Half of head swollen, no resp. issues UPDATE

[SunAndDirt]

Came home from work sick myself, and took some scraps out to the flock before hitting the couch. OF COURSE I find something wrong!
Roughly 5 month old "production mix" hen, swelling on half the head/face. Eyes clear of debris and discharge, beak/airway seems fine; No discharge, no irregular breathing noises. Eating normally and active. Appears totally fine otherwise- bossy and nosey like always, running to greet me, etc.
They have been free-ranging a LOT recently, 13 acres (with woods and such), plus rain now. Coop is normal, no weird stools. Not dusty, good ventilation, etc.

Do you think I should start isolation protocol? Contact state vet? Ride it out and see how she looks overnight?
(I just want to curl up on the couch!!)




In photo below, note how the swelling includes the top of the head. Sinuses? (Ugh)




She's such a good model.


Thanks for your input!
Ann

 

[TherryChicken]

MY hen did this, I was treating for URI and at first she was normal. I seperated her to get meds in her quicker and after like 4 or so days she was dead .. She had the swelling on side of her face for about 2-3 days and 4-6 days after she was dead. Hope you have better luck at finding the cause ..

 

[TherryChicken]

BTW I wonder if mine was stung by a bee? There was a yellow jacket nest out of the coop a little before.. Maybe that's the cause of you'r girl too? Just thinking..

 

[Pozees]

BTW I wonder if mine was stung by a bee? There was a yellow jacket nest out of the coop a little before.. Maybe that's the cause of you'r girl too? Just thinking..

It does look like a sting or bite, which means the swelling should go down on its own.

 

[starlingdaly]

BTW I wonder if mine was stung by a bee? There was a yellow jacket nest out of the coop a little before.. Maybe that's the cause of you'r girl too? Just thinking..

I once lost 6 chicks of varied breeds (4 chicken, 2 guinea) that had just made it to living outside for a few weeks that all spontaneously died in one day in just a matter of hours. I fed everyone that morning, came back after lunch and all six were dead. Each in different spots, two inside the chicken house, two under it, two in random areas of the run. It looked pretty instant, whatever it was. I couldn't pinpoint the cause. This was before I was on BYC. I always thought maybe it was that wasp nest underneath the chicken house that I'd been putting off getting rid of. After that, I sprayed it with full strength neem oil and knocked down the empty nest and smashed it.

 

[TherryChicken]

i wonder how mine died

 

[CedarAcres]

I'd separate her & watch her. Hopefully both of you feel better soon!

 

[TherryChicken]

I once lost 6 chicks of varied breeds (4 chicken, 2 guinea) that had just made it to living outside for a few weeks that all spontaneously died in one day in just a matter of hours.  I fed everyone that morning, came back after lunch and all six were dead.  Each in different spots, two inside the chicken house, two under it, two in random areas of the run.  It looked pretty instant, whatever it was.  I couldn't pinpoint the cause. This was before I was on BYC.  I always thought maybe it was that wasp nest underneath the chicken house that I'd been putting off getting rid of.  After that, I sprayed it with full strength neem oil and knocked down the empty nest and smashed it.

Im so sorry to hear this

 

[SunAndDirt]

Thanks for the well-wishes, I felt better by the next day, and Roxanne is doing better as well.
She spent two days in a crate inside, with warm moist compresses and 3mg/kg benedryl by mouth twice daily. Still no obvious respiratory distress or even a change in pattern. She was eating, drinking, complaining and getting tired of being singled out.
I took a HUGE leap of faith and put her back with the flock. She was just too spunky for me to feel the need to continue to keep her separate.

Here is how she looks today (day 4).




Pretty much back to normal, and if you can make it out in that photo, at the 11 o'clock position on the upper eyelid is the area that appeared a little bloodied on Wednesday when this started.

I'm sorry to hear about the sudden loss of your hens, TherryChicken and Starlingdaly. Your stories did not fall on deaf ears and we are still watching her like a hawk. Not out of the woods yet, but seems to be heading in the correct direction.
As she was scaling the rock walls around my house and investigating the new sprinkler system today, like a total Tom-Boy, I had to laugh at how un-sick my sick chicken was acting.


Thanks again, I just wanted to update this in case anyone else ends up with "Phantom Fat Face Syndrome" as I've named it.

 

[starlingdaly]

Oh she looks SO much better!! It is great to see a bird recover and go on normally.
Thanks for the condolences. The circle of life is sometimes more demanding than we would like it.