Canker and swallen chicken face :(

[casportpony]

Avian dosing info:
http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/avmed/cam/09_therapeutic_agents.pdf

Which is from this book set:
http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/avmed/cam.html
Download the entire book (two volumes): Clinical Avian Medicine
(Large file - please allow several moments to download)

Another two book set:
http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/avmed/chapters.html

Penn State Poultry Health Handbook
http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/agrs52.pdf

 

[Ilona]

Thanks.

 

[casportpony]

I noticed my chicken having trouble swallowing, few days later she stopped eating and looked like she was about to die. When I looked inside her beak there was a growth in her beak that took up right lower half. From descriptions and pictures it looked like canker so I took it out. It smelled bad!!! I gave her about 20mL of water since she seemed dehydrated. Next day i started giving her 75mg of metronidazole daily. Today it's day 4 of antbiotic and she is eating better and even pecking her sisters. What I noticed though that right side of her face is swallen and so is her comb. Now I am worrying that she has a secondary infection that metronidazole won't cover. What antibiotic is used for bacterial skin infections? I have oxytetracycline but not sure if it's appropriate. Also she has been leying soft shell eggs since she has been sick. Any insight is appreciated.

I've been having lots of egg problems this year, so I've been experimenting with calcium. You could try giving her some human calcium and see if that helps, but just remember that too much calcium can cause gout, so I wouldn't do it for very long. FWIW, my OEGB get 500mg, larger hens get 1000mg and my big turkeys get 2000mg, but never more than every other day for a few days.

 

[Ilona]

Chicken's face is still swollen but it's not worse. Today is day 5 of mentronidazole which should be last day. I don't know how long to wait before starting another antibiotic to cover staph or strep. I bought a microscope to look for those trichomonas but didnt find any which i supose it's a good sign. I did find bunch of things that looked like cocci. I guess i will have to get better swab tomorrow. May be I am just over analyzing.

 

[dawg53]

Keep in mind that both cocci and canker are protozoas. I dont know if they look the same under a microscope. Are there any respiratory symptoms? Facial swelling can occur with coryza, MG....but there are other symptoms.

 

[casportpony]

I'd also want to rule out yeast.

 

[Ilona]

No other symptoms.

 

[casportpony]

FYI, I had two with what looked like canker, so I treated both of them with Flagyl 200mg, but one kept getting worse and finally died. The hen that's still alive can't eat or drink, so I've been tube feeding her and now I'm going to start another course of metronidazole, but I'm also going to to treat her with Nystatin for yeast.

I really screwed up by not sending a sample of the roosters pus to the lab and I really should have sent him for a necropsy, but I've just been so busy taking care of the other animals and the house that I just didn't have the time or energy to do it.

Does your hen still have the yellow pus in her mouth? Is it possible that her swelling is actually full of pus?

 

[casportpony]

How's your hen?

 

[Ilona]

She is doing better, but swelling on her face is still there. She is not back to normal, I am going to start flagyl again, and I think I will do tetracycline as well, because now I am worrying about bacterial infection such as staph or strep. I am not sure if other hens are infected, but since they could be carriers of Trich I will have to watch for symptoms.
It's possible that my sick hen has puss in her face, but I don't want to try to get it right now to make anything worse. I will start injections of the tetracycline though. This antibiotic is broad spectrum and will cover all kinds of bacteria. I actually got it over the counter at some supply store but it is marketed for pigs and cows, so the injection is very small, actually 0.3 mL (which is 30mg, because concentration is 100mg/mL). I used it 2 years ago when one of my hens had respiratory track infection and it helped. I work at hospital so I was able to confiscate 1mL syringes and some 25g needles for injections.
Hope this info helps.