Ear/Sinus Infection?

[Ponypoor]

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These are two pics from her underside. Lots of fluffy feathers so hard to get any bigger of a section. I'll confess to not looking deeply at my chicken's feathers so don't know if this scaliness is normal. The feathers on the neck had similar build up around the bases, but there was color and it was much harder/crusty.

I thought bubbles in the eyes can indicate a lot of things? I'd read about MG before starting this thread and for some reason at the time, thought it didn't fit the bill. I'll read your link. Thanks!

Gosh hard to say what the scaly base of the feathers would be, you could spray some permethrin spray; used horse fly spray for a few hens I bought home with lice, worked brilliantly. Spray under the wings, on belly by vent, and base of neck, anywhere you see the scales. Make sure to get it at the base of the feathers, don’t soak her though. If you notice the scales clear up in a few days you can assume it’s mite or such. Repeat treatment in 2 weeks.

Sometimes you have to play around with treatments to see what works. If you had a vet that could use a microscope to check sample of the feathers they could tell right away if it’s mites or such.

Here are a couple feathers I hauled off the birds with the lice. You can see the egg cluster at the base of the feather which is why you treat again after 14 days - tie eggs will hatch by then but the baby lice won’t be old enough to breed.

You might want to pluck a couple feathers and see if you can see anything with a magnifying glass.

Also ivermectin will kill lice and mites and same thing treat in two weeks.

 

[jwcarlson]

I have a tough time believing there could be mites unless there's mites and eggs that aren't possible to see with your naked eye?

I have a microscope of my own, I suppose I could look. Have ivermectin and permithrin, but just bombarding her for the sake of it. Eh... I'll see if I can see where my wife hid my microscope.

 

[jwcarlson]

Not sure if it's worth noting. But the deposits on the feathers are rock hard and right at the base. As though they are coming out of the same hole as the quill of the feather. It is tough to know if more is being created day-to-day or if it's just the same stuff that's been there. The feathers will pull out fairly easy if I try to break the stuff off. Massaging ointment in/around them will knock some of them off.

It does seem to soften a bit with ointment.

 

[Ponypoor]

Not sure if it's worth noting. But the deposits on the feathers are rock hard and right at the base. As though they are coming out of the same hole as the quill of the feather. It is tough to know if more is being created day-to-day or if it's just the same stuff that's been there. The feathers will pull out fairly easy if I try to break the stuff off. Massaging ointment in/around them will knock some of them off.

It does seem to soften a bit with ointment.

Oh I hear you, I have a hen right now that I have been battling sour crop with. I have tried everything, this morning I finally noted her crop empty, but she has lost so much weight and now has neurological symptoms.

Have her on vitamin supplements and trying all sorts of food to tempt her to eat. But at some point you just have to stop and take a step back and stop treatments to see if they are stable or declining.

The fact your girl is eating well is a great sign.

 

[jwcarlson]

We're grinding along with this bird. I don't know when or if I should pull the plug. She seems pretty much the same, but possibly a bit better and doesn't seem any worse. Still happy to eat. Tolerates my messing around with her. But still has stuff coming out of her ears. I do not notice any more build up within the ear like she had before. But it's also harder to see down into it then it was. As long as I put a little ointment in her ears (and eyes) every morning, things seem to be OK. But I skipped the eyes the other day (and the ears) and they were crusted shut again in the morning. Not terribly, but a bit. She also seems to be scratching at her face as she'll have little cuts/scratches every day it seems. Nothing massive, but little nicks from her nails. She's still alert and upset by the presence of one of our dogs, who usually follows me down.

I'll take some pictures of her tomorrow as I haven't taken any since before Christmas. Want to see if the swelling has gone down at all. It seems like the lobes of her ears are a bit more normal. And I do think she also has a little bit more color to her now than they has. I've quit messing with her feathers and the crusty stuff on those. The skin exposed on her neck seems more or less "OK". Meaning there doesn't seem to be a lot of new crust or anything going on there. I wonder if she was just making so much discharge that it was more or less running down her neck? The weird part of that would be that I never noticed any thin discharge at all. It was always thick/crusty stuff from the ears. Her nostrils remain seemingly unaffected by all of this. It's really interesting to me how a chicken could make so much discharge in its ears that it had marble size buildup within them... but nothing in the nose?

We've had some decent weather, so I've been leaving her door open so she can get a little sun instead of staring at the mess in the shed and the door.

 

[Lkw]

Hello if it were my hen I would try to get the puss out asap. I would then use a bit of diluted hydrogen peroxide (if you use full strength it may get trapped and damage healthy cells). I would use maybe 60/40 ish ratio or h2o2 to h2o. That should allow it to react pretty thoroughly and dry up pretty good.

Based on her neck, i believe she could also have a skin infection in the outter skin layers? I wonder if she scratched at her ears and inadvertently spread the issue to the skin through micro cuts from her claws or vice versa? If you are treating with antibiotics in the water, I would also treat with a little splash of vinegar on the skin a couple of times (please just make sure you do not do this outside). This way you’re treating internally and externally, and it should hopefully clear up. her skin also slightly resembles maybe a buildup of yeast? Maybe if it’s been snowy or rainy and it hasn’t been able to evaporate then she’s held some moisture in? Anyhow, the vinegar would treat that too. You can dilute it a bit if you prefer (yes, it will sting a bit on any open wounds, but it won’t kill her). Just don’t put it in her ear.

I have used this vinegar method with my own hens who either had yeast or bacterial infection (though very mild) and it worked well… for that matter I’ve used it with my dogs too, but that’s a different story.

I am not an expert, but hope this helps and she recovers!

 

[Lkw]

Hello if it were my hen I would try to get the puss out asap. I would then use a bit of diluted hydrogen peroxide (if you use full strength it may get trapped and damage healthy cells). I would use maybe 60/40 ish ratio or h2o2 to h2o. That should allow it to react pretty thoroughly and dry up pretty good.

Based on her neck, i believe she could also have a skin infection in the outter skin layers? I wonder if she scratched at her ears and inadvertently spread the issue to the skin through micro cuts from her claws or vice versa? If you are treating with antibiotics in the water, I would also treat with a little splash of vinegar on the skin a couple of times (please just make sure you do not do this outside). This way you’re treating internally and externally, and it should hopefully clear up. her skin also slightly resembles maybe a buildup of yeast? Maybe if it’s been snowy or rainy and it hasn’t been able to evaporate then she’s held some moisture in? Anyhow, the vinegar would treat that too. You can dilute it a bit if you prefer (yes, it will sting a bit on any open wounds, but it won’t kill her). Just don’t put it in her ear.

I have used this vinegar method with my own hens who either had yeast or bacterial infection (though very mild) and it worked well… for that matter I’ve used it with my dogs too, but that’s a different story.

I am not an expert, but hope this helps and she recovers!

Also, after it clears up, keep an eye out to make sure she hasn’t lost her hearing.

 

[jwcarlson]

Here she is this morning. This is before I did anything to her, so before ointment or anything. The swelling looks a little better in the ears, but worse on the top of her head. She has a pronounced ridge almost like a caveman type brow line from the swelling. I wish there were a way to just try to get the swelling down. I suppose I could try asprin.

December 20th:

January 6th:

 

[jwcarlson]

Last night in the main flock, I saw one of her "sisters" with blood on her face/head. I snagged her and in the process she ended up hanging upside down for a couple of seconds and a bunch of fairly clear liquid drained out of her. She also had wet on her front. I got her flipped upright and felt her crop. Felt basically empty of solids and mostly like water/liquid. I didn't notice anything stinky, checked in her mouth and didn't smell anything. Starting to wonder if I just can't smell stink.

I put her in with the other sick chicken. Looked OK this morning. Fed BOTH of them monistat this AM. Wondering if it's possible that my original sick hen had a crop issue? I felt her (original sick one) crop this morning and it was empty like you'd expect. However, on the outside she had a pretty big glob of build up on the base of her feathers that I hadn't felt before. I looked quick (was of course running late to get kids on bus and me to work) and there seemed to be some moisture in/near the area with build up. She's certainly been losing weight... but eats like crazy. Both seemed excited to eat after being handled this morning. Wondering if she could have had a crop issue for awhile that I didn't catch and that this other stuff has been secondary issues? Wondering if she's been burping up yeasty stuff that's been part of the crusty stuff on her...

 

[Eggcessive]

As for the first chicken this thread is about, if you decide to put her down or she dies, I would send her body to the state vet lab for a necropsy. I think she may have multiple problems that could be a result of Mareks disease. It causes a lack of resistance to common illnesses, and MG may also be positive. Many states are inexpensive will send a prepaid label for overnight shipping from Fedex, to help you if you are too far to bring the body. They need to be kept cold in a small cooler, and arrive on a weekday. Sorry that you have tried so many thing to help her without success. Here is a list state vet labs to contact for a necropsy:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry...kBdeU4zIUT7W0qz5ixFeS_1W2LX6nV3AS5AFaIiX5Y7VK