's out and about currently picking at bugs in the yard. Her keel is pronounced. She is thin. No enlarged belly. She is not even a year and a half old.

Do you give her oyster shell?

 

[Conan]

Do you give her oyster shell?

Yep. She's got free range access to a couple acres, super high quality, organic feed from a local source, fresh oyster shell available at all times, and fresh water at all times. I've not lost a bird I've raised to illness before. We did get some sex links that came with the house we bought. Culled one chronic egg bound hen (poor Patty), and another to oviduct cancer (poor Jane). I have avoided high production hens since.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would try to rule out a crop disorder. Some hens may be kept from the feeders by other chickens. It can be hard to know exactly without lab work, and sometimes we don’t know exactly what is going on until it is too late.