Yesterday I noticed one my our hens, Meg, looked a bit off. She was acting lethargic and not as chatty and outgoing as usual. She hadn’t laid an egg yet, even though she had been sitting in her nest box, which was also odd. Before yesterday, she seemed totally normal. Although she did have a bit of diarrhea for the past several days...yesterday after work I noticed that the feathers on her rear end looked kinda dirty/poopy, and when I went to look this is what I found: (warning: graphic)
The area around her vent (around the oval opening) felt like skin. My immediate thought was egg bound. But she had no hard, bulbous feeling in her abdomen/vent area. So I researched a bit and vent gleet seemed to be the cause. It was getting dark and I didn’t have any antifungal cream on hand, so I pre-ordered some to pick up the next morning and put the girls in the coop for the night. Other than being lethargic and having a dirty butt, she seemed like she’d be okay for the night. Nothing I read about vent gleet suggested it was immediately fatal.
This morning when I woke up to let them out and give them breakfast, before running over to pick up some antifungal cream, poor Meg had died.
I don’t understand. I know that chickens tend to hide their illnesses until it gets bad enough to show symptoms, but she seemed fine other than having some loose stools recently. She was eating, drinking and foraging like normal up until yesterday. I have three other hens who have no signs of illness or vent gleet. These hens were adopted from a neglectful situation about two months ago- I don’t know how old they are, but I know they’re between 4-6 years. At their previous home, they weren’t fed properly or given water. So I’m wondering if the sudden increase in a healthier diet that I’ve been feeding them threw off her pH balance and caused the vent gleet infection? I feed them all layer pellets, crushed oyster shells, and treats every other day or so (usually lettuce or leftover vegetable ends, sometimes I’ll make them plain oatmeal with milled flax seed for extra omega). They also forage in the yard for a few hours each day (with supervision because of hawks- we’re waiting for the snow to melt to build an outdoor run for them). I don’t understand why she died so suddenly from something that is only fatal if not treated for a long time. Did I just not catch it in time?
I found this thread which makes me think maybe it was cocci, not vent gleet? https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ts-and-hens-think-cocci.852044/#post-12726838
Here’s a video of her with the three other hens 4 days ago. She’s the black/gray one in the middle (closest to the two white hens):
The area around her vent (around the oval opening) felt like skin. My immediate thought was egg bound. But she had no hard, bulbous feeling in her abdomen/vent area. So I researched a bit and vent gleet seemed to be the cause. It was getting dark and I didn’t have any antifungal cream on hand, so I pre-ordered some to pick up the next morning and put the girls in the coop for the night. Other than being lethargic and having a dirty butt, she seemed like she’d be okay for the night. Nothing I read about vent gleet suggested it was immediately fatal.
This morning when I woke up to let them out and give them breakfast, before running over to pick up some antifungal cream, poor Meg had died.
I don’t understand. I know that chickens tend to hide their illnesses until it gets bad enough to show symptoms, but she seemed fine other than having some loose stools recently. She was eating, drinking and foraging like normal up until yesterday. I have three other hens who have no signs of illness or vent gleet. These hens were adopted from a neglectful situation about two months ago- I don’t know how old they are, but I know they’re between 4-6 years. At their previous home, they weren’t fed properly or given water. So I’m wondering if the sudden increase in a healthier diet that I’ve been feeding them threw off her pH balance and caused the vent gleet infection? I feed them all layer pellets, crushed oyster shells, and treats every other day or so (usually lettuce or leftover vegetable ends, sometimes I’ll make them plain oatmeal with milled flax seed for extra omega). They also forage in the yard for a few hours each day (with supervision because of hawks- we’re waiting for the snow to melt to build an outdoor run for them). I don’t understand why she died so suddenly from something that is only fatal if not treated for a long time. Did I just not catch it in time?I found this thread which makes me think maybe it was cocci, not vent gleet? https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ts-and-hens-think-cocci.852044/#post-12726838
Here’s a video of her with the three other hens 4 days ago. She’s the black/gray one in the middle (closest to the two white hens):
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