Do chickens have ear wax???

[Sjisty]

I caught my main rooster, Rocky, this morning, just because I like to let him know who's the boss sometimes. While I was holding and petting him, I noticed that both of his ears had what I thought was dirt blocking them, imbedded in the surrounding feathers. I cleared out one side without a problem, except for a very large squirming rooster. On the other side, as the "dirt" began to break away, I noticed a cheesy look, orange-yellow, kind of like nacho cheese color. Inside the ear, that's exactly what it looked like and about the consistency of smooth melted cheese. I brought him in the house and with a Q-tip carefully cleaned it out. It didn't smell bad and he did not seem to be in pain, but of course when I let him go outside he went running off shaking his head. His ears otherwise were not inflamed or redder than usual and he is of normal weight and activity.

Is this normal, or is it something I should be watching? You can bet I will be catching him much more often for a while and checking his ears. He's not going to be a happy roo - it's so degrading to let yourself be caught in front of your girls!

 

[TheFarmMama]

You might want to keep an eye on him for a bit because the cheesy look has also been used to describe ear infections which can be deadly to chickens if not treated. Great job for cleaning it out and be careful to not touch the gook because it is loaded with bacterias. You can use a flashlight to look inside of his ear to see if there is more deeper inside as well, try a mini maglite.

 

[Sjisty]

Too late for the not touching part. I did wash my hands in antibacterial soap afterward. I did shine a flashlight down his ears and they looked normal in color and unswollen. The one with the soft gook inside did look a little moist. I swabbed it out with peroxide.

I will keep a close eye on him and am checking the rest of my flock. So far he's the only one.

Thanks!

 

[TheFarmMama]

Sounds like you're doing a great job. Hope everything stays well with the rest of your flock-I'm think your roo probably just had a tiny bit of fluid from all this crazy weather we've been having.