vent gleet treatment question

[CMV]

Water from her vent? That is absolutely not normal. Are you sure it is not egg material coming out? Could she have an egg broken inside her?

 

[vonchick]

She has not laid an egg in at least 6 months, and is so thin that I can't imagine she's starting to lay again now.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You're long overdue for some lab work and treat the actual problem/s or put her down.

 

[CMV]

She has a terminal condition. I can't tell you whether it is internal laying/EYP or cancer, but she is not going to make it without some serious professional intervention. I honestly doubt even a professional is going to be able to help her.

I am sorry.

 

[vonchick]

Thank you for your sympathy.

My husband has been saying the same thing, probably cancer. I think we will be putting her down.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

No offense, because lots of people take the tack you did, even me at times. But in retrospect, you spent a lot on meds and an inordinate amount of time to try and save her. Hind sight being 20/20 we learn. If a bird goes down hill fast, I now either put the bird down, or get some lab work done to find out exactly what the problem is so the right treatment can be applied. It's not that I would want to save the bird for breeding but to know what has gotten into my flock. Another option is to send the bird to a state lab. They'll put the bird down and run tests. Sending a live bird rather than a 3 day old corpse will give much more conclusive lab results.

 

[pwand]

Vent Gleet can become chronic and the recovery becomes unsuccessful as time goes on. Here is a good article.
http://birdhealth.com.au/flockbirds/poultry/diseases/vent_gleet.html

 

[pwand]

Thank you for your sympathy.

My husband has been saying the same thing, probably cancer. I think we will be putting her down.

I am very sorry your going through this, we love them so much we try so hard to save them.

 

[vonchick]

Thank you! This hen has had such a will to live it's hard not to keep trying. And she's such a good companion, always with me in the garden. I'll really miss her.

 

[CMV]

I had a lovely GSL named Ariel (after the mermaid; yes, I have a young daughter). She was one of the most delightful chickens I ever had. She would follow me around, sit in my lap, allow me to just pet her, eat out of my hand...delightful in every way. When she was about 2 years old she stopped laying. Within 6 months I realized she had a problem and I knew she was laying internally. I also knew there was nothing to be done about it unless I wanted to start tapping her belly to drain off the fluid that was rapidly collecting there. I didn't want to aggressively treat her because I knew she would stop trusting me and start to look at me as though I was her enemy. She was my best chicken buddy right up to the day I decided to break her neck and put her out of her misery. She was pretty far gone at that point, anyways. I probably should have done it sooner. She was one of the only chickens I ever cried over. And I will never have GSLs again because they are so sweet, but so prone to EYP and internal laying.

I am so sorry for the situation you find yourself in. We all understand here. Most of us have been there ourselves. Take comfort in the fact that you are doing the right thing by her.

Good luck.