Ear lobe Issue ?

[crazychickhen]

Hi there ! I was wondering if anyone could help me treat and diagnose what's going on with one of my Hen's ear lobes (anatomically I believe this is what I'm looking at as I'm new to chicken motherhood). Her left ear is firm and almost appears to be cystic in nature. She is fractious if I try to touch it when she's my most docile bird. Not sure if it's painful ? Thanks in advance !

 

[Eggcessive]

It looks like she may have an ear infection, which could be from mites, or bacteria or fungus. If a vet is an option, you could get her seen and an antibiotic. If not, I would get some QTips and either saline or hydrogen peroxide, and clean it out. Then you can fill the ear with plain Neosporin or Bacitracin ointment. Look for mites on her skin as well.

 

[crazychickhen]

Thank you so much! I will try and treat conservatively but I will most likely end up at the avian vet if not improved over the course of a few days. Is this painful? Should I supplement Turmeric or any pain medication to her in the mean time? THanks

 

[Eggcessive]

Amoxicilln, Clavamox, and Bactrim would be good antibiotics to use. I would not give pain medicine. There may be pus inside the ear that needs to come out, and chicken pus becomes hard and cheeselike. A regular vet might also be helpful if they feel comfortable treating chickens. Ear infections are not that complicated, as other illnesses. Let us know how she gets along.

 

[crazychickhen]

Do you happen to know a dosing range for Clavamox? Thanks!

 

[casportpony]

Hi there ! I was wondering if anyone could help me treat and diagnose what's going on with one of my Hen's ear lobes (anatomically I believe this is what I'm looking at as I'm new to chicken motherhood). Her left ear is firm and almost appears to be cystic in nature. She is fractious if I try to touch it when she's my most docile bird. Not sure if it's painful ? Thanks in advance !

If she were mine I would be tempted to remove the scab and check for a cheese like pus in there.


-Kathy

 

[crazychickhen]

Thank you for the advice! Shes pretty painful and fractious when I touch it. So for the moment I started oral antibiotics (for those who are curious I received an official dosing from an avian veterinarian ....) with Clavamox at 125mg/kg twice daily. Birds metabolize differently than dogs and cats(so this is ridiculously high compared to what they would get). Also for any of those who posted about Baytril use in birds its actually banned by the FDA to give Baytril to any poultry due to the development of resistant strains... just FYI. I have spent the day gaining knowledge on all of this and since I couldnt find it on here prior to I figure I will share the knowledge I gained. Also- for natural pain remedy, it is acceptable to add Turmeric into their feed. Thanks everyone for the advice!

 

[casportpony]

Thank you for the advice! Shes pretty painful and fractious when I touch it. So for the moment I started oral antibiotics (for those who are curious I received an official dosing from an avian veterinarian ....) with Clavamox at 125mg/kg twice daily. Birds metabolize differently than dogs and cats(so this is ridiculously high compared to what they would get). Also for any of those who posted about Baytril use in birds its actually banned by the FDA to give Baytril to any poultry due to the development of resistant strains... just FYI. I have spent the day gaining knowledge on all of this and since I couldnt find it on here prior to I figure I will share the knowledge I gained. Also- for natural pain remedy, it is acceptable to add Turmeric into their feed. Thanks everyone for the advice!

Call the vet back and ask if the Clavamox will treat the hard pus (if that's what's in there), or if it needs to be removed. It's been my experience that antibiotics will not treat the pus.

Baytril... yes, it's banned, but many of us still use it.

Did you see my reply to your post in the Clavamox thread?

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

@crazychickhen , if ever you find yourself stuck looking for doses or medical issues, try googling "avian medicine" and the name of the drug or disease. For just drugs, google pigeon formulary and search through those. Both of the links below have lots of dosing info.

http://avianmedicine.net/content/uploads/2013/03/18.pdf


http://avianmedicine.net/content/uploads/2013/03/09_therapeutic_agents.pdf


-Kathy

 

[crazychickhen]

She said potentially not, that surgical removal/lancing may need to happen down the road if the antibiotics dont do anything. At this point Im not very skilled and my husband isnt the best "helper" so I am not sure to what degree I will be able to lance it...I would in a heart beat she just wont stay still for me and I dont have any one to hold her still.