A foul smelling.. *Ahem*... fowl!

[kellysmall87]

I posted a thread about my pullet I bought yday. Seemingly fine when I collected her, but as she was sitting down in her box and looking alert, she looked fine. Got her home and I noticed the stink. I thought it was just the smell of the breeders house as it had a lot of birds in there as well as rabbits. After two baths, the chicken still stinks. She smells so bad that my hands smell for AGES after handling her despite my efforts to hand sanitize and shower!! She is covered with mites too. IS this the reason she smells or is there another reason? It seems to not be coming from her vent (looks healthy btw) or her mouth (looks healthy too). It seems to be coming from her skin! Is there any infections I should be looking out for? There are no injuries as far as I can tell.

Also, should I give 1/4 metronidzole tablet with garlic in some tonic water? To see if I can sort this out?
Mite spray is on the way!
Thanks,Kelly.

 

[nok13]

i had a rescue chicken that is no longer, she also stank, i too thought about bathing and whatever but irealized the smell was coming from her: she apparently had an eye infection, and she would sleep with her head under her wing so that all the pus and gunk would stay stuck on her neck feathers. she stank to high heaven but it was the smell of bad infection (sweet sickly ), so check to see hwere she puts her head at night , lift her feathers to see if it is from gunk , also, could be mouth infection (internal) , i think respirotory infections/sinus also cause disgusting smell (cant remember if i saw that written here or somewhere else)... my hchicken had suffered from what i think was black pox, which can also cause internal scarring in the respiroatory system and infection.

 

[dawg53]

i had a rescue chicken that is no longer, she also stank, i too thought about bathing and whatever but irealized the smell was coming from her: she apparently had an eye infection, and she would sleep with her head under her wing so that all the pus and gunk would stay stuck on her neck feathers. she stank to high heaven but it was the smell of bad infection (sweet sickly ), so check to see hwere she puts her head at night , lift her feathers to see if it is from gunk , also, could be mouth infection (internal) , i think respirotory infections/sinus also cause disgusting smell (cant remember if i saw that written here or somewhere else)... my hchicken had suffered from what i think was black pox, which can also cause internal scarring in the respiroatory system and infection.

Infectious Coryza.

 

[kellysmall87]

I've checked her all over and there is no mucus or anything from her nose or eyes. Her eyes are sharp and focused like they should be. I opened her beak and smelled and its not coming from there. I felt her crop and there is nothing in it, she is eating a bit though.
Her vent is clear, her feathers are ok apart from tail down all of the time, although she has some feathers missing from the mites or a moult.
Im at a loss as to why she smells!

 

[Suzie]

Oh goodness Kelly...

As if there were not enough problems with your girl....I hope you get some compensation from the dreadful person you purchased this sick chicken from!

Two ideas come to mind... has she eaten something that could permeate through her skin and feathers? Or, maybe she has come into contact with fox poo... now that will smell for at least a week.... believe me... my dogs have rolled in fox poo and the ONLY way to stop the awful smell is to wash them with ......TOMATO KETCHUP... it does work! You would be well advised to put on a pair of marigold gloves and wash her thoroughy - maybe worth a try!

 

[kellysmall87]

Maybe that is something i could try! I will try anything at this stage! It's so weird... I can tell its a smell that a chicken shouldn't have. I have asked the person for a refund and they said they dont have paypal but will drop some money off once they are in town... So i take it as i wont get any money back! Not to worry, my main focus is this poorly girl. She's called Delilah, and im sure she will be great once she gets better. Meanwhile.... where's the ketchup?! haha!

 

[Suzie]

No home in England is without Heinz Tomato Ketchup !!!!!!!

Delilah is a wonderful name! Maybe you should tell the person that sold Delilah to you that you are going to speak to Trading Standards.... that normally gets them to sort it out quickly!

Good Luck!

Keep us informed

 

[kellysmall87]

Ha true!! I have two bottles! LOL!!

Yeah I'll try the trading standards route. Animals arent difficult to keep are they... I mean, food, warmth, cleanliness and water are all they basically and truly need. There's just no need to make an animal suffer...

I shall keep you informed.. Ill update in a day or two. xx

 

[nok13]

personally i wouldnt wash her at the moment; try food, anti lice/mites or whatever, and let her recuperate first. after all u arent sleeping with her; ARE YOU? ... what about candida? my ***** lilee stinks if i dont keep her icky icky ears cleaned with some special herbal stuff i got from the states which seems to keep the ear smelly icky candida dried up and smell-less.. i als wash her once a week with vaginal soap (some special ph balanced liquid soap , i kid u all not) and then rinse her with white vinegar. smell=less... and her skin has cleared ups a bit (yes i know change foods but i cant at this time, afford the 'good' expensive speciallty foods nor the BARF diets.. .anyhow, could be some sort of fungal something if the chicken has a lowered immune system ?

thinking out loud. maybe try to give her bio yougurt as some other posters have mentioned in other health threads...?

and yes infectios coryza (cold/sinus infection) was the disease i was thinking of... they stink to high heavens from their nose/eyes/beaks....

 

[kellysmall87]

Ha, no definitely not sleeping with her! She is currently quarantined in my garage with a heat lamp. The smell is going gradually; I dust her daily with DE and have been giving her antibiotics + tonic. She is definitely picking up. There's no discharge from any orifice. It's very weird! Her tail is still down however. Thanks for the replies.