badly infected tongue

azahn said:

So bad I cannot even tell if she has a tongue left. I thought she was suffering from a respiratory infection, so yesterday I checked to see if she had a blockage (she was shaking her head). When I opened her beak, there was what looked to be an irregular shaped chunk of old, wet chicken feed in her mouth. I tried to sweep it out with a q-tip, but it was attached. It stinks - she stinks - bad infection - probably necrosis. Maybe it has abcessed. The yellow granular 'growth' in the area of the tongue is hard, and I can slowly remove small pieces of it. But it is definitely attached to the tissue below. I cannot see her tongue, and am afraid it may be gone. She has lost weight, in general looks sick, and her poo this morning after I let her down was liquidy. No, I have not started any antibiotics - but I can today - any recommendations????? Any thoughts on long term outlook? I don't want her to suffer - should I be thinking about humanely letting her go?

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azahn said:

I love BYC! Thank you - I bet that's exactly what it is.... how contagious might this be to the rest of the flock? I have 30 bantams. Thank you so much.

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Trichomoniasis commonly known as canker
Canker is caused by a flagellate protozoan. It is not transmitable to humans or other mammals but can be caught by other birds that share the same water, eat seed dropped by an afflicted pigeon or through beak-to-beak contact.
The most common symptom is a yellow or brownish cheeselike growth in the mouth.

This will usually be far back in the mouth...yellow growths outside the body or in the very front of the beak are not likely to be canker.
The condition must be treated, otherwise the pigeon will die of starvation, asphyxiation or choking.
It is important not to try to remove any of the growth unless you know what you are doing as this can cause a fatal bleed.

azahn said:

So bad I cannot even tell if she has a tongue left.  I thought she was suffering from a respiratory infection, so yesterday I checked to see if she had a blockage (she was shaking her head). When I opened her beak, there was what looked to be an irregular shaped chunk of old, wet chicken feed in her mouth. I tried to sweep it out with a q-tip, but it was attached.  It stinks - she stinks - bad infection - probably necrosis. Maybe it has abcessed. The yellow granular 'growth' in the area of the tongue is hard, and I can slowly remove small pieces of it.  But it is definitely attached to the tissue below.  I cannot see her tongue, and am afraid it may be gone.  She has lost weight, in general looks sick, and her poo this morning after I let her down was liquidy.  No, I have not started any antibiotics - but I can today - any recommendations?????  Any thoughts on long term outlook?  I don't want her to suffer - should I be thinking about humanely letting her go? 

Click to expand...