Case of Canker? How Best to Treat? If not canker, then what?

[Kathy Golla]

@Chicken Keith also the recommendation is to use copper sulfate in plastic waterer only.

 

[casportpony]

When one of mine gets canker I found that removing the pus helps it heal faster.

 

[Eggcessive]

Just wondering still if it could be wet fowl pox? Is there a bad odor from the beak?

 

[Chicken Keith]

Thought I read he dosed 1/4 tsp? I must be losing it. Plus I’m outside with my phone (glare). I once read that vinegar is used to acidify copper sulfate. Don’t recall the source. No idea on ratios, but I think poultry grade is already acidified. At least the stuff I use is.

I will redo the water. I had read to put the copper sulfate in the water with the ACV. GRRRR. Makes me so mad that is out there on the internet. Poor bird, I'm wondering if the acidified water put the poor creature into more pain. Gonna change the water right now.

 

[Eggcessive]

It may not have been a big deal. Just use the acidified copper sulfate in water.

There is plain copper sulfate, and it can be acidified with citric acid. I could not find anything about using ACV to acidify plain copper sulfate, which is used in pools. Chickens do need the acidified copper sulfate, so it is best to just use that, since it is readily available online.

 

[Chicken Keith]

Usually canker smells rotten, at least from what others have described. Fowl pox can also cause yellow lesions or plaques inside the beak, and that type is called wet pox. There is no treatment for wet pox, but if it were pox, you would have seen some scabs on combs, faces, and wattles. Looking back at one of your pictures, it might be pox. Here is a link about pox, a virus spread by mosquitoes:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/fowl-pox-prevention-treatmen/

There is a slight odor, but not terribly. I have seen poxy like sores on the rooster's comb but I honestly thought that was from cold weather. Having never dealt with pox, nor wet pox especially, I'm having to rethink this. Regardless what comfort foods I offer him, he ain't eating. But this presents a real twist in my original diagnosis. I may have to vaccinate my entire flock.

 

[Chicken Keith]

I took a few photos, and I do suspect wet fowl pox now. You can see for yourselves too.

But I strongly disagree that mosquitos caused this this year. It's possible I had this virus in my chicken yard for years without noticing the scabs on the combs as being out of the ordinary, I had just suspected it was frostbite or chickens pecking on one another. I've never had the wet pox before now.

Another thing notable with this roo is his oil glands are leaking dark discolored gland oil. The base of the feathers at his tail are practically black near the skin. The skin does not look discolored however. See photo of dirty saddle feathers (this is NOT poop stains)

More pics of his comb:

 

[ChickNanny13]

Poor guy FYI, read you tried giving him PolyVisol ... Hopfeully without the iron. Yup when I gave to a chick for Riboflavin deficiency, I got more on myself than in him

 

[Eggcessive]

The comb and wattles just do not scream fowl pox. But it could be I suppose. Those marks can be due to some pecking or injuries on fencing or something around the coop. His comb also looks dry. Usually pox will affect more than one chicken, and it is more common when mosquitoes are out. @casportpony is more familiar with wet pox. I still would be tempted to treat with metronidazole (FishZole) in case it is canker. That should not hurt if it is pox.

Maybe he oil gland is blocked, or he is not preening himself well enough? I would clean it well with soap and water.
Here is a good article about wet pox:
https://www.hyline.com/aspx/redbook/redbook.aspx?s=5&p=35

https://thepoultrysite.com/articles/fowl-pox-in-layers-an-overview

 

[casportpony]

I gotta be honest and say that it doesn't look like pox to me. I would try the metronidazole, or rodondizole, and maybe some Baytril in case it's a bacterial infection.