Stinky discharge from nose

[carolthom]

I have a year old chicken that has been sneezing and sounding congested for a couple of months now. It hasn't gotten any worse, and she hasn't shown any signs of distress, so I decided to let run its course ( I don't use antibiotics unless necessary). Yesterday I noticed that she was walking a little strange, side stepping all of my other chickens oddly, like she couldn't see them well. This morning I caught her, and I noticed an awful smell. Under her eyes and toward her beak is swollen, and she has colored discharge coming from her nose. She doesn't wheeze, she's eating and drinking normally, and her eyes are clear. I thought it might be Coryza, but she hasn't infected any of my other birds, and she's had it for months. Any ideas on what she has, or what I should do?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Quote:

I have a year old chicken that has been sneezing and sounding congested for a couple of months now. It hasn't gotten any worse, and she hasn't shown any signs of distress, so I decided to let run its course ( I don't use antibiotics unless necessary). Yesterday I noticed that she was walking a little strange, side stepping all of my other chickens oddly, like she couldn't see them well. This morning I caught her, and I noticed an awful smell. Under her eyes and toward her beak is swollen, and she has colored discharge coming from her nose. She doesn't wheeze, she's eating and drinking normally, and her eyes are clear. I thought it might be Coryza, but she hasn't infected any of my other birds, and she's had it for months. Any ideas on what she has, or what I should do?

Do you have photos?
Especially of the eyes and nose?
Do her eyes look different?
I would separate her from the flock, she has some type of illness/infection.
See if you can get the nasty discharge removed, use some wet qtips, tweezers, or something to see if you can get it loosened. Flush the eyes with saline and then you can apply something like Vetericyn eye gel or Terramycin eye ointment in the eyes.
A couple of possibilities marek's can cause visual, balance and eye problems as well as have discharge, but the smell fits coryza.
Can you take her to a vet and have her tested? Antibiotics may be your only course of action, but time will tell. At the very least I would give her some vitamins and electrolytes in the mean time.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/90/mareks-disease/
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/82/infectious-coryza/
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p...verview_of_infectious_coryza_in_chickens.html
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[carolthom]

Here is the best I could get. Her eyes are drooping and are a little runny now. Earlier this morning she had white discharge, but now there is none.

If it was Coryza, could she have it this long, and not give it to anyone? Or, could she have had something else and it turn into this?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The stinky discharge makes me think Coryza, but the timeline doesn't necessarily fit, if she has been with the flock the whole time and no one else has shown any symptoms. It could be another respiratory illness such as MG (mycoplasma-gallisepticum) which you can treat with antibiotics. Be aware even if it is MG, they will be carriers for life, I suggest you read the info I have provided you. If you can, I would suggest you get her tested, by a vet, to make sure. The stumbling and eye sight problems read as marek's. There is a chart of symptoms down at the very bottom of the page of this web link that you may find helpful: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

It does look like her nares (nostrils) are blocked, I would see if you could get some of that gunk out, you will probably need help, soften the "snot" with some peroxide and use something like a toothepick to work on getting it out, it make take a few days, I bet you will find a plug. The eye, flush with saline, see if there is any pus/discharge that you can get out with a qtip and then put the ointments I mentioned in the eye. (Instructions on how to clear a blocked nare) http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article.html

Info on MG
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/disea...tion-mg-chronic-respiratory-disease-chickens/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...pticum-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do-please-help

You ask "could she have had something else and it turn into this?" The only way to know for sure, is to have her tested, do you have a vet that can do that for you?

There are always other possibilities, it could have originally started with food, dirt, etc. getting into the nares or eyes and it festering into an infection. There really is no way to tell at this point.

 

[carolthom]

We had a hen die of Marek's about a year and a half ago, so I know what the symptoms look like, and this isn't what she has. Oddly enough, the one hen that got Marek's was the only hen to get it.

We had an out break around that time of MG, when I brought some new hens into my flock. So, all of my current flock, aside from her, has had MG. We got her this past summer, so maybe she caught it from our hens?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We had a hen die of Marek's about a year and a half ago, so I know what the symptoms look like, and this isn't what she has. Oddly enough, the one hen that got Marek's was the only hen to get it.

We had an out break around that time of MG, when I brought some new hens into my flock. So, all of my current flock, aside from her, has had MG. We got her this past summer, so maybe she caught it from our hens?

Yes, if she is "new" and your existing flock had previously had MG, then she most likely contracted it from them, and they are not showing symptoms at this time. Stress could cause any of them to start showing symptoms again. Any new birds that you bring in in the future will most likely contract it as well.