Has anyone seen this beak malady before?

[cmsjr57]

The pics. I see are mouth canker. They usually get it from rusty wire. Clean it out and use some hydrogen pyroxide. You can buy mouth canker pills from a pigen supplier. It really should be no biggie. just keep it clean until you get proper medication.

 

[kathyinmo]

Please update us. How's it going. Are you treating the canker as Pine Grove recommends?

Methronidazole[ Fish-Zole] 250mg per day for 5 days..copper sulfate once a month will keep it at bay.​

 

[kareema113]

I see that Pine Grove has recommended:

Methronidazole[ Fish-Zole] 250mg per day for 5 days..copper sulfate once a month will keep it at bay

Since this post wasn't up earlier (and besides they didn't have what he recommended anyway), a general store type feedstore was the only one in our area sold me some 'CANTEREX PLUS' which is Dimetridazole BP for pigeons. It is a water soluble powder for treating the water. We administered some via eyedropper for good measure. Now we will see what happens.

I know I can order meds online but I am currently unemployed. The CANTEREX PLUS had just gone out of sell by date so she sold it to me for 1/2 price... $7.00

That tip about the rusty barbed wire is interesting. I don't think I have any rusty barbed wire in my backyard, but I did tear apart an old fence which was full of rusty nails.... hmmm...... How exactly would we go about removing the 'thing'? Pull it off? Cut it off?

Thanks for everyone's help. We will keep you updated. I will also read all the way through those threads too.

For anyone in Placer County in CA who gets this problem, the feedstore is:

Scott's Corner Hay & Feed
2001 Rattlesnake Rd
Newcastle CA 95658
916.663.4124​

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
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Treatment: Spartrix or Flagyl tablet

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[kareema113]

bumping to top. Goober (the sick hen) is out eating with her friends. Will keep you posted.

I am interested in how to remove the abscess 'thing' at the side of her mouth.

Thanks again for your help...

 

[kareema113]

Bumping again.

Would really like to know how to go about removing the 'thing' at the corner of her mouth as was mentioned a couple of times in this thread.

Goober's condition is unchanged.

 

[kareema113]

Updated photos of Goober from Wednesday evening... it's hard to believe but her current condition is a dramatic improvement from what we have seen in the last 2 weeks. Although I have been told that the penicillin G could not have done anything for this illness, it definitely has made consistent inroads into the canker.

She basically looked like half a tennis ball had been inserted under her skin on the bad side. We thought at one point that she would lose the vision in her eye and her hearing. This is the most her eye has been open in 3 weeks. Apparently the canker ate off part of her eyelid.

We also noticed that 1 day into the CANKEREX treatment, the canker mass went from hard as a walnut to 'grossly squishy' (my daughter's description). We gave her some medication directly into her mouth via syringe again.

Please note that the yellow crumbly bits by her mouth is citrus bundt cake that she gets after we treat her for the day. She is the lead hen and is now beyond spoiled since we thought she was a terminal patient.

We really want to know about how to remove the growth by her mouth ASAP since we are thinking about doing it Thursday night... Do we cut it out and with what? Pull it off? What can we expect underneath this yucky mass? Will there be a lot of blood and pus? We just need to know please.


Her bad side...

Her good side with cake crumbs...

Extreme close up of canker... nasty.

The Queen is not amused... we made her an e-collar out of a soda bottle to keep her from scratching the bad side of her face.

Thanks again for all your input and help...

 

[kareema113]

We really would like to know how to remove the mass at the side of Goober's mouth tonight.

Bumping to top.

 

[sourland]

My inclination would be to leave the lesion alone since it is not interfering with her eating. With pigeons, canker can occlude the throat and must be removed. I use a Q tip and gently but forcibly remove it. Yes, she will bleed if you remove the canker. Are you medicating the water for the other chickens? If they drink from the same fount or eat from the same feeder, they may be exposed. If at all stressed or compromised, they too may develop canker. My guess is that your hen is dealing with two problems the initial infection and possible abscess (being controlled by the penicillin) and canker being caused by the Trichomonas taking advantage of her stressed condition. Continue treating as you are. Realize that she may remain as a carrier of Trichomonas even once symptoms disappear.

 

[kareema113]

Quote:
Yes, we are treating the water as well... but giving her a concentrated dose each day orally via syringe.

Actually our inclination has been to leave that thing alone too. So what you are saying is that the canker is opportunistic to whatever else is wrong with her. We discontinued the penicillin 2 days ago because we were told here that it didn't do anything for canker. Do you think we should resume it? Personally I think at this point it couldn't really hurt. She has had injections for more than 2 weeks. We have seen improvement everywhere but that canker abscess has grown. It grew once before already and fell off. She's used to whatever my daughter the 'doctor' does to her every evening. And she likes the cake.

We are aware that she has exposed everyone else. All the hens are at least 7 yrs old. Goober is probably 9 yrs old since we got her as an adult rescue chicken. We don't know why she was rescued or from what. I do not intend to add to the flock nor to give them away. They are pets that we get eggs from.

Thanks again...