Hen with swollen face, thick mucus in the top of her mouth?

[Poultrylady2022]

I apologize for the title, I didn’t really know how to explain this.

I have a hen thats swollen on the right side of her face. It has her eye basically swelled shut. I originally thought it was an eye problem so I had been flushing her eye and putting terramycin on it. She seemed to be doing better so I put her with the other chickens.

Then one day I noticed they had attacked that eye and it was bloody so I brought her inside.

The next day I noticed she had a piece of corn stuck to the inside of her beak so I got it off and decided to look inside her mouth. My hens eat crumbles and when I looked in her mouth there was like dried food all over the roof of her mouth. It was almost completely covering her throat. I got that out and it made the roof of her mouth bleed but it also caused infection to come out of her left eye and out of the right side of her nose. I’ve since put her on an antibiotic and I’ve been watching her for several days now.

I’ve noticed that she has like thick mucus coming from the roof of her mouth. Or it may be infection, but it doesn’t really look like infection.

She has definitely perked up since I started the antibiotic but the swelling in her face hasn’t really gone down. Would anyone know what this is? Or have any better ideas of how to treat it?

She does her best to eat and drink and since I’ve started the antibiotic she acts more like a chicken than she did before. Before she would just stay perched up but now she uses her feet to dig and she’s been clicking. What else can I do? I’ll get pictures of her face but it’s really hard to keep her mouth open long enough for a picture so I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that. Thanks for any advice!

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have any pictures? It sounds as though she has a chronic respiratory disease or canker (trichomonas) infection. The latter is a protozoan disease carried by pigeons, and causes cheesy lesions in the beak and throat that smell rotten. Do you notice a bad odor? What antibiotic are you using and the dosage?

 

[Poultrylady2022]

Do you have any pictures? It sounds as though she has a chronic respiratory disease or canker (trichomonas) infection. The latter is a protozoan disease carried by pigeons, and causes cheesy lesions in the beak and throat that smell rotten. Do you notice a bad odor? What antibiotic are you using and the dosage?

I will take some in just a minute but I’m not sure if I can get any of the inside of her mouth.

I do have pigeons in the loft of my chicken house but she has so far been the only one that’s affected.

She does have an odor but I wasn’t sure where exactly the smell was coming from.

The antibiotic I’ve been giving her is called respiratory liquid 10%. It’s supposed to be similar to baytril. I’ve been giving her .3 ml in her water every day.

 

[Poultrylady2022]

This is her face. I will have to get someone to help me hold her to get pictures of the inside of her mouth

 

[Eggcessive]

Both canker and the respiratory disease infectious coryza can have a bad odor. Canker is best treated with metronidazole. Coryza is treated with sulfadimethoxine or other sulfa antibiotics. Is there any way of seeing a vet in your area where they could test for those diseases? Some people do cull chickens with canker or coryza. You could have the state vet perform a necropsy to test for what she has. Keep her isolated from your other chickens or poultry. You might be able to press on her sinuses or face, and try to express some pus from around her eye or inside the roof of her beak. Let us know how she gets along.

 

[Poultrylady2022]

No I don’t have any vets nearby that will see poultry. Is it possible to get either of those medicines without seeing a vet? If I can get the medicine, what are the chances she will survive?

I would prefer not to cull her, but if her outlook is slim I feel like it might be the most humane thing to do.

I will give her a little more time before I make that call though. She has perked up so much in the past few days. If she starts to decline then I will make that call. Thanks for your help!

 

[Eggcessive]

The enrofloxacin 10% that you may be giving could help if she has coryza. You can presently get some of the antibiotics online for pigeons. Of course none plus the enrofloxacin are appproved for chickens, and a long egg withdrawal should be done. Here is where to find metronidazole for fish or Aquazole for treatment of canker, and dosage is 250 mg given orally once a day for 5-7 days:
https://www.heartlandvetsupply.com/p-6313-aqua-zole-metronidazole.aspx?variantid=11144

 

[Eggcessive]

The sulfadimethoxine is a bit hard to find and is sold out in most online places, but this one:
https://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/medicox.aspx
Dosage is on the label.
The enrofloxacin you are using might work too against coryza. I am not sure.

 

[Poultrylady2022]

She’s not laying eggs anyway so no worries there!!

Could she take both antibiotics at the same time? I know they’re hard on their digestive systems and I don’t want to make her any sicker than I have to.

That’s how I’ve gotten the antibiotics I have is through a website for pigeons. Thanks again!

 

[Eggcessive]

I am not a vet. I try to not use medicines unnecessarily. I would probably use the Aqua Zole if you think it is canker, and continue the enrofloxacin 10% to finish the 5 days. If you then seeing improvement, and are getting some pus out of the eye or sinus, I might hold off on the sulfadimethoxine. It can be hard on the kidneys and hearing. Be sure to give some plain Greek yogurt or probiotics to build back her beneficial gut bacteria.