Hen with swollen side of face. Help/Advice appreciated.

[WizChick]

Hi, I noticed this afternoon that one side of my year-old-broody-for-the-second-time buff orpington's face was swollen. I scooped her up to examine, expecting something to be in her eye. I didn't see anything but excessive clear liquid in the corner of her eye and some in her nose. I decided I'd come check the archives to see what others have experienced with swollen faces but before I got far I remembered I had taken pictures this morning and decided to inspect them. What I discovered was a chipped beak. I'm assuming the swelling is a pain response. What can I do for her? I'd like to do whatever I can by myself however I'm not opposed to a vet visit.

My favorite photo from this morning, you can see the chipped beak.

A more recent view of the chipped beak and the swelling on the right side.

I keep her and her 13 cornish x chicks in a large dog kennel with pine shavings as bedding at night and they are free to explore the grass in a 5 by 10 pen covered with chicken wire (or stay in the kennel) during the day. She eats chick starter/grower with the chicks.

 

[chkn]

I wonder if she got stung by a bee or something.

 

[perolane]

I'm with chkn.....possible bee sting or insect bite of some sort. That little chip in the beak wouldn't cause swelling or pain. I assume the swelling had gone down when you took the pics as it's barely noticeable....just keep an eye on her.

 

[WizChick]

Well it's worse this morning. I suppose it could be a sting but shouldn't it have gone down by now? I have a bucket of dirt and coconut core in the pen for her to dust bathe in. My first assumption was that she got a piece of the core in her eye. But my birds take over the tortoise pen, that is full of the stuff, regularly and this has never happened before. Is there an eye flush for chickens and how do you hold their head anyway? She shakes her head so I can't get a hold for a closer inspection.

The other side is normal.

I also had a dead chick this morning (first one in a week, they are 2 1/2 weeks old). There hasn't been any bloody droppings, an occasional red-orange dropping from a chick but nothing I considered bloody. I don't really think these issues are related. I've been keeping a close eye on 2 of them since they looked to be a lot skinnier then the rest. The chick this morning was one of those 2. The chick that died before was a clear failure to thrive case.

 

[chickengrandma]

I am really just making a wild guess/suggestion -

Could she have a sinus infection? What about trying to treat with antibiotics?

Anyone else?

 

[GloriaH]

Looks like a sinus infection to me. Try tylan. You can get medicated feed or injectable. Please keep us posted on her health.

 

[WizChick]

I'll agree to the sinus infection now that I've read a few posts. I'll call my vet when they open this morning and have a consult. Should I be worried about isolating her? She is now caring for 12 chicks and I would prefer to keep it that way.

 

[atimme]

Looks infected, especially with the foamy eye. If untreated the eyelid will close and crust shut completely sealing the bacteria in. No idea what kind it is so hard to say if the chicks are at risk.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

Quote:
Is she still doing her Mommy Hen job well? If so, I would let her keep her babies and get treatment for her... If you take them away, she might be even more stressed and certainly the babies would be

 

[perolane]

I can see the drainage in the new pic. Glad you have an appointment to check it out. Let us know how it went.