Help Please Can anybody identify this and tell me what to do?

[MrsBachbach]

I'm curious. Are the birds feathers wet in the pictures you took or are they always that way? Is that yellow stuff on the skin crusty stuff that flakes off or something else?

 

[ailikat]

My little roo has wet kind of crusty stuff around his eyes because they are constantly tearing up and running. I wipe his eyes several times daily. My silkie hen has oily feathers because I have been applying vetryx to her skin to help remove the crusts and peeling skin to make her more comfortable. Yes, her skin is yellow and crusty, some of it flakes off, but much of it is stuck to her skin making it extremely dry and thick. Her skin on her face and head looks good after applying the vetryx and easing some of the flakes and crusts off, but within a day, her skin just crusts up and starts peeling all over again. I have to keep removing it from around her eyes so she can see. I am keeping her inside the house because she is losing her feathers and we have had temps below freezing here. I also do not want to put her with the flock in case she is contagious, and they will pick on her for sure because she is sick. Is Nystatin the way to go? or is there something else I should do for her? I hope I answered your questions. The patches under her wings are thick yellow crusty and hard, they are slowly flaking off when I massage her skin.

 

[ailikat]

Is it possible that she has a viral infection and a fungal infection?

 

[MrsBachbach]

Is it possible that she has a viral infection and a fungal infection?

I'm not an expert but my guess would be favus. It sure sounds like she has some of the symptoms.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/59/favus/

I don't think the VetRx is going to help that. May as well let her feathers get back to normal so they can help keep her warm. Oiling them like that going to chill her.
I was also wondering if a feather mite or depluming mite might be responsible for what you are seeing. I had to treat a few of mine earlier this year and besides feather loss, I saw some crustiness, but not to that extent. I treated twice with the ivomec pour on, but dosage has to be very exact.
I think the best course of action would be to try the recommended fungal treatments in the mean time, but also see who you can contact to help you diagnose this. Do you have a university nearby? In our state Arkansas has a poultry science department. You may be able to contact someone from a suitable department, send pictures or what they may need to help diagnose.

Btw, if your girl is refusing to drink, I would put her on plain water for a while. Dip her beak in it. She may not have liked what you added to her water and that may be why she won't drink it. If she still won't drink, then you can add that to your symptoms.
I wish I could help more, but I think you are going to need some expert advice on this. I'm still leaning toward fungal or possibly mite related. The watery eyes with the male, I don't know. But if they both have similar other symptoms, it may be related.

Oh, one other thing I found. Look under selenium deficiency. When you mentioned the crusty patches under the wing, I remembered reading about the weeping skin.
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p..._poultry/mineral_deficiencies_in_poultry.html

 

[MrsBachbach]

Is it possible that she has a viral infection and a fungal infection?

I've been searching pictures and favus on BYC and yes, I think if it was me, I would start treating her for that. The white looking head and crusty scaling of skin, it sure looks like it. You might start searching it and see what treatment options are out there.

 

[Sutremaine]

If it's too cold to "brood" your Silkie outside, perhaps you could bring her and some heating outside each day, once her feathers are de-oiled and fluffed. Doesn't matter if it's wet, so long as the chicken and the heater stay dry. Fresh air is good.

The chicken run is large chain-linked kennel, not sure of the exact dimensions, but the panels are very high and huge. It was a major undertaking to cover the top with chicken wire to keep the hawks out. The little birds go right in through the chain-links.

Okay, I see. How much is it going to cost to cover all the chain-link with netting? It might be more cost-effective to use a treadle feeder and nipple drinkers, though it won't have the immediate effect of the netting.

I thought flagyl (metronizadole) was an anti-fungal, at least that's the impression I got from reading about it. I know it is used to treat canker/trich, and thought possibly this was her issue due to all of the wild birds. I was thinking that maybe I didn't give her a long enough course of flagyl to effectively treat canker..... She certainly displays many of the symptoms. Thank you for the information, I certainly don't want more antibiotics because that will just feed the fungal condition.

I googled 'metronizadole antifungal' and there seems to be some confusion on the subject. It's definitely an antibiotic and anti-protozoan, but quite a lot of people think it's an anti-fungal. For what it's worth, its Wikipedia article doesn't mention fungi at all. Also the first link I clicked on while checking symptoms of dry canker took me to a forum post saying that canker is a fungal infection. So, if somebody thinks that canker is fungal and knows that Flagyl treats it...

I read on the poultry medicine chart that the dosage for Nystatin is 1ml 2x daily, is this accurate? She is a banty silkie and weighs only 1 and a half pounds. What would you recommend?

Which chart? Going off the information here, the correct dose would be 2ml. "For treatment of candidiasis after antibiotic or in conjunction with antibiotics: One mL of the 100,000 Units/mL suspension per 300 grams body weight PO 1-3 times daily for 7-14 days." Since it's not a systemic drug, you might also paint some onto her (or buy the topical cream).

Any ideas on my 14 week old with chronic eye issues?

How attached are you? You already have one chicken with medical special needs.

 

[ailikat]

Thank you for all of your help. Now I am a bit confused.... is favus the same as trich/canker? The recommended treatment for trich/canker is metronizadole, and I've read that nystatin is good for candida. I've read so much, and all these conditions mimic each other. Then there's the part about the de-pluming or mange mites, which I thought was a possibility also. I did put a teeny bit of revolution for kittens on the back of her neck up high where she couldn't reach it.... not sure if it helped, or if I even put on enough to make a difference, I am so afraid of overdosing her because she weighs a mere pound and a half. Right now I am cooking up carrots, peas, broccoli, corn, and eggs and going to sprinkle some probiotics on it when it cools down. I am really focusing on boosting her immune system and making sure she gets all of the vitamins and minerals she needs. She has not been interested in water in quite some time, I just recently started adding the vitamins to her water last week. I have been giving her the vitamin water with a syringe, she refuses to eat her crumbles and it has been months since she has even picked at crumbles so I am concerned about deficiencies yes. I have spent so much money on de-wormers, safeguard and valbazen, vitamin/electrolytes, antibiotics, even bought a huge jug of oxine which is supposed to be good for fungal infections - we cannot afford to bring her to a vet, nor do I think there are any in this area who will see a chicken. I am hoping and praying that she pulls through this. I know she's just a chicken, but I have gotten so attached to this little girl and she is still so young. Anyone who owns silkies would certainly understand. They are special. I will give the plain water a go again and try dipping her beak in it, it's worth a shot. I have a few different anti-fungal creams on hand, nystatin, ketoconozole, clotrimazole - I also have tolnaftate 1% antifungal spray and desenex 2% miconazole nitrate antifungal powder, they all say to contact poison control if ingested.......I don't know which if any are safe to use on her skin because she is more than likely going to ingest it while preening. Any suggestions? Also how much oral nystatin for banty silkie? The poultry pedia chart says 1 ml 2x daily..... should I half that because she is banty? I gave her 1 ml this morning, not sure if I should give her another ml before bed.

 

[ailikat]

Thank you Sutremaine, I do have the nystatin 100,000 topical cream..... so you think it would be ok to put it on her skin even if she ingests it? I do put her outside every day to get sunshine and fresh air for several hours, unless it is pouring rain because silkies do not fare well in wet conditions. I completely agree with you that fresh air is good for them. I will give her another 1 ml before bed, thank you for helping to confirm the right amount to give her. I wish I would have thought of posting months ago when this all started, she might have been all better by now. Thank you again for your time, everyone has been so kind and helpful. Yes I am attached to my little roo, I hatched him out..... but not as attached as I am to my hen. He's out in the coop with the others and is pretty low maintenance, I just carry tissues out with me in the morning to wipe his eyes, and he usually gets better as the day progresses. He loves people because he is used to being handled so much, I saved his life as a chick so it's hard not to get attached.

 

[MrsBachbach]

I dont think favus and thrush are the exact same thing. Both fungal but one is internal and one external and may be a differerent type of fungus.
The chickenmed chart may have info at the top on dosage for bantams. I dont have my link handy to read.
The oxine will be handy for your other birds to stop the spread of many diseases between them and what the wild birds spread through water. It stops the build up of algea and keeps the water sanitary. It kill many pathogens so would even be handy for use in a SHTF scenario to make water drinkable. The instructions I recieved with mine said add 15 drops/gal. Its good for several days after mixing. You may slowly introduce it to them in lesser amounts as it may take them getting use to it. Dont add the citric acid to the drinking water though! That would kill them. And dont try to add meds to the water when using it. I know it will kill any beneficial bacteria and likely make any meds added to the water ineffective.

In more concentrated amounts it is good for disinfecting, but dont have the measurements handy.

If reveloution only spreads on the skin and oil glands im not sure if it would work on depluming mites. Ivomec is absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream which is what i read was needed to get to those mites. I would try treating for favus first. Ivomec can be hard on a weak chicken.

 

[ailikat]

Thank you Mrs. B. You have been so kind and helpful. I did much research on oxine and how not to use it, it sounds like fantastic stuff, expensive but hopefully worth it. Do you think it would be helpful to fog her with the oxine? Will it kill fungus on skin also? I did read not to mix it with vinegar or anything acidic as it will activate and be fatal to the chickens. I did give my girl 2 doses of nystatin yesterday, 1 ml each in morning and evening, and 125 mg of metronizadole as recommended by several different sources for treating canker infections. I noticed that her swollen windpipe has decreased in size, it is not as prominent, her skin around her windpipe was so stretched and now not so much.... if that makes any sense. I couldn't feel her crop at all before, she was all windpipe. The skin on her neck is now noticeably softer, not as elephant-like. Also her skin is turning black again - good sign for a silkie....her skin was much paler. I think the combo of the flagyl and nystatin are helping. She is even more talkative. She even took a drink of water, but I couldn't get her to drink this morning. I am so happy to see any little bit of progress in the right direction. I have also been able to save this girl when she had a prolapse....perhaps she has had a fungal infection brewing since then that I did not notice?