Hi friends,
Our bird, Spunky, has been sick since July and we've been trying to figure out what's going on. I posted a couple months back and folks thought maybe MG, maybe coryza. We've been trying to address some of the possibilities. She's had supportive care the whole time and has neither died nor improved. She eats, drinks, and preens, but is overall pretty lethargic. When we treat her, she still has plenty of fight in her, hence the name.
Earliest symptoms in summer were pale comb and one day or so of open-mouth breathing and a tiny bit of foamy eye. We isolated her immediately. Her comb got paler and then dry with ashy scaling. She slept a lot over the summer but would scratch around for about an hour a day. In September, we noticed crusty, greasy yellow ick under her wings, which smelled awful. She does not sneeze, wheeze or cough. Her breathing is quiet, though perhaps a little labored when she's tired.
No other birds have shown symptoms like this. The rest of the flock is in decent health going into the MN winter.
Here's what we've done so far:
Also, her beak is getting overgrown due to her restricted activity. I want to grind the beak tip down with our Dremel. Should I do that? Any advice?
Thanks for any tips, folks. If we can save her, we'd really like to.
- Kerri and Skunky Spunky
Our bird, Spunky, has been sick since July and we've been trying to figure out what's going on. I posted a couple months back and folks thought maybe MG, maybe coryza. We've been trying to address some of the possibilities. She's had supportive care the whole time and has neither died nor improved. She eats, drinks, and preens, but is overall pretty lethargic. When we treat her, she still has plenty of fight in her, hence the name.
Earliest symptoms in summer were pale comb and one day or so of open-mouth breathing and a tiny bit of foamy eye. We isolated her immediately. Her comb got paler and then dry with ashy scaling. She slept a lot over the summer but would scratch around for about an hour a day. In September, we noticed crusty, greasy yellow ick under her wings, which smelled awful. She does not sneeze, wheeze or cough. Her breathing is quiet, though perhaps a little labored when she's tired.
No other birds have shown symptoms like this. The rest of the flock is in decent health going into the MN winter.
Here's what we've done so far:
- Doxycycline for 7 days back in summer, because we thought MG was pretty likely. Zero response.
- Steady electrolytes and vitamins and frequent probiotics. She also has a sweeter heater because we've already been below 15 degrees for a few days here.
- A couple weekends of alternating neem and oregano in her water, because we thought we'd try an herbal route. This seemed to perk her up for a bit but didn't have a lasting effect. I think she drank more water because she liked the flavor and so was better hydrated.
- Applications of permethrin dust on skin, and vaseline on comb/wattle in case it was microscopic mites, which seemed to make the bird miserable. She spent several days hunched and fluffed up during this treatment.
- THEN, we did oral ivermectin (I know the pour-on is preferred but I can't spend another $60 on a med for this bird...my spouse will strangle me...). We did half a pea-sized lump of the paste, which she swallowed cheerfully. Within 24 hours, her comb and wattles cleared some and pinked significantly and she was positively fiesty and famished. She seemed to be on the mend for a day or two, but then the scaly, swollen face thing happened again and she lost energy. For the last week, I'd still say she has a better appetite and is perkier than she was at her worst.
Also, her beak is getting overgrown due to her restricted activity. I want to grind the beak tip down with our Dremel. Should I do that? Any advice?
Thanks for any tips, folks. If we can save her, we'd really like to.
- Kerri and Skunky Spunky
