Face suddenly swollen, spots on comb and wattles, head shaking

[Bawkbok]

Please help me understand what could be wrong with our Easter Egger, 7 months old, healthy until today, she is shaking her head violently and scratching her face like something hurts, open air swallowing, like a yawn sort of, almost like she can't catch her breath but there is no rattling or noise on breathing. She has spots on her comb and wattles which weren't there last night and the right side of her face is very swollen. The left side of her face looks fine. She might have gotten bitten by something while free ranging this morning but what would cause the spots on comb and wattles? No discharge anywhere, no sneezing or coughing, eating and drinking fine, I noticed some runny brown poop, sorry no pic, otherwise she acts ok. I don't know how to treat this since I don't know what might be causing this. She is laying soft shelled eggs- one every day for about two weeks now after a long spurt of no eggs due to hot weather, giving her Calcium Citrate D3 in water with vitamins to hopefully firm up the shell. That's a different issue. Thanks for any help.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She's quite pale.

Can you look her over for any bites, embedded ticks, lice or mites?
Any signs of infection in the ears or any lesions or canker inside the beak?

 

[Bawkbok]

Thank you for your reply. I looked her over last night and see no holes or obvious signs of bites. I applied some Terramycin around her eye and on her face to help with swelling. Her beak looks ok but her butt / vent was caked with some nasty hard goo so I cleaned her up well. I was surprised to see cakey poo but her vent otherwise looks healthy. I sprayed the inside of the coop with lice/mite spray all around and always sprinkle some Diatamaceous Earth on the pine shavings and hay after cleaning the coop every morning. I also added more PDZ Coop refresher in the layer shavings. I checked her legs and see no signs of mites, her scales look healthy. There are no lesions on her wattles or comb. She acts fine mostly, just not her spunky self. It's been obnoxiously hot here, alternating with rain almost every day, so replacing the water a couple times a day with Calcium Citrate and alternating the other waterer with Electrolytes every couple of days. She eats watermelon every day to help with hydration. Is there something else I should apply to her face to help with the swelling? The other hens look ok.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

so replacing the water a couple times a day with Calcium Citrate and alternating the other waterer with Electrolytes every couple of days.

Are you putting Calcium Citrate in the water every day? I would not do that. The hens really should be getting their calcium through feed and supplemental oyster shell free choice.
Always provide one water station with fresh plain water.

Calcium Citrate can be given short term to help a hen when she's in crisis (having reproductive issues, egg binding, prolapse, etc.).

Hard to know if the swelling is due an allergic reaction to something or if she's has something more serious going on like respiratory infection. You could give a one time dose of Benadryl to see if that makes any difference. If not, then treat as respiratory infection with Tylosin.

Her paleness if worrisome. I'd be inclined to give her B-Complex (1/4 tablet daily).

 

[Bawkbok]

Thank you so much for this information. I was not aware that Calcium was just a short term solution and will cease putting it in the water. I will get some B-complex as well. This morning, her swelling is a little better but still there, trying to inspect the ear to see if there is any puss to push out, but she yells when I touch that part of her face and I don't want to cause more damage / pain. Wondering if she has an ear infection and what would cause that? How would that be treated? Would applying VetRx to her face be beneficial?
Thank you for the reply. My baby worries me and I'm determined to help restore her to health.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you so much for this information. I was not aware that Calcium was just a short term solution and will cease putting it in the water. I will get some B-complex as well. This morning, her swelling is a little better but still there, trying to inspect the ear to see if there is any puss to push out, but she yells when I touch that part of her face and I don't want to cause more damage / pain. Wondering if she has an ear infection and what would cause that? How would that be treated? Would applying VetRx to her face be beneficial?
Thank you for the reply. My baby worries me and I'm determined to help restore her to health.

Swaddle her in a towel to capture the wings so it's easier to inspect her.
I understand that it may hurt for a few minutes for you to look at the face and in the ears, but that's just a brief period of time and you'll better be able to access what's going on so hopefully you can treat these symptoms and she'll recover.

I don't know if I'd put VetRx on tissue that is swollen like that, it's a remedy, but it's quite aromatic.

Get some clearer pictures if you catch and examine her closely. If she has ear infection, then it may be ear canker or respiratory infection.

 

[Bawkbok]

I'll work on more pics today. Her color is better, less pale. I don't like the head shaking. But she is eating, drinking and foraging normally. Thank you Wyorp!!

 

[Bawkbok]

Update. We thought we were turning the corner on this issue until yesterday happened. Her face was still a little swollen but better. She was foraging fine yesterday morning with a slight tilt of her neck to the right but was eating / drinking, acting and foraging as normal. When I went to let them out for afternoon forage, she was in the roost which at that time of the day was completely abnormal. When she saw the door open, she flew smack into the wire cage, missing the door by 6 inches. I noticed the tilt was worse and when I brought her in for inspection, her head was completely tilted to the right side. Her neck was extremely rigid in an S shape. I straightened it out and it would go immediately back. In referring to The Chicken Health handbook by Gail Damerow, I suspected an inner ear infection so we started her on amoxicillan thinking if there were a bacterial infection it might help. Her face had a dime sized hard lump so we no longer thought of insect bite but a tumor or some other injury? She had been receiving vitamins, was treated for respiratory infection, although never presented with any symptoms and is on quality layer feed. She laid a (soft shelled) egg every day.

This morning, she never came out of the roost. I found her on her belly looking up at the sky - her neck in a 180 degree angle. I tried to straighten her neck and she whimpered in pain. I actually could not straighten it. I tried to stand her up, but her toes were curled in a tight fist. She flapped wildly but failed to stand. We waited, deliberated, waffled back and forth on what to do, is this fixable? Did she injure her head when hitting the cage wall (?) yesterday although nothing else was apparent. Back to the handbook, it explains stargazing, but does not provide any indication (that I could find) on if this is treatable - and if so - how? She could not eat, drink or navigate on her own. She isolated herself in far corners.

Since my last writing, we treated her for respiratory infection as recommended, in addition to the vitamins, that didn't seem to change things. Her head would tilt sideways and then seem to be better, but never upright. This head tilting seemed to wax and wane, better, never normal, then worse again over the past week. Every time I would try to straighten it out, it would go right back to skyward. The toes curled and her inability to stand smacked of neurological issues.

Being a new chicken momma of only 6 months, I am learning as much as possible but there is so much I don't understand. We are not able to properly accommodate or care for a special needs chicken (manually feeding every day) due to lack of resources, schedules and time. I could not watch her linger in pain. We made the hard choice to dispatch her - my favorite hen. Right or wrong - I am devastated and heart sick. Curiosity did not outweigh emotional pain, so I did not perform a necropsy. I am mortified this happened.

Can someone please help me understand for future knowledge if Stargazing is fixable and how to treat it? I am just sick.

Pictures where taken last night. first one is me trying unsuccessfully to pull her neck straight, it reflects the hard lump on her face. second picture is her sitting on lap, right side of face to the floor.
then this morning, no pic, of her completely stargazing.

Wyorp Rock - if you're out there what are your thoughts? What did I do wrong? What should I have done differently? I'm beside myself in anguish. Thank you for your insight.

I should mention, she was purchased as a pullet and was 7 months old, she did not receive the Marek's vaccine.

Thank you to anyone for any insight.

 

[Eggcessive]

I am sorry for your loss. What is your general location? It is unfortunate that she flew into something and injured herself causing the knot on her face. She could have suffered a head injury, which is one cause of a wry neck (torticolis.) Other causes are Mareks, and it is seen in some serious respiratory viruses. She was very pale. Did you ever look closely for any mites or lice on her body under the vent area and elsewhere? If she were mine, I would keep her body in a color on ice (or refrigerate) in plastic bags, and early tomorrow, contact your state vet for a necropsy. That is the best way to get a diagnosis. Here is a list of state vet labs to contact:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html
Fatty liver disease came to mind with the extreme pallor and her not feeling well. If a professional necropsy is out of the question, many of us do home necropsies, to look at the abdominal organs for anything unusual. Post pictures of organs, esp the liver, intestines, if you do one.

 

[Eggcessive]

This video is good to watch to help identify organs: