Canker

[chicknmania]

I have an eight year old Silkie mix hen, Izzy Lou, who has been acting a little lethargic and she's a little off her food. And avoiding the others. I caught her and she seems to be of good weight, no respiratory, no diarrhea. We looked in her mouth (she has black mouth and tongue) and across her tongue is a very faint band of lighter color. She also has another very small light spot in her mouth. She has no lesions and her breath smells fine, but I just wonder if this is Canker, and should I treat her for it? I have no idea if this is normal coloring in her mouth, because she has always been healthy and I've never treated her for anything since she was a chick, so I've never looked in her mouth. I have Canker tablets, but if this is Canker it's a pretty mild case; I've only seen two other cases in our flock in the past ten years. One died from it (because we didn't know what it was at the time) and the other one recovered. But both of them had symptoms that were a lot more conclusive. I just dewormed the flock with Levasol ten days ago and was getting ready to deworm them again tomorrow. I want to deworm her (Izzy Lou) too..because it's certainly possible she could have worms. So my questions are:

1) If I treat her with Canker tabs and she DOESN't have canker, will the medicine hurt her?
2) Does anyone know if it's normal for a Silkie to have that lighter band of color across the tongue?
3) If I treat her for Canker, how long should I wait before I deworm her? Or should I deworm her first and see if she improves?

 

[GitaBooks]

I don't think it is canker, though if you are worried treating her may be a good idea.

Sorry I don't know the answers about treating with medication, but lights spots could be normal, depending on her breed color and lineage.

I hope this helps: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/773308/canker-treatment

Best of luck!

 

[chicknmania]

We decided to deworm her first, then follow up with the Zyfend. If she doesn't improve we will check her mouth again, and see if there are changes which might warrant canker treatment. But she seems to be already improving a little after deworming today and soft food. It's probably worms..I'm guessing. Thanks for the input

 

[chicknmania]

WEll it did turn out to be canker, as she developed lesions on her tongue. I've treated her with the Flagyll for five days. Now the lesions have dissapeared but her entire tongue is white.

She still has the bar across the top of her mouth. She is eating ok but not great. What should I do now???? Hard to find copper sulfate here and I am scared of that stuff anyway....Could this be a yeast infection from the Flagyll? And if so, should I give her probiotics and continue with the Flagyll, or discontinue it and give probiotics, or ??????

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm no expert when it comes to medications, but I would certainly suggest putting her on antibiotics. Her tongue being white may just be scarring.

I'm glad she seems to be doing somewhat better. Continue offering vitamins and energy rich foods.

 

[ricebabyca]

WEll it did turn out to be canker, as she developed lesions on her tongue. I've treated her with the Flagyll for five days. Now the lesions have dissapeared but her entire tongue is white.

She still has the bar across the top of her mouth. She is eating ok but not great. What should I do now???? Hard to find copper sulfate here and I am scared of that stuff anyway....Could this be a yeast infection from the Flagyll? And if so, should I give her probiotics and continue with the Flagyll, or discontinue it and give probiotics, or ??????

I've treated many with metronidazole and haven't had any get yeast infections from it, though I guess it's possible.

 

[chicknmania]

I'm no expert when it comes to medications, but I would certainly suggest putting her on antibiotics. Her tongue being white may just be scarring.

I'm glad she seems to be doing somewhat better. Continue offering vitamins and energy rich foods.

Metronidazole is an antibiotic. I also read that side effects in people can be white patches on the tongue or gums. I'm sure it's not scarring. It covers her whole tongue.

 

[GitaBooks]

Metronidazole is an antibiotic. I also read that side effects in people can be white patches on the tongue or gums. I'm sure it's not scarring. It covers her whole tongue.

Sorry. I'm no expert.

 

[chicknmania]

I appreciate the input. I stopped the Metronidazole and am just trying to get her to eat some probiotic powder on fruit or whatever. She's doing ok, still eating pretty much OK. I'll check her mouth again in a couple of days.

 

[chicknmania]

I let her out today. Still has white mouth but less white. She is eating pretty well. I don't see any sign of lesions, OR the weird fuzzy light bars in her mouth. She's still not eating like I think she should, but it might be that she's getting depressed, so I'll see how she does. I think the canker is gone and the white is maybe a yeast infection. I hope so.