Cockerell not well

[Pkflash]

Hello Need some advice for my sister chickens

His face has become swollen, eyes are usually both closed shut in the morning, but as the day goes on they open up. We have been keeping the vent panel open for a while now and symptoms still get worse over night. He crows less, eats less, seems grumpier. Been going on for a while now, we originally thought it was mites, but we cleaned coop, de-mited and symptoms still remain. Skin looks a little flakey and he has lost some feathers from his rump.

If anyone has any idea what it can be? Or what i can do to help?

 

[cherrynberry]

Hello Need some advice for my sister chickens

His face has become swollen, eyes are usually both closed shut in the morning, but as the day goes on they open up. We have been keeping the vent panel open for a while now and symptoms still get worse over night. He crows less, eats less, seems grumpier. Been going on for a while now, we originally thought it was mites, but we cleaned coop, de-mited and symptoms still remain. Skin looks a little flakey and he has lost some feathers from his rump.

If anyone has any idea what it can be? Or what i can do to help?

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @azygous

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you get a more clear picture of him? I am looking at his face to see if it is pale or has a chaulky dry skin. Is he or the other chickens molting? His swollen shut eyes sound like a respiratory disease such as mycoplasma or coryza. Have you seen bubbles/foam or pus in his eyes. How does he smell around the head? Have you seen other chickens in the past sneezing, having nasal drainage, eye bubbles, or gasping? Do you see any mites or their dark specks on the other chickens? Where are you located? What medicines do you have?

 

[azygous]

What product did you use to treat for mites? Did you treat the rooster directly? The coop directly?

He could have face mites. They are the face version of scaly leg mites. The easiest, least expensive treatment is plain old Vaseline. It's non-toxic, so smear a generous amount all over any affected area.

Mites can be so unpleasant and uncomfortable as well as causing anemia, it's common for the chicken to be very depressed.

 

[Pkflash]

Can you get a more clear picture of him? I am looking at his face to see if it is pale or has a chaulky dry skin. Is he or the other chickens molting? His swollen shut eyes sound like a respiratory disease such as mycoplasma or coryza. Have you seen bubbles/foam or pus in his eyes. How does he smell around the head? Have you seen other chickens in the past sneezing, having nasal drainage, eye bubbles, or gasping? Do you see any mites or their dark specks on the other chickens? Where are you located? What medicines do you have?

Thank you for the qjicky reply, i will get more information from my sister and geg back to you. They did have mites in the coop but they treated it by cleaning out the coop and dusting the coop and chickens with diametious earth. She did say it was chaulky dry skin. Her husband thought it might be fungal and bought some fungal cream which he may try as not sure what is causing it

 

[Pkflash]

What product did you use to treat for mites? Did you treat the rooster directly? The coop directly?

He could have face mites. They are the face version of scaly leg mites. The easiest, least expensive treatment is plain old Vaseline. It's non-toxic, so smear a generous amount all over any affected area.

Mites can be so unpleasant and uncomfortable as well as causing anemia, it's common for the chicken to be very depressed.

They used diametious earth to dust the coop and the chickens. She did say the mites were goin but I wil ask her to double check if some mites are still running around.

 

[azygous]

DE does not treat mite infestations. It may help prevent it, but once mites are established, you need to treat with an insecticide that is safe to use around poultry such as spinosad or permethrin.

Vaseline will smother face and leg mites. It's especially convenient to use on the face since trying to dust a chicken's face will risk respiratory irritation, and sprays wouldn't be any better.

Have your friend grease him up for three days in a row and see what happens. It can't hurt him. It might just solve the issue.

Treating a coop infested with mites is laborious and every crack and crevice where mites hide and breed needs to be targeted. Anything less will result in the mites continuing to be a problem. And they are a problem because they suck the blood of chickens and make them anemic and sick.

 

[Eggcessive]

Good advice from Aygous on DE, mites, and the possibility of face mites. Permethrin is very good for body mites and treating the coop, roosts, and nest boxes.

 

[Buffy Brahma Mama]

So sorry about your roo. He looks dehydrated and depending on what type of mites you have, he may be anemic.

DE will not kill a bad infestation immediately, and you need a ton of it blocking every crack and crevice to work properly. It does work, but not fast enough when there is a major infestation. I've had good luck with Pyganic specialty, which is a knock down treatment approved for organic use. You can spray it on the coop and the birds. It is expensive if you go that route.

Try to determine if they are red mites, and if they are, they may become your worse nightmare and can kill birds with little warning. Go out late at night around midnight and look under your roost poles. If you see tons of tiny red moving dots, they are red mites and they are sucking the life out of the birds. Anemia is one issue, but blood volume can be another if the infestation is bad.

Looking at the eye issues, I am not sure what to make of it yet.
When did the mites happen, when were they treated, and did the eye issue happen around the same time as treatment, before, or after?

For the time being, if you can take him out of the coop and keep him in a safe clean place, it might help in order to focus on giving him special treatment. Keep him hydrated and offer regular as well as vitamin/electrolyte water, applesauce and yogurt. If you can have your vet order some Emeraid Omnivore IC, it works very well, and is good to have on hand for times like this. I hope he recovers for you!

 

[Mrs J]

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @azygous

Hey! You have the A team!! I always find comfort when I have their advice! It gives me so much confidence