Vent Gleet or Bullying?

[Doc Schoepp]

Good Afternoon Everyone,

My wife and I were on vacation for about two weeks and had a family member watching the flock for us. When we got back we noticed one of our hens had lost all of her feathers and had fecal matter stuck to her rump and vent area. They couldn't remember when exactly it started. After a spending some time flipping through the book we have and asking Dr. Google, the two possibilities I found were vent gleet or bullying. Seems to be more along the lines of vent gleet since she does not have any scabs or skin breaks. The attached picture shows her behind after I soaked her for a bit using baby shampoo and warm water and got her cleaned up. She had a foul smelling, whitish material caked on her that mostly broke up in the bath. There is a little bit left on her around some of the pins and I didn't want to risk hurting her to get the last bit off today.

Current plan is that I have her quarantined in the dog crate we have and plan on bathing her at least daily. Also mixed her some plain, unflavored yogurt in with the layer pellets she eats since it was a recommendation and wont exactly 'hurt' if it isn't gleet. I picked up some anti-fungal but wanted to check with other people first before starting that part up.

Thanks all in advance.


Summery Info:
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.) Jersey Giant, around 3 years old (hard to compare her to the rest since she is already so much bigger)
2) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? Up to two weeks (not exactly sure)
3) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No
4) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma? Redness but no trauma
5) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all? No change to the food but the company changed the packaging
6) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Bit more runny than normal
7) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Bathed and quarantined so far
8) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Treating myself (unless it is life-threatening)
9) Describe the housing/bedding in use: Dirt/straw run, cedar shavings in the coop (same as has been since we got them)
9) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.

 

[Top Rooster]

I'd say vent gleet

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I don't think vent gleen removes feathers. I would suspect pecking. Was something different except for the new person taking care of them? We're they confined more than normal?

I would spray the area with bluekote than put her back in the flock. Separating her might cause problems with putting her back.

Hopefully someone else has a better idea for you.

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree that it looks to be feather picking. Look her over for lice or mites, or clumps of white lice eggs at the base of feathers. BluKote is good, or you can use Nustock cream, a bad tasting sulfur and pine oil treatment that is opaque. Some reasons for feather picking are over crowding, being inside the coop too long and not getting outside to free range, and sometimes it can be a dietary problem from not enough protein in the diet or a trace mineral deficiency.

 

[Glenda Heywoodo]

fIRS I WOULD USE THE
blue kote SOLD ON AMAZON. BECAUSE IT DISCOLORS THE INFECTED AREA AND THE OTHER CHICKENS DO NOT PICK AT HER
also I WOULD ISOLATE HER IN A DOG CARRIER IN A QUITE PLACE LIKE THE GARAGE AS THIS WILL NOT HEAL IMMEDIATELY. iT WILL TAKE A COUPLE WEEKS FOR HER TO HEAL AND START TO GROW FEATHERS.
also ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS WAIT TILL NIGHT AND PUT HER ON THE ROOST POLE AND WHEN MORNIN COMES BESURE AND BE OUT THERE WITH TREATS FOR THE WHOE GROUP OF HENS AND THEY WILL LET HER COMING BACK PASS.
Well after applying the medication for the infection in the vent area I would use mY
WET MASH PROBIOTIC RECIPE
https://www.facebook.com/GlendaHeywoodPoultryNews/
National Poultry News
FEEDING WET MASH PROBIOTIC MASH TO CHICKENS WITH STRESS, AND INFECTION, REDDING OF SKININ VENT AREA AND GETTING NEW FEATHERS IN.
Glenda Heywood
May I suggest what I would do for the whole flock....
I have used my WET MASH PROBIOTIC RECIPE for this kind of chickens WITH INFECTIONS AND REDDING OF THE SKIN AND growing feathers.
For this problem I recommend my wet mash probiotic with yoguart be given.
I prefer to use the wet mash probiotic that includes chicken feed, yoguart and milk with applesauce
because chickens will eat the yoguart completely in the wet mash where as some chickens will not just eat yoguart and it gets on their beaks, of which then they throw it away when cleaning the beaks
as you will notice if standing too close to them eating the yoguart

So read on down where I give the recipe
some advice for helping the chicken get over molt and growing in new feathers.

today I would see if the chicken will eat a wet mash with the Vitamins E and B complex and selenium: I would fix it for all the chickens, as it will stop he hens picking on the one with less feathers also. The vitamins will help their bodies become adjusted to the wet mash probiotic mash.

(-B) THIS IS FOR ONE CHICKEN
natural probiotic wet mash
2 tbp of dry crumbles
1 tbsp flax seed meal (the kind people take)
3 tbp of milk sweet, sour or buttermilk
1 tbsp of non flavored yogurt
2 tbsp of apple sauce
put it on top so the chicken can smell and see it
mix good and put the
vit E liquid as directed in the wet mash
and crumble the Vit B complex tablet in a tabsp and add to the wet mash
Crush the selenium tablet alo add to t mash
**BESURE AND MIX VIT'S VERY GOOD IN WET MASH***

(C Do this once a day for 7 days to see if the chicken is better
then do this once a day for another week.
NOW TAKE OUT THE VITAMINS AND ONLY ADD VITAMINS ONCE EVERY TWO WEEKS.
Now feed the wet mash probiotic mash then twice a week for life of chickens
this should give the nervous system some stability and cure the bad E.coli in the gut
(D) they should clean it up in 20-30 minutes
this will help them get good gut flora
also put 2 tbsp of ACV in gallon of water and keep giving them this water for a week straight
then give it 3-5 times a week for life
(E) ALSO FEED WET MASH PROBIOIC RECIPE TO THE HEALTHY CHICKENS.
multiply the amount times the amount of chickens being fed the wet mash probiotic recipe without the vitamins As directed up above.

 

[Doc Schoepp]

Thank you all for the info. I took a good look at her as well as the rest of them and no signs of mites/lice/other pests. I did the in depth Spring clean out as well. Beyond cleaning out the bedding I pulled out the shop vac and cleared out all of the dust/dirt/stuff. Then I went through with an animal safe cleaner that I picked up from the feed store and scrubbed out the inside of the coop and then let that dry out all the way in case something had crept it's way in during the winter months. Girls are always very confused as to what madness I am doing when we do this.

The long story short about while we were gone: I dont know. As far as I was told and saw nothing changed except there was only someone coming at roughly dawn/dusk instead of seeing people at various times during the day. I know we have had some pretty wild temperature shifts and heavy rain, but nothing that is abnormal for a 'Colorado Spring.'

We did switch them off of the 'grower' feed we use over winter that has a higher fat/protein to calcium ratio but that was back at the end of March. Again, same thing we have done for the last few years.

The biggest thing that was throwing me and wondering about some kind of infection is the white discharge around her vent and stuck to her skin. I wasnt sure if this was the cause or a result of the feather loss. Have been keeping her as clean as possible, and for never having been bathed before she has been pretty calm during it. It is the catching that is the 'fun' part.... I worked in the medical field for a while and had to deal with many different forms of infections (in humans that is) including various yeast infections and this does not come close to smelling like one. I know something is going on but not sure what.

Also, of the 6 hens we have, we were pretty sure we had pinned her as the alpha in the flock. She is the biggest in size simply from her breed but also she seemed to be the one all the rest defaulted to in interactions. I do now notice since we have been home that one of our barred rock now seems to be running the coop. Would a paradigm change cause her to be targeted if another hen was trying to take over?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would wonder if a stranger around the coop at roost time triggered picking, as often lower rear end picking can occur on the roosts from birds below. Just a crazy theory. It's hard to say how chickens are affected by new people coming around and the normal keepers disappearing.

Some of my hens can have a poopy bottom. When chickens drink more or eat less the dropping contain more liquid and can be loose which can cause poopy bottoms.

I would see if her feathers grow back, or if you see the area getting worse. I still think bluekote is a good idea, it's also has antifungal properties.

I like a higher protein feed to minimize the risks of deficiencies that can lead to picking.

 

[Doc Schoepp]

The 'new' person is my sister-in-law who has been around them a bunch before. They all roost on the same bar so there isn't any of them that sleep lower minus if one is broody and is still in the nesting box at closing time. Bringing her back over was fine and they seemed like there were no issues with reintroduction.

Looks like I will be running off to the actual supply store tomorrow since the small feed store near us doesn't carry any medications. Also going to try that wet mash and see how they like it. Would black oil sunflower seeds be a good higher protein supplement to add to the layer pellets? I gave them yogurt today to help make sure they are all doing well and I am not exactly sure where the most of it wound up, in them or on them...

 

[Glenda Heywoodo]

that is why I suggest feeding the yougart in the WET MASH PROBIOTIC RECIPE.
it does wonders for the hens needs.

 

[Doc Schoepp]

They had a good time eating it so the enjoyment factor was there for them. I am picking up the ingredients tomorrow to mix it up and will see how it goes.