Chicken Ear Infection? Frostbite? Mites? What's up with Spot?

[Litz]

Hello all! I need help figuring out what is wrong with Spot, my 2 year Speckled Sussex. Here's all the details. It's currently stupid cold, low's are -8, high is single digits (Welcome to Minnesota Super Bowl fans! Isn't it lovely?). I've been keeping a close eye on my chickens (4 hens, all same age) in this one of many cold snaps we've had this year. They've been doing fine, except I have noticed that Spot was looking a little off this last cold snap. She had a duller comb then is normal. I've been keeping their combs and wattles vaselined on the coldest days. But this time with the duller comb and the extreme cold I thought I would bring her inside (dog kennel) to warm up a bit. She's our sweetest chicken most human-social chicken, but she's also the chicken at the bottom of the pecking order (maybe they are jealous of all the pets she gets! . They definitely keep her from the best spots in the coop and try to chase her away from the treats. I was worried she wasn't getting enough of the fluffy chicken huddles/cuddles to keep warm because I noticed she now has a small amount of frostbite on her comb and wattles.

When I brought her in and really examined her I noticed alarmingly she has swollen ears. I don't know if swollen is the right word - because they are larger, but they are not soft and swollen. More hard and enlarged, dry, possibly crusty looking. What's going on? I've looked through the forums and books, but I'm not seeing anything that quite looks like what she has. No sign of mites. No discharge or pus in or around ears. No cough, or other respiratory distress. She sort of has watery eyes, but that may be because I was a bit to generous with the vaseline. Otherwise - she's eating well, drinking, is alert every time I check on her.

Anyone know what is up with Spot? Attached are photos showing her ears.

 

[azygous]

It's probably a sinus infection. The tissues around the head area tend to swell with sinusitis.

Sometimes a simple antibiotic eye drop or ointment will take care of it. Putting it in the eyes will get it into the infected tissue. Ask at your feed store for an ophthalmic antibiotic or liquid tetracycline that can go right in the eye. Or a vet may be able to sell you one.

 

[Eggcessive]

Is a vet possible for treatment. She has bilateral ear infection which can accompany respiratory diseases, or from mites, or ear infection alone. I would look into her ears, and try to clean out any gunk with QTips, hydrogen peroxide, and application of plain neosporin/triple antibiotic ointment. Google ear infection in chicken, and look for some of Dawg53’s BYC posts on how to go about this. Sulfa antibiotics or amoxicillin are very good for ear infections, so a vet could be helpful. Fish mox amoxicillin is available online to you from fish product businesses. In the meantime, make sure that she is drinking plenty of water. Have you noticed any sneezing or coughing?

 

[Litz]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have cleaned her ears with the peroxide and qtips but nothing was in them. They are dry. No sneezing or coughing (except when I cleaned her ears, some sneezes then). Her eyes are bright, she's very alert (keeps trying to get out of the kennel every time I check on her). Eating and drinking well.

I read through all the posts I could find on ear infections (in particular Dawg53's). The only symptom she has is the hard, swollen ear/cheeks, with dry, whitish, slightly crusty skin. No pus, no green/yellow goo. Zero mites. It may be possible she has a fungus infection? Or something else I've not seen before. I've kept her in quarantine inside the house. Good thing is none of the other chickens in the coop show any similar signs.

I believe this is outside of my experience and will indeed need to visit a vet.

 

[azygous]

Yes, a vet is always a good resource if you have access and your budget will permit. Let us know what the diagnosis is, please.