Facial extremities bleeding!?

[DanyaMik]

Hello,

I have two Ameraucana chickens in my flock that had noticeable lesions in their mouths. All the symptoms of CANKER. As I await my order of metronidazole (FishZole) and Copper Sulphate (additive for their water), I have been treating both naturally with Thyme tincture and apple cider vin in their water.
A day later I noticed my 1 of 2 Ameraucanas was infested with red mites (extreme infestation)... so,
I removed her from the coop and placed her in a secondary coop (at the end of my acreage).
Bathed her (using organic dog wash) and rinsed in secondary tub. Blow dried all feathers and placed her indoors.
She became very lethargic soon after the bath, for which I gave her electrolytes and yogurt and left her in a heated kennel indoors.
The following few days she was her usual perky-self, exploring new territory and eating and drinking as normal. Even the patch of misplaced feathers (from picking the mites) were growing back.
I treated the mites with 1 drop (10ml) Ivermectin on the shoulder blades and a Diatomaceous Earth dust bath.
The mites were completely gone!
(4th night after initial separation), went to place her indoors and noticed one eye was completely swollen shut, the other eye with BLOOD in the tear duct. Blood was also discharging from its nostril and beak. !!! AHHH WHAT?
I usually check on her several times during the day but was away for the day and extremely SHOCKED to come home to such a dramatic change. No predators in her location.

I have never seen anything like this...Could this have been oocysts, a respiratory disease or possibly cancer? (in addition to Canker)

After a good try and recovery, and for obvious reasons, we chose to put this bird down.


Info on my remaining flock...
My rooster, australorps and wyandottes all have zero symptoms of disease or mites.
My other Ameraucana is still battling what appears to be Canker (although it is less severe then when I started natural treatment) but has no mites.
I have cleaned my coop (since removing the mite infested chicken) and laid down Diatomaceous Earth - seen no signs of mites.
I am still awaiting my shipment of metronidazole and copper sulphate, in which I hope to start treatment this week.

Any help as to what she was suffering from or what I can do to prevent this from happening again would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. It would have been good if you could have kept the body refrigerated or in a cooler with ice, to send it to your state poultry lab for a necropsy. Canker can affect the beak, the throat and especially the crop. A swollen eye can be a sign of a respiratory disease, such as MG or coryza, and bloody mucus can be a sign of another—ILT. Do you have dosages for the FishZole and acidified copper sulfate? How much thyme extract are you supposed to use? The link below gives a lot of common diseases and symptoms:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[DanyaMik]

Thankyou for the reply.

I have been told to use 1/2 pill of 250mg metronidazole (FishZole) orally 1x daily and 1g copper sulphate per 2L water & 1 tbsp apple cider vin.

We had an extremely wet summer & fall for 2019 and I'm wondering if something was picked up then, and displaying symptoms now?
We still are in negative temperatures and snow covered grounds, so likelyhood of picking something up is low - unless it was disease transfer from mice, as we have lots around the coop area. Coop is large (with separate covered roaming area from roosts) and they free range in the summer/fall. It gets cleaned often.

Ive had chickens for 3 years now with no disease. I check on them daily and only noticed odd behaviour in the two last week.

This is all new to me

 

[DanyaMik]

Thyme tincture was applied to a q-tip and rubbed onto the canker sore direct. I only seen benefits from this. Seemed like the canker was receding and the mites were gone. Was ready to return her to the coop the following morning before she started expelling blood from her facial extremities
In this specific case, i didnt want to do more harm then good. Now only left with questions and confusion.

Really hoping its not a respiratory disease that will effect the whole coop. None are showing any symptoms of respiratory disease thus far.

 

[Annastin]

Hello,

I have two Ameraucana chickens in my flock that had noticeable lesions in their mouths. All the symptoms of CANKER. As I await my order of metronidazole (FishZole) and Copper Sulphate (additive for their water), I have been treating both naturally with Thyme tincture and apple cider vin in their water.
A day later I noticed my 1 of 2 Ameraucanas was infested with red mites (extreme infestation)... so,
I removed her from the coop and placed her in a secondary coop (at the end of my acreage).
Bathed her (using organic dog wash) and rinsed in secondary tub. Blow dried all feathers and placed her indoors.
She became very lethargic soon after the bath, for which I gave her electrolytes and yogurt and left her in a heated kennel indoors.
The following few days she was her usual perky-self, exploring new territory and eating and drinking as normal. Even the patch of misplaced feathers (from picking the mites) were growing back.
I treated the mites with 1 drop (10ml) Ivermectin on the shoulder blades and a Diatomaceous Earth dust bath.
The mites were completely gone!
(4th night after initial separation), went to place her indoors and noticed one eye was completely swollen shut, the other eye with BLOOD in the tear duct. Blood was also discharging from its nostril and beak. !!! AHHH WHAT?
I usually check on her several times during the day but was away for the day and extremely SHOCKED to come home to such a dramatic change. No predators in her location.

I have never seen anything like this...Could this have been oocysts, a respiratory disease or possibly cancer? (in addition to Canker)

After a good try and recovery, and for obvious reasons, we chose to put this bird down.


Info on my remaining flock...
My rooster, australorps and wyandottes all have zero symptoms of disease or mites.
My other Ameraucana is still battling what appears to be Canker (although it is less severe then when I started natural treatment) but has no mites.
I have cleaned my coop (since removing the mite infested chicken) and laid down Diatomaceous Earth - seen no signs of mites.
I am still awaiting my shipment of metronidazole and copper sulphate, in which I hope to start treatment this week.

Any help as to what she was suffering from or what I can do to prevent this from happening again would be greatly appreciated.

To help prevent all bug infestations chickens give then selves dust baths do your chickens have access to dirt of any kind?

 

[DanyaMik]

To help prevent all bug infestations chickens give then selves dust baths do your chickens have access to dirt of any kind?

Hi,
Yes, the external part of the (covered) coop has approx 12x8 ft of dry sand/dirt and they dust bathe often. They also opt to dust in my garden in the summer. Ive recently added diatomaceous earth to the ground as well to aid in bug protection.
Remaining flock is currently mite/lice free.

 

[Eggcessive]

Acidified copper sulfate should be used 1/4 tsp per gallon of water for 3 days per month. Regular plain copper sulfate should not be used, and I am not aware if ACV will make it safe to use. Here is the product that most use:
https://www.jefferspet.com/products...ZHfmCcitH8Q3276HDR7OUpP089R39NMRoCmb4QAvD_BwE
Fish zole dosage from what I have read for a 5 pound chicken, is 250 mg daily for 5-7 days. Since pigeons carry canker, it can spread through the flock. The acidified cooper sulfate is used for 3 days a month in the water as a preventative for the unaffected chickens. Many people cull chickens with canker, since it makes the flock carriers, and it can come back.

 

[DanyaMik]

Acidified copper sulfate should be used 1/4 tsp per gallon of water for 3 days per month. Regular plain copper sulfate should not be used, and I am not aware if ACV will make it safe to use. Here is the product that most use:
https://www.jefferspet.com/products...ZHfmCcitH8Q3276HDR7OUpP089R39NMRoCmb4QAvD_BwE
Fish zole dosage from what I have read for a 5 pound chicken, is 250 mg daily for 5-7 days. Since pigeons carry canker, it can spread through the flock. The acidified cooper sulfate is used for 3 days a month in the water as a preventative for the unaffected chickens. Many people cull chickens with canker, since it makes the flock carriers, and it can come back.

Thanks so much for the reply.
I have read many forums that are in agreement with the information you have provided.
My Ameraucana is smaller in comparison to my other hens. I will have to weigh her (I believe she is approx 3lbs) which is why I was told to half the dosage of FishZole.
Only down fall is Canada doesn't allow the purchase of antibiotics without a prescription - Fish Zone included. Vets here want a drop-in/visitation fee, and a copy of Premises ID.. ontop of pill dispensary fee and medication fee. Approx 200$ visit for a CHICKEN!
So I am currently playing the waiting game for my shipment from the States. It was the only place I could find FishZole - and paid 15$ instead.
For now I am having great results with the natural remedy - Thyme Tincture. I apply this via Q-Tip 1x daily. The Canker growth looks half the size it did 4 days ago.

I have read other forums that use reg Copper Sulphate with White or AC Vinegar.
A uses: 1G CS / 2 tsp ACV / diluted in 2L water
B uses: 2 TBP Copper Sulphate / 1 C ACV / diluted in quart jar -> THEN 2 TBP of that mixture diluted in 3.5L water for 1 week