Hen with obstruction in one nostril- how do I get it out

[picklestheduck]

As some of you may know there’s a lot happening within my flock currently, two hens just died from what is a mystery, and I’m now fighting impacted crop on another hen. But this isn’t about them. Shortly after the death of the two birds I closely inspected everyone, and found this brahma with one nostril plugged with something. When she breathes its almost wheezy since its coming through only one nare, and the whole side of her face sucks in and out. I made a post over a year ago about, about her, her cheeks kind of suck in and out when she breathes, but it’s never bothered her, and she’s now 2 and a half years old and thriving. But now it’s a bit more elevated since that one nostril is plugged, and even her wattle on that side sucks up to her face when inhaling, and drops when exhaling. What can I do for her? She’s eating drinking pooping running around and roosting normally

 

[WingsysRoost]

Pictures might be helpful in this situation, if you're able to get some.

Is she showing any respiratory signs other than the breathing and the plugged nostril? Does it seem like she has gotten something stuck, or does it seem like it could be an illness of some kind?

 

[picklestheduck]

Pictures might be helpful in this situation, if you're able to get some.

Is she showing any respiratory signs other than the breathing and the plugged nostril? Does it seem like she has gotten something stuck, or does it seem like it could be an illness of some kind?

Apologies I forgot to post them (most are of the plugged nostril but I attached one of the clear one as well. - I’m unsure, but I’m assuming it’s something stuck? I can’t quite tell. As far as other respiratory signs, I am not sure, but there is a slight wheeze but maybe it’s just from all the air coming and going from one nostril. I’m not really sure

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Looks like a bit of debris or feed stuck in the nostril.

Apply 1 (ONE) drop of Hydrogen Peroxide to the material in the nostril, let it sit for a few minutes it will help soften it up, then take something like an Orange Stick (Cuticle stick), blunt toothpick or plastic dental pick and start working the debris out of the nostril. It may take several attempts and you may need to work on it for a few days depending on how tolerant she is.

 

[picklestheduck]

Looks like a bit of debris or feed stuck in the nostril.

Apply 1 (ONE) drop of Hydrogen Peroxide to the material in the nostril, let it sit for a few minutes it will help soften it up, then take something like an Orange Stick (Cuticle stick), blunt toothpick or plastic dental pick and start working the debris out of the nostril. It may take several attempts and you may need to work on it for a few days depending on how tolerant she is.

Cannot thank you enough for a detailed reply. I will try this as soon as I get home

 

[WingsysRoost]

I second what Wyorp Rock said.

She doesn't seem to be showing anything that would indicate illness based on what I can see in the pictures, so it likely is food or debris. Best of luck!

 

[picklestheduck]

So I worked on that nostril tonight, I let the peroxide sit for a moment before I started working on it (the person I recruited to help accidentally dropped a drop of it into her beak, so I felt very bad about that, and quickly spooned some water into the side of her beak and she seemed alright. After letting it sit, I gently started to pick at the debris, but I also don’t know the anatomy of a chicken nostril that great yet, so I was trying to compare to the other one, while also still gently picking around to find the debris. I was able to get some out, but not a ton, and she sat through it all calmly (I had brought her into the house so I could have better lighting). I feel bad, one of the inner pieces of her nose looks raw/maybe a tiniest bit of blood, but it wasn’t actually bleeding, but I just immediately stopped. Her face is still “inflating” and “deflating” on that side, i tried to get pictures to show what I mean by that, although her face has always done it slightly, this is quite a bit more. I’ve found that when I was working I had to be careful not to clamp her beak shut, or she would panic because she could not breathe, but her beak isn’t open wide, just a crack or so. There’s such an ever slight wheeze, but I’m guessing it’s like a plugged up thing not a sickness but who knows. Also pictured is the debris I got out, probably the size of a broccoli floret or so.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So I worked on that nostril tonight, I let the peroxide sit for a moment before I started working on it (the person I recruited to help accidentally dropped a drop of it into her beak, so I felt very bad about that, and quickly spooned some water into the side of her beak and she seemed alright. After letting it sit, I gently started to pick at the debris, but I also don’t know the anatomy of a chicken nostril that great yet, so I was trying to compare to the other one, while also still gently picking around to find the debris. I was able to get some out, but not a ton, and she sat through it all calmly (I had brought her into the house so I could have better lighting). I feel bad, one of the inner pieces of her nose looks raw/maybe a tiniest bit of blood, but it wasn’t actually bleeding, but I just immediately stopped. Her face is still “inflating” and “deflating” on that side, i tried to get pictures to show what I mean by that, although her face has always done it slightly, this is quite a bit more. I’ve found that when I was working I had to be careful not to clamp her beak shut, or she would panic because she could not breathe, but her beak isn’t open wide, just a crack or so. There’s such an ever slight wheeze, but I’m guessing it’s like a plugged up thing not a sickness but who knows. Also pictured is the debris I got out, probably the size of a broccoli floret or so.

Good job.
You may want to work on it again over the next few days when you have time. Just go slow and compare to the other nostril like you are doing.

If you look inside her beak, is the Choanal slit clear, no mucous or gunk stuck in the beak, including the back of the throat or anything like that?

One drop of Peroxide in the beak shouldn't hurt her, especially since you followed up with water, it will be o.k.

 

[picklestheduck]

Good job.
You may want to work on it again over the next few days when you have time. Just go slow and compare to the other nostril like you are doing.

If you look inside her beak, is the Choanal slit clear, no mucous or gunk stuck in the beak, including the back of the throat or anything like that?

One drop of Peroxide in the beak shouldn't hurt her, especially since you followed up with water, it will be o.k.

View attachment 3666083

Thank you. I’ll work on it more tomorrow, as well as check inside her beak.

 

[azygous]

FYI - the nares are connected by a continuous channel. Looking at the side of a chicken's head, you should be able to see daylight all the way through to the other nare. When I need to clean gunked up nares, I use saline or mineral oil or liquid coconut oil. These solutions do no harm if some is swallowed, and that's a possibility since eyes, nares and throat are all connected.

I put the chosen cleaning solution into a slender oral syringe. Holding the chicken on her side on my lap, I insert the syringe into one nare and gently squirt some solution into the nare. Then I flip the chicken and repeat with the opposite nare. This should soften any crust blocking the nares. Dab some oil onto the outside of the crusty nare, as well. Take a toothpick and run it back and forth across some sandpaper until it's rounded and blunted. Use it to dig out any crust. If any bleeding occurs, run some coconut oil over it.

I've used pinless peepers on my chickens from time to time. In a few instances, scar tissue formed in the nares and permanently formed a clog. Injuries may also cause scar tissue to block the nare. It's usually easy to see that tissue, not crust, has grown over the nare. There is no help for this. For this reason, I try to limit the length of time that a chicken wears the peepers to just two months at a time, then remove them.