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

[Tonyroo]

You can also use a warm wet cloth placed over the nostril and holding it for 20 seconds. Have her head face downward while applying the cloth. Then use a toothpick to scrape the material out.

I do that with my chickens when they get foreign material caught in there nostril.

 

[picklestheduck]

Thank you all! I will try all of these today!

 

[picklestheduck]

So it’s been a wild week, family emergency etc, and this poor hen has got put on the back burner, that is until this evening. I used saline today, and really worked on this for probably 20-30 minutes. That left nostril was very much plugged, and clearly still has some gunk in there, but you can see from the pictures how much I got out. I got some out of the right one as well, but not nearly as much. I decided I had irritated her nose enough tonight (even to the point of a little blood) so I stopped and I will try again tomorrow. She had previously been even mouth breathing here and there , and would freak out if I accidentally closed her beak during (nare surgery) but she now seemed to be able to maybe breath somewhere from that nostril. Sorry pictures aren’t the greatest, I was working mostly alone and in the dark. She sat relatively well for the amount of time I sat and dug at those nares. Feel bad for the poor thing but gotta help her. Because I had to change positions here and there I wiped some gunk on my knee and some on a paper towel. I was shocked at the amount that came out, and that is clearly not all of it.

 

[picklestheduck]

Tonight it was so badly plugged, but when I put some saline on it and gently tried to scrape at it, it seemed to just pull away what seemed to be flesh and started bleeding. Wondering if it’s scarred or what, but she’s mouth breathing and wheezing on and off from a plugged nostril. I’m considering calling my avian vet. She lives a normal life otherwise, scratching pecking around, eating drinking pooping roosting… but her whole face and neck inflates and deflated every time she inhaled and exhales… so it’s concerning. I didn’t pick at it much tonight for fear of making it worse since the nostril filled with blood, but clearly there is no opening, a water droplet will just sit on the nostril instead of get sucked in like the other nostril does. I just applied some coconut oil after I dabbed up the blood and put her back on the rooster

Also- she occasionally stretched her neck forwards with an open mouth, and then will sneeze, probably uncomfortable

 

[azygous]

It's a good idea to let an avian vet look at this. If it's scar tissue, trying to remove it will cause a lot of pain and bleeding.

She can still breathe okay with one open nare. And don't get too worried about her face sucking in with each breath. It's just the "vacuum" effect of the open nare creating suction as air travels by the clogged nare. If she wasn't getting enough oxygen, her comb would be purple.

 

[picklestheduck]

It's a good idea to let an avian vet look at this. If it's scar tissue, trying to remove it will cause a lot of pain and bleeding.

She can still breathe okay with one open nare. And don't get too worried about her face sucking in with each breath. It's just the "vacuum" effect of the open nare creating suction as air travels by the clogged nare. If she wasn't getting enough oxygen, her comb would be purple.

Ok thank you! I’ll see about getting her in