Extreme Cranial Swelling-Graphic pics

[BobbieJo81]

This is one of my 10 week old roos..About 2 weeks ago when I went to let them out for the day , he was noticeably swollen in his head area..I kept an eye on him throughout the day to see how it progressed and it got worse. My first thought was that he has been stung or was having an allergic reaction to something( I had just put a different brand of treat in the coop) So I started him on an antihistamine. After 2 days of treatment there was no difference ,so I started him on antibiotics. After 6 days there was no change so I stopped treatment. He has no other symptoms of anything..no breathing trouble or sinus issues, he eats and drinks and poos normally..His vision is limited of course because of the swelling around his eyes but other than that no indicators of pain or even discomfort. He is practicing crowing with the other roos, rounding up the hens, still flies onto my shoulders at dusk to go in for the night. I did keep him separate from the rest of the birds for the first week just in case it was something contagious but he was miserable alone and none of the others showed any signs of "catching" it.. He has been my favorite from Day 1 and I really dont want to put him down but would really like some advice from someone with more experience than myself.. I had worked in a vet office for over 10 years, and not that we had chicken clients but I used every bit of knowledge I have and nothing has worked.. Any help/advice/ideas would be greatly appreciated.. You can see in the pics where he is starting to loose his feathers on his head from the strain of his skin..the swelling did go down slightly after the 2nd day but nothing that I would call improvement. He has been like this for approx 13 days

 

[bobzant]

Have you tried an antibiotic? This could be a number of things so I'd try something like that too.

 

[Eggcessive]

There is a disease called swollen head syndrome and if you click on this link and go down the page you will find info to see if it fits: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[nuts4chickens]

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[nuts4chickens]

Infectious coryza also causes swelling of the head and face? Don't know much about it but from what I've just read about it, mortality rate is low. They have a foul smelling discharge, and it is treated with antibiotics in their water. Might be worth a google. Good luck!

 

[BobbieJo81]

I have tried antibiotics, they did nothing.. I did do a lot of reading on the 'swollen head sydrome' but with him being 10 weeks old when it started and it having been 2 weeks with no improvement I dont think that is it either..The infectious coryza sounded promising but the is no odor, no signs of infection other than the swelling and its not warm to the touch or anything like that..I do want to thank everyone for their input, I am willing to try anything at this point

 

[6 littleHens]

Wow! He definately needs a steroid to take that swelling down. Maybe put hydrocortizone cream (some anti itch creams over the counter have hydrocortizone in it) on it and might absorb it and shrink it. I have also swallowed small amt.s of that cream in past ( people in alternative medicine put it in capsules and swallow it). Keep us updated! What are symptoms of coryza?

 

[BobbieJo81]

Wow! He definately needs a steroid to take that swelling down. Maybe put hydrocortizone cream (some anti itch creams over the counter have hydrocortizone in it) on it and might absorb it and shrink it. I have also swallowed small amt.s of that cream in past ( people in alternative medicine put it in capsules and swallow it). Keep us updated! What are symptoms of coryza?

Thank you! I totally did not think to try a steriod.. will give him a dose first thing in the morning.. I have put hydrocortizone cream on it but it didn't seem to affect it either way..does taking it orally work faster? I have never heard of that.. The coryza is basically same symptoms of swollen head syndrome but accompanied by a foul smell..(if you have ever smelled a horse with thrush of the foot, that is what it reminds me of) ..but he has no odor at all( other than when he was on the antibiotics, then his poo was foul)..no itching, he acts like it doesnt bother him at all.. I have been wetting the starter feed down for him since this started just because I think it would be harder to eat it dry in his condition but he still eats the dry with no problems .. I also give him a hard-boiled egg every other day for good measure..

 

[Eggcessive]

Swollen head syndrome is a disease that was discovered in Africa in the 1070's in Africa in meat or broiler chickens, but it also can affect egg layers and turkeys. It can affect the egg laying capabilities afetr recovery. Here is another article: http://www.poultrymed.com/Poultry/Templates/showpage.asp?LNGID=1&TMID=103&FID=502&PID=1134

 

[dawg53]

It is avian pneumovirus, not coryza. See the link that Eggcessive provided, here's another:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/197/swollen-head-syndrome