white mix of foamy and crusty yucky stinky stuff below the vent

[embrown]

My 22 month old Isa Brown has developed a very smelly...like strong urine...odor at her back end. For about a week she has gotten a mix of crusty...probably dry version of the ssmelly gunk. Today it was quite wet and white and foamy. The feathers seem to really hold onto the stuff even with rinsing thoroughly with warm water. This has been going on for about a week and I have brought her in and cleaned it up many times. Here is what I know about her:
1. she seems to be eating, I just fed her a cup of warm layer crumbles with water and yogurt mixed in and she ate very well.
2. She seems to be alert and moving about fine.
3. about a month ago she lost many feathers and I believed it was the start of a molt. If it was a molt it was very light.
4. Not sure if she is laying as I am getting intermitent egg production among the flock 3-4 eggs per day from five hens, but not sure who is giving them.
5. The pooh under where I last saw her on the perch and all the pooh on the scrape board looks in the spectrum of normal. The pooh she gave while in the house getting cleaned up was normal to greenish.
6. I have not seen any evidence of soft shell laying or broken egg evidence in the laying boxes or in the coop.
7. The Whitish stuff seems to remain even after wiping her up with the warm water and towel drying her. My son says it looks like her feathers are moldy. All I know is that it really smells, and my hands smell even after scrubbing them with much hot water and antibacterial soap.
8. While that area has the urine type odor, the rest of her smells fine, meaning that if I bury my nose in her neck feathers, she smells normal. (I love to nuzzle the necks of my hens and they let me do it, so why not?)
8. It is cold and very snowy here in MI, DH wondered about some sort of frost-bite on her back end, is that possible, although I can not make sense of what the smell or wetness is then. The skin in that area feels warm and supple.
9. None of the other 4 hens have this issue.
10. Be clear, this does not seem to be on the vent, the vent is not pasted over. It is on the rump, under the vent and it is wet to between her legs. I am thinking that some of the wet is simply a result of the melted snow because this crazy girl keeps going out into the run and pecking in the foot of snow that is on the ground. But snow does not have odor or would not dry crusty or look foamy or white once melted.

Here are my questions:
1. Is it possibly a new feather issue which is causing some sort of oozing and may have some infection?
2. Is it a egg production issue that is giving only egg whites and no shell
3. Is it possibly a fungus issue...thinking that might explain the whitish color, and ordor...that maybe is being caused by snow wet feathers, coldness, and never truly getting dry. If so, how would I know, and what could I use to treat it? I am just thinking that dampness plus some of the pine nugget dust on the coop floor are causing the feathers to get crusty and never rreally drying. The coop is very dry, there is a heat lamp in there which keeps it warm enough that the water does not freeze. They have a door to the outside which is open during the day, but closed at night.
4. What can I do to treat the problem you think it may be, and we do not have the means to take her to a vet, but may be able to get some supplies from a vet or from a store.

I am looking forward to hearing all your thoughts. You all have always been so helpful. I could not find any information in the chicken books I have nor in a google search, so I am praying that someone hear can give me something to get rid of the problem.

Beth

 

[Judy]

I have no idea. Have you seen the poop chart?

http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

I think I'd first give her a good bath, blow her dry, then see if it recurs. As you indicated, maybe some kind of mess just got started then got worse because of snow etc.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hi could be vent gleet heres some info and I'll try to find more.
Vent Gleet and more
Natalie Ross

First medication does not help Vent Gleet. Antibiotics
irratate it
Second, fixing the underlying problem:
Now, anytime you have any gut problems, the health of
the beneficial bacteria that should naturally occur in
the gut should be considered.
It's usually when the populations of those good
bacterial decrease that we see an INcreased in bad
bacteria, thus gut illness. The good
bacteria literally crowd out bad bacteria, and some
even secrete substances
that ward off over abundances of bad bacteria.

So during illness, and really any time there is
stress, you'll want to increase the number of good
bacteria in your bird's gut. You can do
this quite easily through the use of probiotics
available over the counter, and some even at the
grocery store. In this case, with a
probability of E. coli, you'll want to find a
"probiotic" that contains live cultures of
Lactobacilus (most commonly lactobacilus
acidophilus) as well as B. bifidum. Bifidum is one of
those bacteria that secretes stuff to ward off bad
bacteria, in this case it specifically wards off E.
coli.

You're probably thinking "right, where am I going to
get this, and how much will it cost?". Luckily, those
two live bacteria are usually found in Walmart yogurt.
Just make sure it's NOT artificially sweetened.
(Birds don't do aspartame well.) You'll want to
encourage your bird to somehow take 1 teaspoon per day
any time during medication.

Third, nutrition during illness:
You can mix it up with boiled/mashed egg yolk for a
combination of good high protein for healing, super
nutrition from the egg, and the good bacteria from the
yogurt. Plus, this treat is soft and easily dissolved.


When birds are sick, their crops/gizzards slow down,
so it's really easy for their crops to back up and get
impacted.

If you don't think your bird will eat yogurt (some
dont, some love it),
then you can hedge your bets and pick up a non-dairy
human probiotic from the human health food store.
You'll find them in the remedies for
yeast infections. Liquids are easiest to use, though
you can crush tablets if you absolutely have to do. Be
sure to read the label to see
that it says that it contains both acidophilus (aka
lactobacilus) as well as bifidum. Yeast infection(VENT
GLEET) remedies do because good ol' bifidum secretes
something that acts against yeast infections (VENT
GLEET)
too! This can be a blessing for a poultry owner,
because bacterial imbalances in poultry
also cause "thrush" or "gleet", which is essentially a
yeast infection of the digestive tract. Your birds are
susceptable to this whenever they're ill and/or
medicated, and your bird might have this as well. The
symptoms are almost exactly the same with very few
additions. Treating for one will essentially treat for
the other if you do it right.

If the bird will drink, you can start off by using the
liquid probiotic for humans in their water. Just don't
mix it with medicated water. If you medicate the
water, try mixing the probiotics with
a tiny bit of water or applesauce and mixing that with
crumbles to just an oatmeal type consistancy. Most
birds will eat this. You can even leave out the
crumbles and just do applesauce, or mix egg yolk in
the applesauce. Be creative. It's important to try to
get the bird to get nutrition.

Fourth, vitamin E.
Vitamin E acts specifically against overdoses of E.
coli. I'd use the oil capsules. ONE 400 MG PEOPLE vIT
e DAILY TILL HELAED.
You can put it in a small bit of food if you
KNOW that bit of food will be eaten entirely.


Fifth, supportive care:
Your bird will need to stay warm, be separated from
the others so that it won't be bullied away from
eating, and also so that you can monitor its droppings
for color and consistency. If it gets stressed out,

Nathalie Ross, Houston, TX
Last edited by Glenda L Heywood (04/17/2009 4:44 pm)
Glenda L Heywood Brookings SD
[email protected]

 

[Miss Lydia]

more info:

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Registered: 05/29/2009
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Really bad vent Gleet? (pics)
18 month old RIR. Has had this for a while. I've bathed her but it looks bad again in just a couple of days. Smells bad too. I'm wondering if it's vent gleet.

She acts fine, eats good and maintains her place near the top of the pecking order. Eyes are bright and she's as alert as the other birds. She has lost some feathers around her crop. Notice how visable it is in the one picture.

Any thoughts? Unless someone thinks differently, I'll try some of the vent gleet treatment advice from other threads.

Thanks!








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#2 11/19/2010 1:00 am
mypicklebird
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From: Sonoma Co, CA
Registered: 08/08/2008
Posts: 1216
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Re: Really bad vent Gleet? (pics)
can you clean/soak of the gunk and post another photo? Is her vent partially prolapsed, or in the 'normal' shape with gunk o

 

[Miss Lydia]

Could it be vent gleet? Does she has a bad odor? If so, that is likely what she has. Oxine or copper sulfate given in the drinking water 1/8 teaspoon per gallon for 3 days should help. I use oxine every other day in my birds drinking water the day I don't use oxine I put in ACV. hope this helps. still trying to find some pictures.

 

[Miss Lydia]

well sounds like vent gleet from all I've read..

 

[embrown]

will read more about vent gleet, but initially it sounds like what it could be. I had never heard that term before. Dh describes the stuff in her feathers and also in the vent as being puddy colored.

I just went out and brought her in...she was annoyed to be woke-up, but was very happy to be inside. I gave her more crumbles, mashed up with warm water and yogurt. I seem to be out of pro-biotics, and will get more w, we need it also and will gladly share with the chickens.


I have never used Oxine, do you know where I can buy it, maybe TSC? I do use acv but haven't been very good about it lately because of the cold weather and having to change the water many times per day because I do not want it to freeze. I will be better about adding it in again. I will also get Vit E, I have a alphabet cupboardful of vitamines but not that one.

When I brought her in, her bottom was dry, so I think the "snow theory" is the wet part of the observation. So, the feathers were kind of crusted together under the vent, and the skin was also crusted with the same substance. And, yes, she was still stinky.

She was still very happy, bright, and she gobbled up the yogurt mash. BTW, someone said their chickens do not eat yogurt, but mine adore it, so I will have no problem getting that in. I am using an un-sweetened, natural yogurt...nothin but the best for my girls.

She left us a pooh while inside and it was the tan with a little white on top that looks totally normal. And, DH varified that fact with the "pooh chart link". What is under her on the scrape board also looks just like the pooh of the other chickens. I did make note of where she roosted when we put her back in the coop so I will check the pooh in the morning again, but I do not expect it to show anything.

Thanks for the thoughts and for steering me toward Gleet as I did not know what to search for and everything I could find about gunk around the vent was about pasteing of chicks and she is not a chick so I was coming up empty handed.

I will gladly hear any other thoughts about treatment of this condition, or other possible causes/conditions.

Beth

 

[Rena99]

hello,
I am just reading this today, it sounds like my chicken has the same thing, did it ever get better? She seems totally fine other than the smelly crust below her vent feathers. She's had it for over a month now. I am still trying to get her to eat yogurt, garlic, and treating her vent with a yeast infection topical cream. She still really smells but other than that she is looking good. She had bad mites a month ago and was very thin but is gaining weight, and her feathers are now shiny...maybe this yeast thing takes a while to stabilize?