Fowl Pox or something else?

[seanthepotter]

We have a Rhode Island Red or a similar looking mix with scabbing on the side of her right lower beak accompanied by a black swelling inside her lower beak and a swollen right side of her face, causing the right eye to be mostly closed.

She isn't acting odd other than basically blind in the one eye. Looks gorgeous all over, no mites, no scaling, no other evidence of irritation. She doesn't itch at it and there is no excretion. Her comb and wattles are perfect looking. She eats well and still is feisty.

We took some pictures in the hopes of identifying it but as there is no behavioral evidence we're just too inexperienced to pin it to something.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Looks like a really bad case of canker? @Eggcessive
@Wyorp Rock
@azygous
@coach723

 

[seanthepotter]

First presentation was the black/mud scab on the beak about 3-4 weeks ago. The swelling was only noticeable the last 1-2 weeks. The swelling inside the beak has been black/purple the entire time

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is there a bad odor?

Can you take a closer look at the yellow lesions inside the beak?

Does she open the eye at all? Eye looks ok?

I'm thinking 2 different things, but really hard to know. I'm seeing injury/scabbing, possibly infection. (Cancer maybe?) I'm also seeing some yellow plagues/canker or thrush.
The eye thrown into the mix.
What's the chonal slit look like (roof of beak)?

 

[Eggcessive]

Has her right eye been having foam or bubbles, any pus, and have you noticed any sneeze or cough, or rattly or wheezy breathing? Do you see any yellow gunk inside the beak, or does it look dark?

 

[seanthepotter]

I was able to check inside her beak and it looks normal on the top inside, but the yellow patches have become full white caps now. I'm guessing it's canker?

She doesn't open the eye more than a slit due to the swelling, but we were able to gently open it and it looks normal. She doesn't seem to be flinching at all.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you answer if it has a bad odor from the beak? The yellow white lesions inside the beak could be canker. Have they grown any? Aqua Zole metronidazole is a common treatment. You may want to try to clean out any pus in the eye with gentle squeezing, using saline eye wash to clean the eye and apply plain antibiotic ointment 2-3 times a day. Terramycin eye ointment can be used from a feed store if you can get it. Here is a video of getting pus out of the eye socket:

 

[Prop toe]

Fish sole I used tabs like you put into fish tank to treat canker.I also damp silver nitrate sticks on the leasions. In a way looks like trama in way .Heck if I know I'm about blind anyways.

 

[seanthepotter]

No pus in the eye socket at all.

No odor that I can detect but she's real hard to get, I'll try and check her later when she's on the roost. I can start trying to rinse out the areas inside her beak but there is no fluid on the outside of her beak/head.

 

[seanthepotter]

Alright, the swelling on the side of her head has increased. The white caps on the inside affected area (inside the beak, not the eye) keep getting cleared as she eats it seems. The affected area inside is mostly black with the yellow legions except when a white cap builds up, not exactly like puss. The area is not soft or pliable and I am unable to get puss out of the legions inside her beak with any amount of force that I'm comfortable applying. She still doesn't flinch from it even though she isn't a social bird and doesn't enjoy being handled.

No odor at all, just smells like a chicken. (Fowl odor and not foul odor)

I'm looking into the Aqua-Zole, however the cost of treating her seems high for treating a single bird. We don't want her to suffer if at all possible, but she already isn't really a layer and adding cost to it on top of feed is likely outside of our financial comfort zone. Cheapest I've found is $45-$50 locally for the Aqua-Zole.

Her eye is still completely clear looking, though I have to pull back her lower eyelid to see it. No external legions/wounds of any sort. The swelling is getting bad enough inside her beak that I'm concerned she won't be able to eat soon, though she's still doing so with the same amount of voracious 'I'm in charge' gumption she always had, which is the main reason we haven't gone to cervical-dislocation yet.