vent gleet treatment question

[KatieKanDo]

I had an older Rhode Island that exhibited similar symptoms over the winter. She spent three months in the house being tended with yogurt additions to layer feed, sliced apples,brooder light heat, electrolytes and frequent baths to cleanse the frequent soaking her vent produced. She was constantly thirsty and would " seem healthy" with normal stools for a few days, then lapse back into depression and illness. The illness progressed into respiratory failure and she died on April fools day. I wish that there was a better source of veterinary information or pharmaceutical availability instead of hauling the chicken to the local avian specialist, which is prohibitively expensive. Perhaps I will have to invest in a microscope and become adept at gram staining myself. Anyone know where you can get Nystatin with out a prescription? Merck's manual recommends a 1:2,000 dilution of copper sulfate for the drinking water for Thrush infections, but admits a satisfactory treatment is not known. If the infection is indeed caused by Candida albicans, other flock animals may be susceptible to infection. Good luck!

 

[KatieKanDo]

I had an older Rhode Island that exhibited similar symptoms over the winter. She spent three months in the house being tended with yogurt additions to layer feed, sliced apples,brooder light heat, electrolytes and frequent baths to cleanse the frequent soaking her vent produced. She was constantly thirsty and would " seem healthy" with normal stools for a few days, then lapse back into depression and illness. The illness progressed into respiratory failure and she died on April fools day. I wish that there was a better source of veterinary information or pharmaceutical availability instead of hauling the chicken to the local avian specialist, which is prohibitively expensive. Perhaps I will have to invest in a microscope and become adept at gram staining myself. Anyone know where you can get Nystatin with out a prescription? Merck's manual recommends a 1:2,000 dilution of copper sulfate for the drinking water for Thrush infections, but admits a satisfactory treatment is not known. If the infection is indeed caused by Candida albicans, other flock animals may be susceptible to infection. Good luck!

 

[Eggcessive]

I had an older Rhode Island that exhibited similar symptoms over the winter. She spent three months in the house being tended with yogurt additions to layer feed, sliced apples,brooder light heat, electrolytes and frequent baths to cleanse the frequent soaking her vent produced. She was constantly thirsty and would " seem healthy" with normal stools for a few days, then lapse back into depression and illness. The illness progressed into respiratory failure and she died on April fools day. I wish that there was a better source of veterinary information or pharmaceutical availability instead of hauling the chicken to the local avian specialist, which is prohibitively expensive. Perhaps I will have to invest in a microscope and become adept at gram staining myself. Anyone know where you can get Nystatin with out a prescription? Merck's manual recommends a 1:2,000 dilution of copper sulfate for the drinking water for Thrush infections, but admits a satisfactory treatment is not known. If the infection is indeed caused by Candida albicans, other flock animals may be susceptible to infection. Good luck!

Here are some links for you including one for Medistatin, which is an over the counter version of Nystatin:
http://www.jedds.com/-strse-651/MEDISTATIN/Detail.bok
http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/12/vent-gleet-prevention-and-treatment.html
http://birdhealth.com.au/flockbirds/poultry/diseases/vent_gleet.html

 

[vonchick]

I just realized I never updated Carmellita's story. We had some health problems of our own to deal with at the time we'd decided to put her down, and neither one of us could handle doing it. Because I figured she only had a little time left, I let her have all the brown rice and buttermilk she wanted (the only things she'd eat) and kept her in isolation in the house. And - she got better. No way to know if this is a remission or if the improvement is permanent, but she's been gaining weight slowly but steadily (it's hard to get a weight on her now because she's acting like herself again and is very feisty), and is living back with the flock. Still some watery poops, but she's otherwise dry, no sign of the water that had been coming from her vent. And she's back to eating a normal diet - the only things she won't touch now are brown rice and buttermilk...

 

[RetiredRN]

I have a 5 year old Buff Orpington named Blondie that has lost a lot of weight and is weak. She has a whitish-yellow discharge from her vent and some yellow sores - these symptoms fit the description for vent gleet. I have read all about treatments for vent gleet - Epson salts (tried this several days ago), probiotics (I've got yogurt and buttermilk, and probiotic tablets), mycostatin cream, and molasses. I bought some Copper Sulfate but wasn't sure that what I bought was in the correct form -I got blue green crystals used for cleaning swimming pools. Since I wasn't sure, this was one treatment that I haven't tried. I have been treating her with Mycostatin cream - topically and with a little up into her vent. I have also sprinkled a crushed up probiotic tablet on wet cat food, buttermilk on bread/toast, wet laying mash, scrambled eggs, and yogurt. She won't eat anything. This morning I mixed up a solution of water with molasses and crushed probiotic tablet and I fed her about 5-6 cc with a syringe.
It also appears that her upper beak is longer than usual, possibly impeding eating.
I don't know what to do - this has been going on for about 4 days now. I thought if I could get the yellow stools to stop I would try and fatten her up with anything she might eat but she's really not eating. She's been one of my very favorite chickens - I have 7 other big hens and I also have 12 silkie-mix chickens. No one else is sick. Blondie is the oldest and all the other big hens (Barred rock, Mix barred rock/buff orpington, sex-linked) were raised by her.
Should I just continue offering food that I hope she'll eat, keep her bottom cleaned, apply monistat cream and let nature take it's course?
I'd love some advice!

 

[Eggcessive]

If I were you and wanted to get more help, I would copy and paste your post onto a new thread, since more people would read it--here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/threads/add/forumId/10

I haven't treated vent gleet, but an antifungal medication such as fluconazole or Nystatin may be needed, and a vet would need to prescribe them unless you can get them online. Medistatin online is the same as Nystatin, and Canesoral is similar to fluconazole. Here are the best links I know to help with vent gleet, but she may have something else going on that is making her not eat. http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/12/vent-gleet-prevention-and-treatment.html
http://birdhealth.com.au/flockbirds/poultry/diseases/vent_gleet.html

 

[bacaonetwo]

My favorite hen has recovered from vent gleet disease and feathers are regrownig, when will she start laying eggs again?