Is this wet pox, canker, or something else? Please help.

[Breezed]

You will need to be resourceful in finding the right tool. It must be hard edged but with a blunted, no pointed, tip and small enough to fit in the chicken's mouth. Pull open your kitchen junk drawer and your kitchen utensil drawer. A small measuring spoon might work. If that fails, look in your bathroom drawers. A cuticle tool would work. No, a Q-tip won't loosen the lesions.

Perfect. I have plenty of tools I think I can try. I ordered the medicine but it won’t be here for a full week. I don’t know if she’ll make it that long. My first experience with canker and it’s not fun.

 

[azygous]

Call around to feed stores and see if they have copper sulfate penhydrate. It's used to treat stock ponds and water troughs. (It's also used to treat our drinking water reservoirs.) If you find some, I'll instruct you how to make a solution to treat the chickens' drinking water. It kills the canker. Then when the med comes, you can finish off what's left of the canker. with it. Amazon would also have copper sulfate, and you can buy the smallest bag they offer. Only a very tiny bit is used for the solution. A small bag will last a lifetime. If you have Prime, it could arrive very quickly.

Canker is spread by pigeons. Do you have a lot of pigeons hanging around? If so, treating any standing water around the premises on a regular basis can keep canker under control so this doesn't crop up again in your flock.

Using copper sulfate requires carefully following instructions, so don't just open the bag and dump it directly into the water. It's a little more complicated. I'll give you instructions.

 

[Breezed]

Call around to feed stores and see if they have copper sulfate penhydrate. It's used to treat stock ponds and water troughs. (It's also used to treat our drinking water reservoirs.) If you find some, I'll instruct you how to make a solution to treat the chickens' drinking water. It kills the canker. Then when the med comes, you can finish off what's left of the canker. with it. Amazon would also have copper sulfate, and you can buy the smallest bag they offer. Only a very tiny bit is used for the solution. A small bag will last a lifetime. If you have Prime, it could arrive very quickly.

Canker is spread by pigeons. Do you have a lot of pigeons hanging around? If so, treating any standing water around the premises on a regular basis can keep canker under control so this doesn't crop up again in your flock.

Using copper sulfate requires carefully following instructions, so don't just open the bag and dump it directly into the water. It's a little more complicated. I'll give you instructions.

Thank you so much. I was reading about the copper sulfate as well but on Amazon for overnight delivery I had no idea what to buy. They have fine large liquid. I was overwhelmed with the choices. But hoping TSC or one of those have it today. Thank you very much for the help.

 

[azygous]

Her are the instructions on using copper sulfate pentahydrate. You will not be mixing the blue crystals directly into the drinking water, nor must the crystals in their dry form be anywhere near your chickens. You must take care not to breath any dust from them as they are extremely caustic. Wash off if any contact your skin. In the dry form copper sulfate is a dangerous substance.

However, mixed into water in the proper proportions, it is very safe. But first it's necessary to mix up a stock solution which you will use to treat the drinking water.

Stock solution :

1/2 cup copper sulfate crystals
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 quart water

Allow an hour for the crystals to completely dissolve.

This stock solution will be used to add to the flock's drinking water at the following proportions (notice that it takes very little copper sulfate solution to treat water.) 1 1/2 teaspoons of stock solution in 2 quarts of water. This is what you will give the chickens to drink the same as they always drink water.

 

[Breezed]

Her are the instructions on using copper sulfate pentahydrate. You will not be mixing the blue crystals directly into the drinking water, nor must the crystals in their dry form be anywhere near your chickens. You must take care not to breath any dust from them as they are extremely caustic. Wash off if any contact your skin. In the dry form copper sulfate is a dangerous substance.

However, mixed into water in the proper proportions, it is very safe. But first it's necessary to mix up a stock solution which you will use to treat the drinking water.

Stock solution :

1/2 cup copper sulfate crystals
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 quart water

Allow an hour for the crystals to completely dissolve.

This stock solution will be used to add to the flock's drinking water at the following proportions (notice that it takes very little copper sulfate solution to treat water.) 1 1/2 teaspoons of stock solution in 2 quarts of water. This is what you will give the chickens to drink the same as they always drink water.

Great instructions and seems clear and easy to follow. However, my husband bought Acidified Copper Sulfate and it should be delivered today. I've read about it but want to confirm here how to properly dispense it? I know I don't have to do the above in terms of acidifying it but I do still make a solution with it and dispense from there? I have been gently debriding her mouth a little each day and using hydrogen peroxide on a paper towel to disinfect. She doesn't smell as bad and has no more bubbling from the sides of her mouth. Her tongue is loose now but is a bulbous grey mass. Yuck. She does have food and water and she is still active, as much as she can be in a dog travel kennel. I've seen posts about giving chickens a very small dose of infant Motrin for the pain before debriding but I haven't done that. What it be ok?

 

[azygous]

Follow my directions. Just leave out the ACV when making your stock solution.

 

[Breezed]

Follow my directions. Just leave out the ACV when making your stock solution.

Perfect, that's what I thought. Thank you so much for all your help. I did find several of your helpful responses to other people's posts and I really appreciate that.

 

[Breezed]

Update and more questions at the end: This was the process I followed based on everyone's help here and also my own instincts and online research. I may not do it all correctly but so far it seems to be working for me and my flock.

For the first 2 days I gave the hen (only one showing symptoms at the time) ACV in her water and carefully scraped what I could in small periods to not cause her too much pain and discomfort and disinfected the bleeding areas with hydrogen peroxide on a wet paper towel. A small wood cuticle pusher/stick works GREAT for scraping and seemed to be the least intrusive. It's a soft wood so it's not sharp yet it's sturdy enough to not break and they don't splinter. On the fourth day I received the Metronidazole and followed the directions on the package to start treating her. A few days into this another hen could barely breathe so I checked and her entire throat was covered in sores with only a tiny opening. I immediately put her in the sick pen with the other one; however, because the sores were so far back I couldn't scrape them out. I filled a tiny syringe with the treated water and administered very carefully down her throat ensuring not to drown/suffocate her considering how small the opening was. Within a few hours, she started drinking on her own and by the end of the 2nd day of her treatment, she was no longer wheezing and the sores in her throat were significantly smaller but still worrisome. I finally got the Acidified Copper Sulfate. I haven't given it to the 2 hens in the sick pen since they are on the Metronidazole. Doesn't seem like they need both.
For the flock though, I have been dispensing the ACS in all waterers since several in the past few days started showing symptoms. I caught a few and they did appear to have the start of sores in the throat/mouth. After a few days of only having access to that water, the hens I knew had the start of sores have either reduced the sores in size or completely gone. I really didn't want to have to go through egg withdrawal for my whole flock. Maybe I'm wrong for that but I'm doing what I feel is best in my situation. As a note, our chickens are just backyard companions but I'm obsessed with them. We don't eat them.

1. Is ACS enough to TREAT canker or will the entire flock end up still needing the Metronidazole?? If I have to do it, I will. I just don't like overmedicating my animals if it's not necessary.

2. Can you still eat eggs? Obviously not the ones on antibiotics but the ones that show possible canker but only being treated with ACS.

3. Should I seriously have culled the entire flock? Not saying I will but just want multiple opinions on this. I just don't see that as realistic for me because I will never be rid of wild birds in my area and so far have found no way to prevent them and my chickens from drinking from common water sources, whether it is the chicken waterers or a puddle. I'm by no means saying my flock is large but culling 50-60 of them is a daunting task. I know how and have done it but not sure I have it in me to do that many. I think if I had to do that I'd just give up and not get any more chickens. My flock is all free range except the youngest so it's not a lack of cleanliness. They only go in coops at night to sleep and all but the babies are in mobile coops so they get moved every few days to new soil/grass.

4. Any other tips/advice/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[azygous]

Good work! Canker is treatable and there's no need to cull unless you've simply not got the time to administer the treatment. You've been handling it great.

The objective is to control the source of the parasite. Eliminate communal drinking sources that pigeons have access to. They are what spreads canker. Any puddles or other water sources the chickens may stumble on, try to treat with the copper sulfate to keep the parasites from colonizing it. Think of the protozoa as miniscule mosquitoes.

 

[Breezed]

Good work! Canker is treatable and there's no need to cull unless you've simply not got the time to administer the treatment. You've been handling it great.

The objective is to control the source of the parasite. Eliminate communal drinking sources that pigeons have access to. They are what spreads canker. Any puddles or other water sources the chickens may stumble on, try to treat with the copper sulfate to keep the parasites from colonizing it. Think of the protozoa as miniscule mosquitoes.

Hmm, I've been trying to get creative with the water issue. But in SWFL we are very wet and rain season is about to start so always have puddles, etc. The main puddle right now is a drainage grate from our water system that overflows in the yard sometimes so I poured a batch of ACS on it last night, thinking even if there isn't always standing water in it, it's still there at for a little bit. I'm glad you said that it an option. Thanks again for all the help!