Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[NaughtyChickens]

Hi

 

I wonder if someone can give me any advice, we have just got home from work and have discovered that Sweetie has blood that looks to have come from her vent and there is a creamy discharge.

 

We have tried to get her in the vets but of course it is too let in the day and the earliest they can see her is 5:40 tomorrow.

 

She is fine in herself but obviously something is very wrong.

 

We have separated her from the others, she's in a cat carrier in a darkened room.

 

I did wonder if she might have a egg stuck?

 

If anyone can give me any advice that I can do in the mean time?

 

Any help would be gratefully received.

[stoice]

You've done well by separating her from the others as they would peck at her botty where they see the blood. As long as she has access to some food and water she should be ok until she sees the vet. I assume she still has an appetite? If so that is a good sign, at the very least some cucumber, gapes or tomatoes etc could tempt her eat as well as hydrate her. It's possible she could have just laid a softie (Egg with no shell, or just in it's membrane or very thin paper like shell) and the eggy contents spilled on her knickers has encouraged your other girls to peck and subsequently draw blood. It could also be possible an egg is stuck or broken inside her or maybe even a prolapse (Where bits of her insides pop out when they try to push out an egg). Either way I think the trip to the vets is in order as they can have a good look and prescribe anything to help.

 

Keep us updated with what the vet says. Fingers crossed for little Sweetie.

 

xxx

[NaughtyChickens]

Hi

 

Thanks for the reply. It looks to be vent gleet - the vets have put her on some strong antibiotics so hopefully it will clear up in a couple of days. We're also putting ACV in the water (which we were doing anyway this week).

 

She looks completely fine in herself and is eating and drinking fine so we have given her a bath and put her back with the others. She hasn't passed any more blood since last night so hopefully there shouldn't be a problem with her being pecked - didn't want to separate her for too long as it may upset the pecking order, plus with it being the weekend we can keep an eye on her and separate her again if necessary.

 

Have many other people had this problem? I've read it can be caused by eating mouldy food but I can't see how she would have ate anything mouldy as the food is emptied every couple of days

 

Chickens eh - they do cause a lot of worry and stress

[stoice]

I've never heard of vent gleet before NC. I've just googled it and found various theories - one being that it's like thrush for chickens, ie: a yeast/bacterial infection, which could be brought on by stress. That would upset the balance of good to bad bacteria in their gut. So I'd say the antibiotics your vet prescribed should sort this. The drugs may still upset her tum though (Antibiotics upset my tum whenever I've had them) so maybe some probiotics could help her along. You could try some probiotic yogurt or bokashi bran maybe?

 

Sounds like she's in good hands though.

They do make you worry, I totally agree!

[NaughtyChickens]

Cheers for the advice, that's interesting to know

 

Got the pro-biotic yoghurt already for tomorrow, she will be pleased as its one of their favourites (and probably one of the most amusing to watch)

 

We have just introduced two new chickens (not yet mixed) so I guess that could be the stress - nothing much else changed.

[stoice]

Oh definitely stand well back when yogurt is involved! It goes everywhere! LOL

[Christian]

Probiotic yoghurt is always a good idea when on antibiotics. You can also get probiotic powders from a vet that can bee added to their food.

 

Hope she is better soon.