Chicken w/swollen face

[Lucille88]

Hello! I have a turken, she is about 6 months old or so. She has developed some type of a sinus infection. On one side of her head her sinus cavity and eye are very swollen. She also appears to have some mucus buildup in her nose. I keep cleaning this out in hopes it will drain. I have been giving her 1/2 a cc of tylan 50 orally for the last 2 days, but it doesn't seem to be helping yet. I have also put vetrx in her nose, on her head and under her wings. She is eating and drinking pretty well. I have added electrolytes to her water as well. I have been told I can give her children's cough/sinus infection medicine. Has anyone heard of this? What else can I be doing to help her out? I've had one do this a long time ago and we just kept working with her until it cleared up. ANY input would be most appreciated! Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

I would not use cold medicine on her. You can give the Tylan twice a day for up to 5 days. Does she have a bad odor around her face that could be coryza? MG and coryza can cause the swelling of an eye, but sometimes can be complicated with a secondary infection, such as E.coli. If you see any pus in her eye, it is good to try and remove that. Terramycin eye ointment or plain Neosporin can be used in the eye as well.

 

[Lucille88]

No there is no smell. The infection isn't in her eye, or doesn't seem to be. It seems to be in her sinus cavity which is displaying as inflammation around the eye/nose area. It's like there is a blockage in her sinus and since it's not draining it's building up. If that makes sense. I've been giving her 1/2 a cc once a day. Would you say that is the correct dosage? I will try and get a current picture tomorrow.

that's what she looked like yesterday.

 

[OldChurchEggery1]

How many other chickens do you have? With this sort of respiratory illness, your other chickens are likely to become infected as well. In treating any chicken for respiratory disease you have the think of the future repercussions:

1. Do I ever want to sell chicks or chickens to someone else? Carriers of a disease can infect the flocks of others.
2. Am I willing to risk the health of other chickens I own to treat one that shows signs of illness? While some may recover, they can bring down their companions and any future birds you add.
3. How much will it cost to treat this animal? It's not a bad thing to examine the cost versus the benefit. If you're running out to the feed store two or three times to pick up treatments you hope will work or calling out a vet to treat a $4 chick you've put $12 of food into, it might not ultimately be worth it after you've considered points one and two.

I do not suggest off-label use of medications intended to treat human conditions. Cold and sinus medications for people should not be given to poultry. These medications are formulated for specific biological systems (mammalian versus avian) and there's no guarantee it would be effective or even that it isn't fatal to administer to the non-target species.

If you can fully separate your sick bird from the rest of your flock, you could try just riding things out to see if she recovers. If she does recover, some respiratory illnesses that are viral in nature result in the recovered bird becoming a "shedder" of the virus for life and in times of stress, she may exhibit symptoms again.

 

[Lucille88]

I have roughly 150 chickens. However, this one was a recent purchase and therefore is in quarantine so that neither she nor anything that comes into contact with her ever come into contact with my other birds.

As far as is she worth it, the chances of her infecting my other chickens is very low and I have a large selection of medicines on hand as we farm over 400 acres and have many different animals. Lol. So medicine is not a problem.

And I agree with you about the medicines to some extent. My time in school and experience in the medical field have provided me with a decent background in medicine, although I am no doctor yet. There are many medicines that are the same for humans and other animals but are simply labeled in a way to make more money. Plus alot of people wouldn't feel comfortable taking meds with a picture of a pig on the front. Lol. That being said, I have never used cold medicine on a bird bc I have not had the time to throughly research exactly how it works. I was just wondering if anyone else had ever heard of doing so. I had not before someone mentioned it to me.

Thank you for your input. Like I said she is in full quarantine so I'm just going to continue to do what I am doing. I was hoping someone might have some additional approaches or ideas. I had a turkey do something similar to this many years ago and she did eventually get better. The vet said that it was nothing terribly contagious with her, just basically a sinus infection. I am hoping that's what this lady has.

 

[Lucille88]

Here is her eye today.

 

[Eggcessive]

A sinus infection is usually how MG or coryza behave. Infection in the sinuses can affect the eye, causing pus and infection, which in some cases, can destroy the eye. You might want to get your chicken tested by the state vet, just to know what you are treating. Since there are 5 or more respiratory diseases, and many can have secondary infections, knowing what disease can help with treatment. Most of those diseases can make carriers of the flock, even after the chicken is recovered, and can become a chronic infection returning whenever the chicken is stressed.

 

[Lucille88]

When you say get her tested by the vet do you mean a necropsy? Or can it be done while she's alive?

 

[Eggcessive]

You can get her tested locally while she is alive, with a swab or culture. That can be done at testing centers around the country, or a local vet can take it and send it off. Your local or state dept. of agriculture can help with info, but I would contact the state vet to ask. Things are done differently in each state. Of course if she dies or you put her down, a necropsy would give you an answer which would help in any future illness. Here are links for your state vet and for the testing facilities:
http://www.usaha.org/Portals/6/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf

 

[GhettoRoo]

Hey everyone, so Im there with SERIOUS ask, and in very, very IMPORTANT look for treatment.
Swollen face. First time in my flock.
As I know this is one of the worst viruses, bird can have. As read, this can be as secondary infection? My birds are carriers of, sneezing and coughing, had chicks with shaking heads. Last year I got bubbly eye hens.

But till today everything was okey.
I have around 90 birds, very dear.
I got 24 laying hens,
4 roosters, very dear, one of them is reason how I get introduced to poultry.
10 battery hens + 1 more old rooster.
From those 24 hens, 6 are hatched, so, kind a dear.
11, 3.5 month old, hatched from own hen eggs.
21 pure breed chicks 8-10 weeks old, very dear, such a big money spent, emotions and effort.
18, 6 weeks old, a suprise from own hen which brood them by herself with own eggs.

I had my coop in two sides, with fence between, in inside corner I had 10 battery hens(bought before 10 weeks), 5 my old hens and 1 my old Rooster.
All other birds can get free range from second side to big fenced area, those 15 hens with 1 rooster I let like every second day free range.

Before two days I noticed first hen with swollen eye and wet eye, I immidiately slaughter her, today I slaughter one battery hen with swollen face.
My old rooster seems to close one eye, guess there is begining of virus.

Before week I made a second coop, where I put sick birds, had only 3 hens, coughing, sneezing, and put there 3 battery hens, which was kind a sneezing too, one today was with swollen face.

So, PLEASE HELP!!!

Im ready to cull all old hens to save my young chickens futures, there are very important roosters and hens too, luckily no one had shown signs.

I put all those battery hens in that second coop. Let my rooster free range with 5 mine old hens.
Im gonna put some antibacterial ointment on my roosters eye. With rooster we are known the longest, he is one of reasons im in poultry too.
But if he should be culled, slaughter to save others, then let it be so. Hard time for me now.

@OldChurchEggery1
Im giving to everyone chicken starter now.