Ear infection in rooster

Date sort Score sort
Gooter

Gooter

In the Brooder
9 Years
Aug 19, 2010
49
1
32
central VA
Curious if anyone has any experience with this. My roo has some sort of bacterial infection in his ear.

About a week ago I noticed that his ear looked swollen. He had NOT been acting strange or scratching at it or showing ANY signs of irritation whatsoever, and it was only that I 'hang out' with my chickens from time to time that I noticed anything was wrong. I brought him in and let me tell you that ear STANK! ewwww! Anyway, I put him on tetracycline and as soon as my friend (a nurse) could come over, we carefully cleaned his ear and put triple antibiotic ointment in there. I kept him in as the weather was rainy and cold and just plain icky, and I wanted to watch him. He was very calm while we treated him and did NOT at any time shake his head or act like what we were doing to him bothered him at all.

Next day my other friend (a vet tech) was able to come over and her boss (the vet) had loaned her some tools and some ear/eye wash and some antibiotic drops (which I could not keep without paying the $50 it cost) and she pulled out a bunch of cream colored cheesy like stuff from deeper in his ear. He only showed mild discomfort because she was carefully going a bit deeper,...but she got it all out. Washed it out with the wash the vet gave her and then put triple antibiotic ointment in there and let him rest.

Next couple days his ear has remained clear, the stink is all gone and the color is very good...and he did not scratch at it or anything...

This morning it looks like the cheese is back in there again, and tho it still looks good, I personally feel that by now - a week - this should be clearing up a lot better than it is. He's been scratching at it today as well. It will be tomorrow before I can get the assistance to clear the cheese out of his ear again.

SO - my question is, is there a stronger antibiotic I can give him than tetracycline that will work on a bacterial infection? I have Norocillin injectable on hand. I do have Tylan, and while it's great for respiratory stuff like CRD which is bacterial in nature, I'm not sure it will help with an ear infection. I want this guy to get better and get back in with his girls! So does he!

I'd appreciate any help with this one. We've had a very wet mild winter here in Virginia this year and I"m sure the bacteria of all kinds are having quite the party in every chicken yard and elsewhere.
Thanks all!
 
Last edited:
Gooter said:
Curious if anyone has any experience with this. My roo has some sort of bacterial infection in his ear.

About a week ago I noticed that his ear looked swollen. He had NOT been acting strange or scratching at it or showing ANY signs of irritation whatsoever, and it was only that I 'hang out' with my chickens from time to time that I noticed anything was wrong. I brought him in and let me tell you that ear STANK! ewwww! Anyway, I put him on tetracycline and as soon as my friend (a nurse) could come over, we carefully cleaned his ear and put triple antibiotic ointment in there. I kept him in as the weather was rainy and cold and just plain icky, and I wanted to watch him. He was very calm while we treated him and did NOT at any time shake his head or act like what we were doing to him bothered him at all.

Next day my other friend (a vet tech) was able to come over and her boss (the vet) had loaned her some tools and some ear/eye wash and some antibiotic drops (which I could not keep without paying the $50 it cost) and she pulled out a bunch of cream colored cheesy like stuff from deeper in his ear. He only showed mild discomfort because she was carefully going a bit deeper,...but she got it all out. Washed it out with the wash the vet gave her and then put triple antibiotic ointment in there and let him rest.

Next couple days his ear has remained clear, the stink is all gone and the color is very good...and he did not scratch at it or anything...

This morning it looks like the cheese is back in there again, and tho it still looks good, I personally feel that by now - a week - this should be clearing up a lot better than it is. He's been scratching at it today as well. It will be tomorrow before I can get the assistance to clear the cheese out of his ear again.

SO - my question is, is there a stronger antibiotic I can give him than tetracycline that will work on a bacterial infection? I have Norocillin injectable on hand. I do have Tylan, and while it's great for respiratory stuff like CRD which is bacterial in nature, I'm not sure it will help with an ear infection. I want this guy to get better and get back in with his girls! So does he!

I'd appreciate any help with this one. We've had a very wet mild winter here in Virginia this year and I"m sure the bacteria of all kinds are having quite the party in every chicken yard and elsewhere.
Thanks all!
Click to expand...

My silkie roo has the same problem, I treat him with over the counter polysporum medicated eye and ears drops. I clean the ear of the ucky cheese stuff and then apply 2 drops 4 times a day for a week. No more ucky cheese stuff.
 
I had a rooster with the same thing. I only noticed it when he did scratch it. Not sure how it started. I cleaned and cleaned it and it got worse like you said, just filled up again with a cottage cheese type of infection. He would get better in summer but the infection never really went away and he quietly died, I think he just got worn down from fighting the infection.
I know this sounds crazy but I treated an eye infection with honey. Natural right from the hive unpasturized honey. I cleaned out the eye and dipped a q-tip in the honey and wiped into her eye. She was surprisingly calm.
I had tried the antibiotic eye drops and antibiotics in the water and although it helped the infection came back. I tried the honey as I was starting to think that the infection was growing at a faster rate and seemed completely reisistant to the antibiotic.
Honey has been used for centuries and is known to have antibiotic properties. I know how crazy it sounds and I would not have believed it but I have seen it work.
I would reccomend it, clean out the ear and swab it in. I treated my hen twice a day for just over a week. I check her regularly and so far she seems to have no sign of infection. She smelled too and the infection spread to her nasal cavity and the whole cavity in the roof of her mouth, she has noe now. I am a believer!
 
I had a rooster with an ear infection also. I decided to treat him through natural medicine as I did my son when he had 3 ear infrections and 3 rounds of antibiotics in a row . Every morning I made a mash with corn flour and probiotic yogurt,(you can use probiotic capsules also) which my chickens love, to which I added added a capsule of echinacea and vitamin A andE,( follow the dosage for chickens as too much of these vitamins can be harmful to chickens and humans too!). I gave this to all nine of my chickens to make sure no others would get sick, it won't hurt them. This will help him combat the infection. Every morning, since the mornings are cool here I would boil about an inch of grated ginger, a sprig of rosemary and three tablespoons of flaxseed to make a tea to warm him. He loved this.Test the tea as you would baby formula to make sure its cool enough. In the late afteernoon I would make another mash of corn flour with another echinacea capsule with one finely grated garlic clove, the garlic will kill any harmful bacteria. I' ve used goldenseal in the past also for this effect, At night before he cooped up I would put some eucaliptus oil on his beak near his nostrils to help decongest his ear. Make sure you keep him out of the rain or cold winds. The thing with natural cures is that you have to be religious about administering the cures but in the long run they're better. I cured 1 chicken and a 3 year old with no recurrences! GOOD LUCK!
 
Hi there, I know this is a while past when you wrote your post, but I would like to know what happened with your rooster? I am having the same problem with mine. He was on 10 days of Clavamox ($50!! good thing he's my pet), it cleared up but now, two days after stopping the meds they are getting the yucky smelly yellow cottage cheese back. I don't think i can afford anymore clavamox. Please let me know if you have any suggestions on what I can suggest to my vet or get over the counter. My vet is not a chicken vet and they pretty much just go by my suggestions with my chickens.

Thank you
 
I just recently had another rooster with an ear infection and tried a simpler treatment. I gave him a clove of garlic coated in oil so it would be easier to swallow along with an echinachea pill (you can get this at a natural health store), Whole Foods or some drugstore chains carry natural herbs. Echinachea is a flower common to the Midwest it is an immune booster that works on a cellular level. I also placed the rooster over a bowl of boiling water with a few drops of eucalyptus oil with a towel over him to loosen up his ears, I put my hand under the towel with him to make sure I didn't burn him. Make sure you keep him warm and out of winds and drafts. This treatment shouldn't cost more than 20 dollars. My first rooster recovered and I later sold him, I sometimes see him still. My second rooster recovered also. I hope this helps. Good Luck
 
I put peroxide in my chickens ear to get rid of his ear infection. I just dug some of the gunk out and poured a bit in for two days and it was gone. Never had a problem since.
 

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