Cheek bump/growth on 3 month old Buff Orpington

[Kiki]

I got some API General Cure powder at the local PetSmart. Ten packets of 250mg metronidazol, and 75mg praziquantel. It was marked $18.99, but they matched their online price of $16.99, which is still way higher than online sources like Chewey ($10.99) However, that is still a lot better than the pricing I saw on Fish Zole.

There's a seller on ebay who is offering 25g of metronidazol for $14.99 with free shipping, so I'll probably get that, as well as some acidified copper sulfate, for flock maintenance going forward.

I was not very successful in getting the hen to eat the medicine I mixed one of the packets of powder with some cottage cheese and rice, and she was less than enthusiastic about eating it. She might have eaten 10-20mg. I'll try mixing it with a little water and grow mash for breakfast tomorrow.

Does anyone have any better suggestions for getting hens to eat this? I saw a post on the turkey board saying the metronidazol tasted horrible. I have no intention of tasting any of this.

The hen still seems alert and active, and there was no sign the brown crud had spread or the lump gotten bigger.

This may help you:
#3

 

[ShermanOaksCoop]

Thanks! I'll try the bread approach tomorrow.

 

[ShermanOaksCoop]

The bread approach works pretty well. I mixed 1/2 of a General Cure powder packet with a couple drops of water to make a thick paste, then spread about a quarter of the paste on a 1/2 inch square piece of hotdog bun, then folded the piece over and squished it a little so the medicine was on the inside. I did that three more times with the rest of the paste. I cut up the rest of the hotdog bun to create treats for the other chickens, because I new they'd be jealous if the sick Buff got something and they didn't.

I feed the treated bun pieces to the Buff in the morning before I put the food out, and again in the late afternoon, when the girls usually get their daily treats. I separated the Buff from the other chickens (our setup has two connected chainlink dog kennels) and fed her the treated bun pieces. She loses interest in the treated pieces after a few bites, probably because of the bad medicine taste, but she regains her enthusiasm as soon as I give her a small bit of untreated bun. It takes about 10 minutes, but she has eaten it all three times.

Meanwhile I gradually toss the untreated pieces into the pen with the other chickens and they chase after the bread and each other. You'd think they had something really delicious, like a potato bug grub!

After a day and a half of treatment, there's no noticeable change in the Buff's appearance or demeanor, but no deterioration either. I'll report back when she starts to improve or I finish the five days.

For future use, I ordered 25g of metronidazol ($14.99 including shipping) and 4oz of copper sulfate ($4.95 including shipping) on ebay. I can acidify the copper sulfate with the citric acid we use for canning tomatoes.

 

[Kiki]

Thanks for the update.
Keep up the hard work..they meds should start helping soon.

 

[Eggcessive]

Some online pet stores offer metronidazole (FishZole) 250mg tablets, which can be cut into 2 halves, with 1 given in the morning in the back of the throat, and the other given at bedtime. You get twice as much here as another seller for $7 more:
https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail...ld6WP0-FOmPzgcYT0vYUmgoonPUox4pxoC3uIQAvD_BwE

Here are other links that sells pigeon supplies such as metronidazole, aviazole, ronidazol, and others to be used in water to treat canker:
http://www.jedds.com/shop/canker-combo-100g-medpet/
http://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/medications/canker-products

 

[ShermanOaksCoop]

The Fish Zole at ValleyVet is (60x250mg=) 15g for $36.99, which is around $5 less than Amazon, and Walmart is even higher. But a current ebay seller has 25g for $14.99, including shipping, which is 2/3 more for less than half the cost, even you qualify for free shipping from ValleyVet. There may be a benefit in having compressed pills rather than loose powder, but that's a big difference in price.

One thing I saw on the pigeon sites for canker that were recommended by Eggsesive was a suggestion that breeders use more than one treatment to prevent the canker from developing resistance. It looks like canker is much more common in pigeons than in chickens. Do the chicken raisers here think we should also use a second treatment on our girls?

I've got a small flock. If I can cure the Buff who is sick now, my plan is to give acidified copper sulfate to the flock once a month, and feed metronidazol to any hen that develops symptoms of canker despite the copper sulfate. Lots of you have much more experience; does that sound reasonable?

 

[Eggcessive]

I haven't treated canker, so I can only recommend other threads or links. I'm sure others can help.

 

[ShermanOaksCoop]

The cheek bump has gotten worse. It is now about a half inch in diameter, with a scaly black appearance towards her beak, and the swelling has partially closed her eye. Clear fluid has started seeping from the affected eye, and my son noticed small bubbles in the corner of the eye. I've attached pictures; sorry they're not better.

She is still eating, but she does not seem completely alert. The past couple days she has mostly stayed off to the side from the rest of the flock, although I'm not sure if that's her choice or theirs.

I thought this was canker, and treated her individually with API General Cure (mostly Metronidozol) from 8/17-23. She didn't get better, but didn't get a lot worse. I switched to treating the whole flock with Aviomed 4 in 1 (Ronidazole 10% and Furaltadone 20mg) starting on 8/24, and she has gotten slowly worse.

The rest of the flock seems fine.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I feel like she is slipping away, and I only have a day or two to start a treatment program that puts her on the path to mending.

 

[Kiki]

@casportpony

 

[casportpony]

Looks like it could be a sinus infection. Can you take her to a vet?