Blisters inside mouth, stinky green discharge, open beak

[Porch Chickens]

My daughter, Sirena's chickens are just about 6 months old. (she's a member on this site but is at school so I"m posting for her today). She has 5 assorted birds, all big and healthy and beautiful. Plus two fancy bantam types, which are still mostly seperated because they are new.

One of our two Araucanas, Cleo is sick now. She started holding her beak open 2 days ago, and drooling on the feathers around her mouth. My daughter had just given some crushed dried egg shell for the first time,so we at first though she might have hurt her mouth on a sharp piece. Then she deveoped two bumps inside her mouth, one top and one bottom, which at first were the same color as the rest of the mouth, but one now appears to be looking more like a blister. Today there is greenish fishy smelly discharge from the beak, too.

My daughter did try giving some olive oil and warm water the first day and tried to massage her crop holding her upside down, in case she had some long grass in there, as we do let the chickens graze our yard and they eat some grass. (read about this treatment on this forum) Nothing came up-- and it's funny, but my daughter says she can't feel this chickens crop at all, wheras it's no problem to fine on the healthy birds.

One of the other chickens did have a couple of what seemed to be dry pox on it's head two weeks ago and did sound a little gurgly for a few days, but it went away quickly and we had no more problems with that one.

I did see her trying to eat yesterday when I fed them all at bedtime. She seemed to be getting food into herself. We've seperated her this morning and we gave her some warm oatmeal with a little banana in it in case it hurts her to eat the hard food, I think she's eaten some, as it has some dirt in it now, so she must have been dipping her beak in the bowl.

The 5 large birds, including this one, are housed in a coop together (the other two are new to the flock and are bantam breeds so we are keeping seperated at first). The coop is inside a fairly large run (run is big enough that a group of people can stand inside and visit the chickens) that also has a chicken wire top to keep out hawks, and a strip of shade material in one area for when it's hot.
We also let them roam our large yard most days. Their water is in a bucket with chicken nipples but they also like to find puddles to drink out of when the sprinklers have been on. I don't put any weed killer or pesticides on anything and don't think we have any poisonous plants where they go.

We'd like to treat her at home if we can find out what to do and get what she needs. Vets are expensive. There is an avian vet here, but I'd like to avoid that expense if I can. Haveing eggs was supposed to save us money, but with 7 chickens who are now, of course, beloved pets, I can see this getting pricey!

I am attaching a photo of Cleo. Thanks for any advice you can offer.: )
Monta
Sirena's Mom

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I don't know but here regarding canker (yeast or other infection):
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/154/trichomoniasis-canker-frounce

and:
http://www.avianweb.com/canker.html

here regarding wet avian pox (also causes cankers in mouth):
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

Green drainage can signify a bacterial infection in people, don't know about chickens.

http://www.poultry.msstate.edu/extension/pdf/diseases_poultry_diagnosis_symptoms.pdf
see here under mouth

 

[Porch Chickens]

I ended up taking our girl, Cleo, to the vet, as overnight shipping of meds would have been higher in price than a basic vet visit with one presciption. Of course in the end the visit included a lot more than the basic visit and one prescription, but I think our girl would have died without treatment.

At first vet said he'd be very surprised if she had the trichomoniasis, as he said it's quite rare. I had told him my 12 year old daughter (S. Briant on this forum) had done research and seen photos online and that she thought it might very well be this, so he decided to take a wet-mount slide for it, just in case. Well, guess what? She did indeed have trichomoniasis (thank goodness for smart daughters and Backyard Chickens.com!)! She also has at least one bacterial infection as well. Vet put her on Baytrill and Flagyll, gave her some fluids and gave her a huge plunger full of food straight down her throat with a long tube. We hadn't been able to find her crop because she hadn't been eating and drinking and she felt full after the vet.

We were given medicine and were told to keep her inside to recover. We are on day 4 of the antibiotics and also giving her small syringes of water and thin gruel a few times a day right down her crop. This morning, she began drinking on her own again and ate a bunch of banana and some thicker paste made from her food. Then we tried some of her food just dry, and she was able to eat some!
So, she's on the mend now. Husband was none too happy that the vet bill ended up being $202 in the end, however, now we've ordered antibiotics and know what to look for, so if any of the others come down sick, we will be able to nip-it-in-the-bud before it gets so bad.

Thanks for the advice!
M. Briant at Porch Chickens

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I ended up taking our girl, Cleo, to the vet, as overnight shipping of meds would have been higher in price than a basic vet visit with one presciption. Of course in the end the visit included a lot more than the basic visit and one prescription, but I think our girl would have died without treatment.

At first vet said he'd be very surprised if she had the trichomoniasis, as he said it's quite rare. I had told him my 12 year old daughter (S. Briant on this forum) had done research and seen photos online and that she thought it might very well be this, so he decided to take a wet-mount slide for it, just in case. Well, guess what? She did indeed have trichomoniasis (thank goodness for smart daughters and Backyard Chickens.com!)! She also has at least one bacterial infection as well. Vet put her on Baytrill and Flagyll, gave her some fluids and gave her a huge plunger full of food straight down her throat with a long tube. We hadn't been able to find her crop because she hadn't been eating and drinking and she felt full after the vet.

We were given medicine and were told to keep her inside to recover. We are on day 4 of the antibiotics and also giving her small syringes of water and thin gruel a few times a day right down her crop. This morning, she began drinking on her own again and ate a bunch of banana and some thicker paste made from her food. Then we tried some of her food just dry, and she was able to eat some!
So, she's on the mend now. Husband was none too happy that the vet bill ended up being $202 in the end, however, now we've ordered antibiotics and know what to look for, so if any of the others come down sick, we will be able to nip-it-in-the-bud before it gets so bad.

Thanks for the advice!
M. Briant at Porch Chickens

You are welcome! I am so happy that you were able to get prescriptions and such from your blessed vet! Thank God for vets!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Glad that you were able to save her. Did the vet say how she got trichomoniasis? The meds he gave her are excellent meds.

 

[Michael Apple]

Enfloxil 10% is the same as Baytril and can be bought from some poultry sites. I use 1/4 cc in a standard breed. It's not labeled for use in chickens but I just give it a withdrawal period as you would any other injectible. It's one thing I like to keep in the Poultry med cabinet.

 

[Porch Chickens]

The vet says she may have got it from a new Silkie we brought into the flock, although he seemed to think it unlikely when I told him that bird was only added two weeks before the symptoms started, and we had mostly kept that bird seperate from the others until very recently, because it was new and different from all the others, so they would tend to pick on her. The Silkie still appears perfectly healthy, as do all the others. We got the sick one and all the others, except the Silkie, at the same time, and they are all healthy.

We do have many sparrows and mockingbirds in the yard, but rarely see a pigion or dove right in our yard. They are definetly around though and some people feed them nearby.
Who knows? I just hope the others stay healthy. I can't afford to take 7 chickens to the vet at $202 each! I've ordered some Flagyll tabs from a place that sells for pigeons. I'll have to see if I can also get the Baytril.
Cleo is still inside and taking her meds, but she can hear the flock outside the window and she talks to them. She's anxious to get back out there, poor girl!

 

[Michael Apple]

Let us know how they recover. I'm glad they have a responsible person looking after them. Good job.

 

[jlblock01]

Did you find a Flagyll source in the US or are you in the UK? I have been trying to build my "medicine cabinet" for our girls ever since we had a sick leghorn a few weeks ago (she is still convalescing inside in a dog crate... At any rate I haven't had any luck with finding Flagyll to date.... I did find a site once you posted about your tabs being intended for pigeons but it seems to be a European site giving the prices in pounds rather than dollars.

Thanks for any info anyone can share!

 

[Porch Chickens]

It was in the US. It's called Siegels Pigeons.