Hen with Canker! Please help me know what to do to treat it!!

[Krazy4Chicks]

Actually, she's been drinking water. However, I noticed that she prefers to drink out of a glass bowl instead of the waterer that I provided. Sometimes it seems like she's gulping it (puts her head all the way in up to the top of her beak). And I know that she's been eating layer crumbles, as I've seen her doing so; but whether she's getting enough to eat is another story. She is pooping, so that must mean she's eating, right. She had been laying daily, but no egg yesterday. Not sure if the laying has stopped because of the Fish Zole.

I will try to have my daughter take a picture with her phone when she gets home and see if it shows you what I'm referring to. The mucus started out in the beginning as just clear and watery looking. But it seems like it's getting a little thicker. She definitely has an appetite, especially with the scratch mixture I have (scratch, dried mealworms, oatmeal).

Out of curiosity, could she have had this Canker in her system lying dormant, and then it came about by stress? The reason I ask is because I had moved her and one of my silkies into a make-shift coop set-up about a week ago. They were bullying two of my younger silkies that I had introduced into the coop about a month earlier --- just wouldn't stop bullying them. I wasn't sure what else to do besides separating them for a couple of weeks and re-introducing them into the coop. She was perfectly fine when I moved her and the other one into this new set-up. But she was very stressed out from being in a new environment --- crying to her other pen mates. So I'm wondering if the stress could have brought it on (like it can in humans).

Oh, and by the way, my name is Kathy also!

Update: She just layed an egg, so she's still continuing to lay. I'm hoping that's a good sign.

 

[Krazy4Chicks]

Here are some pictures that my daughter just took of my hen (Zoey) on our lawn, and of the inside of her mouth. The yellow crusty canker sores seem to be going away, but I now notice that she has some sort of thing on her tongue. Not sure what to think of that. And you can get an idea of what the mucus looks like (at the back of her throat). Unfortunately, the mouth pics show a little sand in her beak, but you should get an idea of what I'm referring to.

Please let me know what you think.

 

[casportpony]

Need to look at the pictures on a proper screen, this ipad is too small for these eye. Will reply after I do.

-Kathy

 

[Krazy4Chicks]

My hen (Zoey) seems to be eating a little better now, but still has a little trouble swallowing because of the mucus. She has most trouble with dry things -- seems like it gets caught in her throat.

Anyway, she's on her last day of Fish Zole (day 5). I know I was told to give it to her for 5 days, but because of the mucus, should I continue for a couple more days? Or stop and see how she does?

She's been out in our planter area eating worms and bugs, and she had caught a little frog and tortured it and ate it. I'm hoping that was okay for her to eat, especially with this darn Canker stuff. But she was enjoying herself so much, that I didn't really think about it until after she ate it.

 

[casportpony]

I had a hen with mucus and it turned out to be a yeast infection. If you wanted to try some fluconazole I could mail your a few pills to try.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluconazole


-Kathy

 

[Krazy4Chicks]

Thanks for the info, Kathy. Is it normal for a chicken that is given metronidazole (Fish Zole) to end up getting a yeast infection? Seems like one thing after another --- my poor baby! What is the dosage I would give to her, and for how long? Would a few pills do the trick? Is there anything else I can try --- maybe ACV in the water?

 

[casportpony]

Did the mucus show up before or after you started the metronidazole? That is one of the possible side effects of any antibiotic, but I've only had that happen when I've used Baytril or Clavamox. The fluconaloze pills are 100mg and I think the dose is 10mg/kg once a day, but will double check that if you're interested. I used it twice and it cleared the yeast up right away.

-Kathy

 

[Krazy4Chicks]

She had a more watery, clear mucus to start with (before the Fish Zole treatment was started), which is when I discovered the Canker sores. However, it seems a little thicker and a little milky-ish now. I finished the last Fish Zole treatment yesterday (pill #5). Besides the darn mucus thing, she is acting normal. When she eats anything dry (crumble, scratch, etc), she will hold her head up like she's having trouble getting it down. There've been a few times she eats, say her crumble or scratch mix, that she makes like a choking sound and shakes her head around (like she's dislodging something). Darn mucus! If you think the Fluconazole may possibly help, I would be so appreciative for a few pills to try. But if it's not a yeast infection, will the Fluconazole do any harm?

You've been so wonderful in trying to help, and I'm so appreciative!!

 

[casportpony]

It's *possible* that she had yeast and canker at the same time. When mine had yeast it was because they had wet pox and I thought I'd try treating with antibiotics, which is probably why the got the yeast infection. In both cases they had an opaque mucus and could hardly eat or drink and after three treatments it cleared right up. Both recovered from wet pox and yeast.

Another thing people don't talk too much about are capillary worms which some species can be found in the crop and esophagus, I think. Not sure if those could cause the symptoms you're seeing or not, but it might be a good idea to de-worm.

The best thing would be to have a vet check the mucus for yeast, but I know that's not an option for most people. If she were mine I would worm her aggressively for capillary worms and try some fluconazole, but I'd also be monitoring her weight daily. Do you have a kitchen scale?

-Kathy

 

[Krazy4Chicks]

I had wormed them with Valbazen about a month ago, so I don't think it would be worms. She's been pretty active the last couple of days, but just has this darn mucus thing continuing. Yesterday afternoon, while having her out roaming around in the yard, she had even shook her head and shook some of it out of her. I'm not noticing any sneezing; however, I am wondering if it could possibly be an URI. I hate to treat with antibiotics when I'm not sure, and the only antibiotic I have on hand is Tetroxy HCA-280. I'd love to bring in a sample to a vet, but they will end up charging me an office visit, along with the testing fee for the sample. My hubby said "no vet", as we just don't have the money that they would charge. Not only that, we don't have a vet nearby that even deals with chickens.

She's been eating mostly soft foods --- she absolutely loves scrambled eggs. The dry foods tend to make her gag from the mucus. I was kind of hoping this would start to go away on its own. I've also added ACV into the drinking water in the hopes that it will help.