Flock wide infectious ear infections?

[MetroMutt]

Ok so I volunteer on a farm animal rescue with 700+ animals (300-400 being birds) and yesterday we discovered a hen with NASTY pus filled ear infections; we removed the pus the best we could without hurting her and gave her oral antibiotics but after inspecting her flock mates both of them also had ear infections(all be it not nearly as bad) her flocks rooster we removed the pus also but the other hen one ear was clear and the other had only a little so we left her be other then giving the antibiotics.

I believe their neighbour flock(in the pen next to them) also have ear infections but we didn't have time to check them closely also. That flocks neighbour's and so on could possibly have it too so I'm wondering there's anything we can do better to help them all? In total the row they are on has atleast 50 chickens and it would be a nightmare to have to clean them all and individually give oral antibiotics daily. Is there anything that can be done?

The known infected birds also have bird lice, is there any good/effective way to get rid of them other then diamacetous earth?

I do not have any pictures at the moment as we were more focused on the birds then taking pictures. The pus was fatty and yellowish and you could smell it from a distance away, the worst one had it all the way into her ear canal(we weren't able to get all of it because it was so deep in and she was getting fed up with us) while the other 2 didn't have it super deep in

We are unsure still if the worst one is gonna make it as she is also acting lethargic and just not right; she is also a older bird as far as we can tell. On the good side she is still willing to eat


Any advice is appreciated!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

yesterday we discovered a hen with NASTY pus filled ear infections; we removed the pus the best we could without hurting her and gave her oral antibiotics but after inspecting her flock mates both of them also had ear infections(all be it not nearly as bad) her flocks rooster we removed the pus also but the other hen one ear was clear and the other had only a little so we left her be other then giving the antibiotics.

The pus was fatty and yellowish and you could smell it from a distance away, the worst one had it all the way into her ear canal(we weren't able to get all of it because it was so deep in and she was getting fed up with us) while the other 2 didn't have it super deep in

Oh my!
Sounds like you may be dealing with ear canker since there's a bad odor and there's a lot of birds that have infection.
I'm tagging in @dawg53

What antibiotics have you administered? Pus will have to be removed from the ears in order to begin healing, so you'll need to treat each bird.


Possible the lice/mites caused some of the infection. Permethrin based poultry dust and spray is what I'd use to treat for the external parasites.
Use the spray to treat housing and dust for the birds. It will be a lot of work. Wear a mask! I put the dust in a sock, then use it like a powder puff to dust the bird, work the dust all the way through the feathers to the skin - sort of like you'd massage the dust into feathers and skin. All over. Repeat in 5 day intervals. Housing can be sprayed, buy the concentrate, it's more economical, make sure to get inside nesting boxes, roosting bars and crevices.

If you have your own chickens and birds at home, please practice biosecurity when you come home. Change clothes, don't wear shoes that you've worn to the rescue around your property, etc. Basically have dedicated clothes and shoes for the rescue and change once you get home.

Honestly it sounds overwhelming. That's a LOT of birds and disease can spread quickly among housing. What are the goals of this rescue if I may ask? Depopulation of the sickest birds may be an appropriate step to take. Not what one wants to hear, but sometimes it's necessary. Hopefully the rescue can also consult a vet to help them with this.

 

[MetroMutt]

Oh my!
Sounds like you may be dealing with ear canker since there's a bad odor and there's a lot of birds that have infection.
I'm tagging in @dawg53

What antibiotics have you administered? Pus will have to be removed from the ears in order to begin healing, so you'll need to treat each bird.


Possible the lice/mites caused some of the infection. Permethrin based poultry dust and spray is what I'd use to treat for the external parasites.
Use the spray to treat housing and dust for the birds. It will be a lot of work. Wear a mask! I put the dust in a sock, then use it like a powder puff to dust the bird, work the dust all the way through the feathers to the skin - sort of like you'd massage the dust into feathers and skin. All over. Repeat in 5 day intervals. Housing can be sprayed, buy the concentrate, it's more economical, make sure to get inside nesting boxes, roosting bars and crevices.

If you have your own chickens and birds at home, please practice biosecurity when you come home. Change clothes, don't wear shoes that you've worn to the rescue around your property, etc. Basically have dedicated clothes and shoes for the rescue and change once you get home.

Honestly it sounds overwhelming. That's a LOT of birds and disease can spread quickly among housing. What are the goals of this rescue if I may ask? Depopulation of the sickest birds may be an appropriate step to take. Not what one wants to hear, but sometimes it's necessary. Hopefully the rescue can also consult a vet to help them with this.

I believe it was amoxocilin they got for the antibiotic but idk if I'm remembering incorrectly! I'll look into the permethrin and I don't mind removing the ear pus personally!

And the goal of the rescue is to take in and provide a home for unwanted animals, it's not my rescue so it wouldn't be up to me but it's generally no kill unless the animal is actively suffering

And we do practice biosecurity! Though my parents are reluctant about it I hound them about it and made sure that we changed our clothes right away when we got home

Tysm for the help!!

 

[dawg53]

@MetroMutt
You have your work cut out for you and expect to fork out some money to treat all those birds.
There are different types of bacteria that can infect the ears. You have to identify what type(s) of bacteria that's causing the infection in order to treat it properly.
I recommend that you take one of the severely infected birds to a vet and have the vet take a sample of the infection to identify it for proper treatment. Then you can explain to the vet that you have a rescue operation and perhaps the vet can direct you to an organization that might help you out in providing treatment for all your birds.
Here's a link stating examples of the different types of bacteria and treatments for poultry ear infections. Good luck.
https://chickenwhisperermagazine.com/health-and-wellness/ear-canker

 

[MetroMutt]

@MetroMutt
You have your work cut out for you and expect to fork out some money to treat all those birds.
There are different types of bacteria that can infect the ears. You have to identify what type(s) of bacteria that's causing the infection in order to treat it properly.
I recommend that you take one of the severely infected birds to a vet and have the vet take a sample of the infection to identify it for proper treatment. Then you can explain to the vet that you have a rescue operation and perhaps the vet can direct you to an organization that might help you out in providing treatment for all your birds.
Here's a link stating examples of the different types of bacteria and treatments for poultry ear infections. Good luck.
https://chickenwhisperermagazine.com/health-and-wellness/ear-canker

ty!! And yea I know its gonna be alot of work but if I can save as many birds as possible ill gladly do it

 

[MetroMutt]

Just wanted to give a update! It turned out to not be canker but a ear infection caused by bird lice most likely! We treated with tetramyacin and cleaning out the ears and they all made a recovery!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for the update. I'm glad they have recovered.