Feather loss with sores that look like puss pockets!

[JennieRD]

This is the left wing of a 5 day old chick! Reminds me of thrush! I've been treating with hydrogen peroxide and antibacterial spray. Looks similar to thrush to me, any ideas? Chicks are in a clean brooder with clean food and water. Brooder is cleaned and sanitized weekly with bleach and allowed to sit a week before rotating chicks into clean bedding . I'm open to suggestions !!!!!!

 

[chooks4life]

Any other chicks with this issue or just one? Is it just the one wing?

Might be some kind of pox, but there's also a chance it's cancer. Might be worth getting tested by a vet or lab.

Best wishes.

 

[JennieRD]

No just the one chick, the one wing, it looks to be drying up and starting to heal. There are 10 chicks in the brooder I didn't seperate because I didn't want to risk spreading it if it were contagious. But so far it's isolated to one chick one wing, maybe a feather follicle became infected? It happened quick I think I caught it in time. It does not seem to be spreading beyond the wing!

 

[chooks4life]

Well, there's a whole lot of 'maybe' involved in that...

I've never seen infections like that just due to a feather or even a dozen feathers being torn out. In fact I've never had infections like that in any bird, even among those with a variety of rather unusual wounds caused by very infective objects.

My best bet is probably along the lines of it being a staph infection, which is generally pretty common as most animals and humans carry it in their mouths etc. Perhaps this chick had a compromised immune system that allowed the staph to infect the wing like that. That's just a theory though and I'd lay no serious weight to it in case it's something more serious; until the chicks are adults for a year or more, I would keep a close eye on them and record anything unusual, just in case, since we don't know what it is. Animal journals are one of those things... Kind of inconvenient for busy people yet indispensable and life saving when you least expect it; always good to keep a decent livestock/animal journal.

Cancer is very common in domestic animals of every sort, since we keep them on the same diets and under the same unnatural conditions that induce many cancers in ourselves... Viral cancers and tumors are also very common... Herpesviruses that cause lumps too, are also very common... There's a lot of things it could be. Doesn't mean you've got a terrible situation on your hands, but, this is quite abnormal so I would watch closely for any further abnormalities.

Hope it makes a full recovery.

Best wishes.

 

[JennieRD]

Thanks for the input and advice. I am running into issues I never had before. There is a big difference in the area, where I am at now, it is a lot more humid, and I have many shade trees that keep the humidity high around the house. That may be part of the problem, the ground is dry and does not hold water, but the air stays at a constant 77% RH outside all the time. This probably does not help things...but I will keep track of this batch for any problems, the brooder is housing 8 Orrington's and 2 Araucanas from five different 5 clutches and bloodlines so if the others developed the problem, its not genetic, is viral. All I can do is see what happens...appreciate the input. The chick in the pic is an Araucana,its nest mate is a lavender, so if that one shows signs of the problem, I will probably cull both to prevent passing what ever the issue is on to other offspring hatchlings. Again, ill wait and see what happens...The two did have problems hatching, and were small.. I'm not certain, but I think this one might have been the one I had to help out of the shell, and had too be washed off with warm water because the film was too heavy coating his body....

 

[chooks4life]

With a lot of problems you'll come across, quite often it's not going to be easy to pinpoint causes. Best things you can do include keeping a close eye on the situation, recording observations, and being open to possibilities. Sometimes problems are missed because of how unlikely they are (generally not as unlikely as we've been told).

Regarding having helped them hatch, do you recall if the heads were under or over the right or left wings, or in any other positions?

Information on it varies... Initially I was told under the left wing is the correct position, but under the right wing equals failure to hatch unassisted, even though they pip normally.

Currently it seems most advice is that the head needs to be under the right wing though, not under the left. I think it probably doesn't matter, all things being equal.. Head pointed downwards rather than upwards seems more troublesome for the chick than otherwise... But that said, the ones I have to help hatch have their heads under their right wings. Nevertheless that is considered the right position. :/ Sorry for adding confusion! Here's some info on it:
Quote:
Simple malpositioning (i.e. not due to excessive interference with eggs during incubation) is generally a heritable trait, some of my hens carry it because I didn't learn about that trait until somewhat recently. I help them hatch but mark them as non breeders.

Best wishes, hope you find out what it is soon.

 

[JennieRD]

I honestly don't recall where the wing was located in conjunction with his head. I don't like assisting, and only interfere when I know its close to dying in the shell The one I helped had dried so much around the pip site that it took an act of congress to free him without hurting him. Looking back their is a possibility I could have accidentally torn his skin or he could have gotten a slight cut on the tip of his wing, I do remember his wing being stuck to the side of his body. I washed him on day one allowed him to dry an warm up. on day two I washed him again, this is when his wing came lose....I had so many hatching at one time I lost track of the one I helped until the sore showed up. He is and has been the only one with this. They are all 12 days old now and doing great.

He is doing better now, it seems new feathering is trying to grow out and the pocket seems to be finally drying up with rotating peroxide, antiseptic spray, and antiseptic/antibiotic suave. I did not want to risk popping the sore early, its so large the pain would have been tough on the little fellow. I can handle them dying, I just hate to see any suffer. He shows no signs of hurting, he just looks funny with no feathering on one wing. He is easy to pick out of the crowd. It looks like it may have caused a slight deformity on his wing, but if he makes it to adult hood I do not think it will be noticeable.

Thank you for the input on the wing position, Ill have to look into it and take it into consideration I never thought about it before..

 

[chooks4life]

Good to hear. I wouldn't pop his wing cysts or whatever they are, personally, as some of those causes can be so contagious you could then have an outbreak on your hands. Hope he gets better and it turns out to be nothing serious.

Best wishes.

 

[JennieRD]

Turns out to have been an infection. It has left the poor fella with a permanent deformity. Looks like an ingrown wing feather is the culprit. He has recovered, the infection has completely healed, but the tip of the wing is permanently bent downward under his wing. Repair looks to be out of the question due to his size....but he's a fighter. None of the others pick on him, so it looks like he's established his place with his peers.

 

[cash money]

Could you fix it when he's older