Canker or Fowl Pox???

[Chicken_Hannah]

Hi everyone,

Last night, I noticed my 5 year old Bluebell has 2 flat yellow lesions in her beak - please see photos attached.

You can also see one of her nostrils is slightly swollen and she's breathing with her mouth open a lot.

Does anyone recognise what this is and do I need to take her to the vet ASAP?

Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you smell a bad odor from her beak? Have you seen any dry fowl pox scabs on her or your other chickens? It may be canker (trichomoniasis protozoan infection) if it smells bad. That can invade the tongue, cheeks, throat, esophagus, and crop wall, and block the airway. Wet fowl pox may look similar, but you would probably notice pox lesions and scabs on the face, comb, and wattles of her or others. Metronidazole or flagyl is a drug that can treat it. Ronidazole is another. Acidified copper sulfate is another treatment, and dosage is 1/4 tsp per gallon of water for 5-7 days. I would make sure to know what it is before using drugs to treat it. Is a vet possible to take a piece of the yellow material and look at it under a microscope?

I would clean the nostrils with a few drops of 1/2 strength hydrogen peroxide and let that set a few minutes to soften. Then using a wooden toothpick, very gently try to clean out any mucus, crust or hardened feed.

Here is where to find metronidazole, and they also sell acidified copper sulfate:
https://jedds.com/products/metronid...XvOQOxb00MBVXPAQ2PuPh3cHOUhocwATXHkXpTyH3UP29

https://jedds.com/products/acidifie...79325&pr_ref_pid=6832845390013&pr_seq=uniform

 

[Chicken_Hannah]

Do you smell a bad odor from her beak? Have you seen any dry fowl pox scabs on her or your other chickens? It may be canker (trichomoniasis protozoan infection) if it smells bad. That can invade the tongue, cheeks, throat, esophagus, and crop wall, and block the airway. Wet fowl pox may look similar, but you would probably notice pox lesions and scabs on the face, comb, and wattles of her or others. Metronidazole or flagyl is a drug that can treat it. Ronidazole is another. Acidified copper sulfate is another treatment, and dosage is 1/4 tsp per gallon of water for 5-7 days. I would make sure to know what it is before using drugs to treat it. Is a vet possible to take a piece of the yellow material and look at it under a microscope?

I would clean the nostrils with a few drops of 1/2 strength hydrogen peroxide and let that set a few minutes to soften. Then using a wooden toothpick, very gently try to clean out any mucus, crust or hardened feed.

Here is where to find metronidazole, and they also sell acidified copper sulfate:
https://jedds.com/products/metronid...XvOQOxb00MBVXPAQ2PuPh3cHOUhocwATXHkXpTyH3UP29

https://jedds.com/products/acidifie...79325&pr_ref_pid=6832845390013&pr_seq=uniform

Thank you so much for your advice @Eggsessive. Her breath does smell worse than how she usually smells, if that makes sense! An update for you..

We cleaned the nostril and managed to get out this big yellow cheesy plug. Could that be related to canker or a separate issue/coincidence? She is still open-mouth breathing a lot.

I ordered some Ronidazole this morning and I've been emailing the vet, but I suspect I won't hear til Monday. I'm just so worried this could be a death sentence.