Vent Gleet - A Few Questions

[Jiff]

We noticed that my favorite hen, Vivian, had smelly discharge and a wet, poopy butt on Sunday night. We cleaned her up then, and did some research on what it might be. It seems like she has vent gleet (bad smell, whitish discharge, messy feathers) although she also has a small squishy lump right under her vent. Her skin is just a little red but she doesn't look as bad as most of the pictures I've found, so I'm hoping it is in the early stages. She is walking fine, has a good appetite, and is drinking plenty of water. She laid an egg on Monday--I'll have to ask my husband if she laid one yesterday.

We wormed the entire flock on April 12th and 22nd with Valbazen, so I don't think that is an issue. We gave her a five minute soak in epsom salt water last night with a feather trim and plan on soaking her each evening (is that too often?), have started feeding yogurt with live & active cultures, put probiotics in the drinking water, and are spraying her bottom twice a day with Vetericyn Wound & Skin Care. She already smells a bit better this morning. Is there anything else we should do?

How long should we continue the probiotics and spray on her bottom? There aren't any chicken vets anywhere in my area, but if I don't see improvement by tomorrow morning I'll try to find one. Also, we had a trip planned to leave out early Friday morning and return home Monday evening. My father-in-law is feeding all of our pets and would be able to provide probiotics in water (if they need to continue), spray her with the Vetericyn, and feed some yogurt daily. I don't think he would be too excited about giving her a bath. Would this treatment be enough if she seems better in a few days? I had a hard time sleeping last night trying to figure out what to do--we have been planning this trip to visit my dad for months, but if it could make Vivian worse I will call it off. Any advice that anyone has would be greatly appreciated, and if anyone knows when I should start to see improvement in her that would be helpful.

Thank you!!

 

[Judy]

I have no experience with this but....

I have a link to a very thorough article on vent gleet, here:

http://www.birdhealth.com.au/flockbirds/poultry/diseases/vent_gleet.html

Also, sort of the opposite end of the spectrum, a basic approach to vent gleet in post #3:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/796143/is-this-vent-gleet#post_11482574

 

[Jiff]

Thank you for your response! That is a lot of helpful information. If anyone else has any experience with this, I'd love to hear about it. She seems to be doing a bit better tonight and we are about to give her another bath.

 

[Eggcessive]

I wouldn't cancel my trip over the fact that she has vent gleet, especially if she is eating and drinking. You can restart your treatments when you get back, but I would have the probiotics put in the water. This is one time I think ACV can help, and a larger than usual amount is needed. I would put an ounce per gallon in the water. When I treated several hens for mild gleet, I would feed them some raw eggs whisked into a small amount of buttermilk (for probiotics,) and mix it into some whole wheat bread crumbs once a day for a week. Fluconazole can be used to treat vent gleet, and you might talk your vet into prescribing it.

 

[Jiff]

Thanks, Eggcessive! I'll call my vet today and see what she says. Would I mix ACV in the water with the probiotics, or alternate them? I also read about ordering medistatin (nystatin) online since it doesn't require a prescription. Has anyone used it with good results, and what is the dosage? It would take a few days to get here but would be ready once we got home.