Treated and cured vent gleet....*update - she died*

[ZooMummzy]

now what? The hen in question has stopped leaking the white, yellow, smelly gunk but she is still not acting right and seems to be getting thinner. Today when I picked her up I could really feel her breast bone. I see her eating but not a lot I give her eggs with her food and I've tried yogurt but she won't eat it and if I mix it in food, she refuses to eat the food. I've tried putting her back out into the flock (she's been inside the garage in a warm cage for the past 2 weeks while I treated her), but I go out to find her huddling in a nest box so back in she comes. Her droppings are mostly liquid white with yellow (sometimes green if she eats) and she seems to strain a bit. She is not egg bound, I cannot feel any broken egg shell in her vent. Am I missing something??? For the most part, she acts normal, just a bit more quiet and careful when walking and interacting.

Just looking for a bit of advice or something else to look for...I'm kind of perplexed at the moment.

Should add that she is a 1 year old EE who has been laying regularly, eating well and doing generally fine healthy wise. Noticed the vent gleet symptoms about 10 days ago after determining she was not egg bound or had an egg broke inside her (internal exam with fingers) and started treating with over the counter yeast infection meds - no other meds other than acv in the water.

 

[Miss Lydia]

what were you treating her with? she needs probiotics at the moment, even if they have to be with fruit just make sure they are good quality you want to get her to eat, do you have any baby vits like poly-vi-sol w/o iron? giving her a couple droppers a day would help give her a boost.. also other kinds of food like mealworms would help boost her blood with protein for strength. theres a yogurt they advertise on tv all the time thats suppose to get the gut back in working order but can't remember the name of it, I make my own so not to familiar with other products.. hows her poop look? I have read of other offering baby food to help get their bird back to health..

 

[ZooMummzy]

Quote:
I've been treating her with monistat for yeast infections, just over the counter like other threads recommended. She won't eat yogurt (is it Activia that you are thinking of?) at all so I'm going to try and find some of the nondairy human probiotics. I do have polyvisol...I keep it on hands for the chicks I raise and the special need birds I take in. I will give her some of that. As I said, her poop is mostly white, watery at times with either bright green or yellow tint - no blood or worms. They were all just treated for worms and for cocci a month before that. We have it in the soil here really bad due to the weather so once a year I treat. All of my other chickens are fine - no vent gleet, normal eating, droppings etc. It's just her with the problem.

 

[Miss Lydia]

yes activa is it, thanks. have you tried some yogurt with fruit in it? I bought some Enzymes & Probiotics just to have on hand by naturvet. I ordered them from Purtian Pride I hope you can get your girls back on her feet I know from experience it can be frustrating to figure out how to help them.

 

[ZooMummzy]

Quote:
Yes, she just won't eat yogurt no matter what I do to it lol. I'm going to try the vitamins and see what I can find at the store. I think the Co-op might have what I need but have to get over there. Thank you for your help

 

[WallTenters]

The probiotics for humans and those for animals are usually the exact same thing. I would save money (a lot) and go get probiotics for cattle or goats - read the labels, the only ingredients should be a medium gel, the probiotics themselves and maybe something for flavor (rarely).

With chickens, I suggest a syringe or the squeezer they came in and place some in her mouth. Keep doing this until you feel she has eaten enough (as she might shake her head and fling a drop or two - so I do this 2-3x - the extra probiotics won't hurt her they will just die). It's a gel (or I mix it with sour cream or thick yogurt) so I've never had one have trouble breathing after doing this or anything - I'd be more concerned about them inhaling a liquid. This stuff kind of sticks to them

Best of luck!

Another thing you can give to increase energy and appetite is a bit of corn syrup. Just a dab is all it takes.

 

[phasian]

My herbal guru, Juliette de Bairacli Levy suggests an external douche with a strong solution of garlic tea (about 8 minced cloves per gallon water) as well as offered as for drinking.

I would try this myself or use a sage tea.

You may be having this as a result of deworming or coccidia control as most likely beneficial flora in the intestinal track were also killed, throwing the harmony of this system out of balance. Adding some form of probiotics-- since she won't eat yoghurt, maybe kefir of sauerkraut.?

 

[ZooMummzy]

Quote:
thank you for these suggestions, I will try them. I never thought of sauerkraut...

 

[ZooMummzy]

Quote:
Thank you. I will look for the probiotics you mentioned and I will try the corn syrup. All these things I didn't think of...sometimes I over think things, you know?

 

[ZooMummzy]

Wanted to update on my hen Margo....

I've never been able to get her to eat - forced or on her own - yogurt or anything similar. I even tried the baby parrot food I have which has probiotics in it. Nope, she refused...stubborn bird! I wasn't going to force her too much since I really don't think that is healthy either, especially liquidy things. Anyway, she hasn't been getting any worse, not any better either.

Today, I saw a lot of strange looking things in her poop and after researching photos and such, I'm pretty sure she has worms! I just wormed them a month ago too! I'm thinking she must not have drank enough of the water? I didn't think to snap a photo but it looked exactly like the one of the hen with either worms and/or egg peritonitis on this site http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0. Anyway, she is isolated and getting rewormed. If it is egg peritonitis, there is not much I can do so I will hope it is worms. I have to try. From everything I've read, worms can bring a chicken down pretty quickly. I'm thinking I'm going to give a once over of all my chickens again and possibly reworm with Safeguard.