**Urgent Update!** Horrible Molt + Cloaca/Oviduct Problem

[crazyfeathers]

Good luck.

 

[pwand]

This link here has good information about Vent Gleet with a very good article.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805557/is-this-vent-gleet-please-help-pictures#post_11655951

Here poop looking normal is good.

Try to look more into her vent to see if she looks sore inside. My bird may of had vent gleet, not sure, she was being pecked by the other birds and bleeding, looked inside her vent and she very sore and bleeding. She also had diahrea all over her bottom, red and sore and bleeding. Did the bath, cleaned her up. She pooped out worms. So I treated her for worms, treated her for vent gleet, poop went back to normal, few days later antibiotics. That was needed or an infection would have set in. Your bird doesn't look prolapsed. Im not sure if they can prolapse and birds get them and then it goes back in. That i don't know and wonder if my bird did that. Anything is possible.

 

[Wingleader]

Alright everyone, an update on Git for you. She's been eating like a fiend and she has been drinking. I took her off the tetracycline for now and gave her a few good blobs of plain probiotic yogurt (which she went at with gusto). I don't have her jacket on her at the moment and our back sun porch is down in the 50 degree range, which isn't too bad. I want the chill to spark her feathers to grow in faster and it seems to be working. She's got a few good pins coming in on her back with the tips starting to flare out into proper feathers.There's also a healthy number of pins coming in when I ruffle her feathers to check on her. It's not much, but it's a start.

As for the bum problem, I can't smell the horrible odor that I did the other night anymore, though I haven't gotten my head right up under her butt. The odor was extremely pervasive, and I could smell it from a good distance away and I can't anymore, which seems good to me. Her poops are still pretty normal (though not as LARGE as usual). She doesn't have a huge mess around her vent, which is also good, and I've been catching her preening nicely when she thinks I'm not watching her. Every once in a while she'll peck at her vent (which pulsates a lot because I guess she's in pain), but it's nothing serious enough to make her bleed.

So, it seems as though her recovery has started in earnest and here's hoping she bounces back quickly. I'm hoping no major damage will have been done to her bum, though, because she tends to lay extremely large eggs and I don't want her to get any impaction problems or to have her cloaca split every time she lays. We'll have to see.

Here she is as of a few moments ago, getting very excited that I refilled her tupperware lid with yogurt.

 

[Nambroth]

I once had a roo that did this, and mine took until late winter to molt and grow their feathers back in, too.. I certainly know your distress over her! She will be very beautiful once her feathers come back in.
I think as long as she gets good food, care, and doesn't have any of the other chickens picking at her for a bit (especially around the vent) she should do fine. Just keep an eye on her vent to see how it heals, and be proactive if it seems to get worse at any point.

If probiotics/ACV in water/keeping it clean work, it was probably caused by a fungal yeast.
Gleet can be caused by bacterial infection, but this is less common than the yeast problem, so if she does not clear up and get back to a healthy vent and droppings fairly soon (7-10 days), you might consider this possibility. A bacterial infection may also be secondary, since she had/has sores.

Careful observation will be your best bet for a few days.

 

[Wingleader]

I will definitely be keeping a close eye on her. I fret quite a lot whenever any of my chickenbabies are ill or injured. I took the time to ask around a local poultry/farming Facebook group for any vets in the area that will look at chickens and I did find one within an hour of my house (it's actually the same vet clinic I took my old iguana to when she was eggbound). I have this fancy Care Credit card thing that I applied for specifically to take care of my animals that they accept, so if she goes into a nosedive I can afford to get her an emergency vet appointment.

I'm going to be getting her some freezedried mealworms at TSC in the next day or so to help with the feather problem (just to give her a spoonful or so a day). I'll probably also be picking up some flock raiser feed since I've got a growing turkey to beef up now, so I'll be adding some of that into Git's feed when I get it.

Anyway, thanks for the attention on this matter, Nambroth! You're a big help!

 

[Wingleader]

Hey again all!

Just a quick chicken update if anyone is curious how Git is doing.

Her bum still smells a good bit, and there's some white/gray/yellowy goopy stuff still, but it's far less scabby and seems to be getting better, finally. I'm going to try getting some fungus cream for her, since I'm sure this is fungus related now.

Her feathers are finally kicking into high gear, as well! Soon there will be less "scruffy" and more "fluffy." s^)3

 

[Sarevan]

So glad she is doing so much better, looking good too. I don't think she minds being inside much from the looks of it.

 

[Wingleader]

WE HAVE FLUFFYBUM, I REPEAT, WE HAVE FLUFFYBUM!





Git got another epsom salt soak today because her bum was getting a little bit pooped up. After the blow-dry (which she very much enjoys) she had a quick claw clip because I noticed her claws were getting a bit long. Unfortunately the plastic bottom of her cage doesn't play well with chicken claws, so it sort of makes her toes bend to the side. I tried combating this by giving her a LOT of pine shaving to mess around in, but she still manages to dig it all up in about an hour. I had to cut them a bit further back than I would have liked and I ended up nipping into the quick (which is why I didn't want to cut so much in the first place), so ignore the little dabs of blood.

As far as her gleet is concerned, her bum is almost entirely clear! There was some globs of whitish/gray goopy stuff, but a gentle working of it and it fell off pretty easy. There are no more scabs and only the faintest hint of rawness left.

As soon as the weather warms up I can foresee her getting to go outside again!