3 year old silkie boy with strange face swelling

[kai1006]

Good morning everyone! I come today with a strange case.

A few days ago, we noticed our 3 year old silkie rooster Tweek had a swollen eye. We treated it by giving him nutridrench and vetrx. Though no improvements where noticed, he acted almost normal, so we weren't too concerned. Last night when I put him to bed, though, I noticed his comb looked swollen, so I figured that it had gotten worse. Come this morning, we got a much better look at him, and sure enough both eyes were swollen, along with his comb, wattles and most of his face, really. We also noticed small whiteish lesions down his throat. We also noticed a small red swollen spot near the base of his neck/top of his chest (should be the first picture), its skin level and rather squishy, but only the size of a pea. He's still acting mostly normal, thankfully, eating, drinking, crowing, ect, but this condition is looking severe.

We're very confused what this could be! He received a fowl pox vaccine last year (wing-stick, as we had a minor outbreak in a flock or two) and his only flockmate hen is seemingly perfectly healthy! Any and all help and assistance is greatly appreciated thank you!!

 

[Eggcessive]

What is your general location? Do you have bees, wasps, or something else that may have stung him on the head? Was he alone when the eye was swollen? Could he have been pecked? Does the beak have a bad odor? The white inside the beak could be canker or a fungal infection (thrush.) Bacterial or viral respiratory diseases can cause exudate or gunk in the bak and throat. Just hard to know for sure without vet care or testing.

Have you ever seen a respiratory disease in the flock before? Has he sneezed, coughed, or had crackly breathing?

 

[-Isla June-]

Oh no! I’m not sure on how to help, but here are some great mentions: @Kiki @nuthatched

 

[-Isla June-]

Oh no! I’m not sure on how to help, but here are some great mentions: @Kiki @nuthatched

I have learned to not help emergency problems.

 

[kai1006]

What is your general location? Do you have bees, wasps, or something else that may have stung him on the head? Was he alone when the eye was swollen? Could he have been pecked? Does the beak have a bad odor? The white inside the beak could be canker or a fungal infection (thrush.) Bacterial or viral respiratory diseases can cause exudate or gunk in the bak and throat. Just hard to know for sure without vet care or testing.

Have you ever seen a respiratory disease in the flock before? Has he sneezed, coughed, or had crackly breathing?

To get this out of they way first, he only has a single flockmate, a very old blind hen who has a clipped beak, who, seems to show no symptoms of illness. We live in south NJ in a fairly marshy area, it certainly could have been a bug of some type. We've got all sorts of them around her for sure! The beak also does seem to have a bad odor.

Edit: he also didn't seem to have any main symptoms of respiratory issues, aside from his eyes/nose being a bit goopy.

 

[Eggcessive]

Usually a bad odor and yellow matter inside the beak on the tongue, throat, or elsewhere, can be canker, a protozoan infection. That looks very white in the picture, so I don’t know if that could be canker. Canker is treated with Aqua Zole for fish, or some use acidified copper sulfate in the water. The swelling on the comb is very interesting. I’m going to tag a few others to look at your pictures for suggestions. @casportpony @Wyorp Rock rock @dawg53

 

[dawg53]

I'm not familiar with Silkies and not sure about the swollen comb. The bad odor could possibly be Canker as mentioned by Eggcessive.

You mentioned that Tweek had a Fowl Pox vaccine last year. Did you inspect the wing web "stick" to see if it "took." You shouldve seen a small scab at the vaccine site. If not, then the vaccine didnt take or was out of date and ineffective.
If it did "take," it's entirely possible a different strain of pox mightve infected Tweek.
If that's the case, it might be the cause of the swollen comb, the lesion in the mouth (wet pox) and possibly the eye/nose being goopy unless a respiratory disease is involved.
I doubt the latter because your old hen would be showing symptoms.
If you decide to treat for canker, here's where you can get Metronidazole:
https://www.jefferspet.com/aqua-zole-250-mg-60-ct/p

 

[kai1006]

Usually a bad odor and yellow matter inside the beak on the tongue, throat, or elsewhere, can be canker, a protozoan infection. That looks very white in the picture, so I don’t know if that could be canker. Canker is treated with Aqua Zole for fish, or some use acidified copper sulfate in the water. The swelling on the comb is very interesting. I’m going to tag a few others to look at your pictures for suggestions. @casportpony @Wyorp Rock rock @dawg53

I'm not familiar with Silkies and not sure about the swollen comb. The bad odor could possibly be Canker as mentioned by Eggcessive.

You mentioned that Tweek had a Fowl Pox vaccine last year. Did you inspect the wing web "stick" to see if it "took." You shouldve seen a small scab at the vaccine site. If not, then the vaccine didnt take or was out of date and ineffective.
If it did "take," it's entirely possible a different strain of pox mightve infected Tweek.
If that's the case, it might be the cause of the swollen comb, the lesion in the mouth (wet pox) and possibly the eye/nose being goopy unless a respiratory disease is involved.
I doubt the latter because your old hen would be showing symptoms.
If you decide to treat for canker, here's where you can get Metronidazole:
https://www.jefferspet.com/aqua-zole-250-mg-60-ct/p

I had a bunch if aqua zole leftover from when another flock of mine caught canker about 4 months back. As for the stuff with the pox vaccine I can't say for certain if it took for sure, as he received it well over a year ago.

 

[dawg53]

I dont know if you know this, but birds with canker are carriers for life and will spread it to other birds. It can be passed via waterers.