Probiotics containing Vitamin C - is it okay for chickens?

Jaye · Post by **Jaye** » Tue Jun 07, 2016 6:37 pm

I've been dealing with a severe case of vent gleet in one of my hens for the past week or so. I clean her up every night, apply an anti-fungal cream to her sad and no doubt sore and itchy red butt area, and have been giving her fluconazole for the last three days by way of scramble egg bits. I would like to introduce probiotics at this point, but the probiotics I have contain vitamin c. Is this okay to feed her?

modern17 · Post by **modern17** » Tue Jun 07, 2016 7:26 pm

Simplest probiotics form I use is natural yogurt . I have used it for years in my birds . During the summer months I try to give the flock yogurt at least once a week . You will see a better feed conversion rate when feeding it. Another suggestion for gleet is apple cider vinegar . Gleet is usually caused by a yeast type infection .. Apple cider vinegar seems to help regular this . Hope this has helped
TL

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Tue Jun 07, 2016 9:22 pm

Why do you think vitamin C would cause a problem? Just curious.

Jaye · Post by **Jaye** » Tue Jun 07, 2016 10:12 pm

Good question. I have read somewhere (please don't ask me where I read it, because I didn't bookmark it) that chickens manufacture their their own vitamin C and do not need any supplemented. I'm not sure if giving them extra vitamin C is a bad thing or not. I do know that chickens don't like citrus, but don't know if citrus has any kind of adverse effect on them.
I'm just going to go ahead and give he a dose of the probiotics I have on hand. At this point, in the grand scheme of things, I don't think 1 mg of vitamin C will override the benefits of getting this girl's gut flora back in balance.
I agree that yogurt is a good preventative, but this hen has an acute case of vent gleet, so need to get it cleared up before I can resume a preventative regimen. I would post post a pic, but suffice it to say that it's not for the faint of heart: when I asked my hubs to help hold her last night while I did cleanup, he had to take a break because he felt light-headed and nauseous.

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 12:49 am

It's OK to give them Vitamin C. A chicken under stress excretes C metabolites like crazy, so they may have trouble producing enough of their own in any case, especially if ill. Some broiler barns use supplemented C in the summer months to prevent and combat heat stress, and some layer barns as well. 1 mg is negligible, I'm sure they get loads more just from eating dandelion greens and plantain (the weed, not the banana), both are high in vit. C.

Maximus · Post by **Maximus** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 8:08 am

Ok, so just a question with regard to the apple cider. I use it in the water once a week but I moisten their feed with apple cider as well, especially the chicks.

So would it be advisable to ummm, how shall we say, douche the vent area with Apple cider if you're dealing with Yeast?

Personally I use probiotics in pill form and add to their feed. It's a much stronger more active form of the cells. Refrigerated ones are always the best.

Jaye · Post by **Jaye** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 12:50 pm

Thanks, WWW. That’s a relief - I was hoping that a small amount of Vitamin C wouldn't hurt her. It’s a bonus that it may actually help.

The first two days I gave her an Epsoms salts bath soak and applied an antifungal cream to the skin around her vent after cleaning her off. I also tried to administer some directly into her vent the first two days, but that wasn’t a huge success, because it seemed to stimulate voiding; consequently the medication didn’t stay in there long enough to provide any benefits.

What I have been doing for her for the last three days is oral dosing of an antifungal – Flucomazole, AKA Diflucan UN (Pfizer) or CanesOral (Bayer). For poultry the dosage is 15 mg per Kg for 7 days. My hen is 2.95 Kg, so she’s been getting about 45 mg per day sprinkled on bits of scrambled egg. Yesterday was day three of the antifungal treatment. I am starting on CanesOral tonight because I am out of Diflucan as of last night, and CanesOral was less expensive. Plus I had a $5 off coupon for it. I am continuing to apply antifungal cream to the skin around her vent every night after cleaning her off.
Yesterday I also started her on probiotics (the refrigerated kind): Progressive HCP30 Full Spectrum Probiotics, which contains 30 billion active cells, all colonizing flora, and cryoprotected for greater stability. I may incorporate AVC into the drinking water in a day or so; I just don’t want to throw everything at her at once, because her system is already stressed, so I think gradual introduction of additional treatments is the way to go. Besides, how will I know what is effective if I try everything at once?

There seemed to be less discharge this morning, although I ran out of time before heading out to work, so didn’t have a chance to take a closer look.
I'm hoping that she's over the worst now and that this will be resolved soon.