Hen with tongue sticking out - cant eat

[Mjarissa]

Hi all!

Margarida is a super sweet and normally very active hen (2y/o). At this moment her tongue is deviating to the right, to the point where it often sticks out of her beak, and she can't eat. Please help me! I don't know what to do...

More info:
For a few months already she has been very sleepy during the day, but other than that she was active, eating and drinking so we assumed it was just her thing.

Now a week ago when inspecting her we saw some lice. Nothing big but enough reason to treat her. But while holding her I felt she is very skinny. Wanting to make a special meals for her with oats/eggs I noticed that she didn't really eat. She would hold the food with her beak but then drop it, unable to swallow.
Upon closer inspection I noticed her tongue is deviating to the right, at times sticking out of her beak. I remember seeing her really swallow things maybe one or two weeks ago when I was feeding her some eggs, so I assume the problem is recent, or has been getting worse over time.

So now she can't eat at all. Since the discovery I'm feeding her with a syringe. But she does not enjoy much and it's impossible to get her back to a good weight and maintain this weight or the rest of her life like this.

Any ideas what might me going on? I'm thinking there might be an infection deeper in her throat, or worse, a tumor, that is pusher her tongue to the side making it impossible to swallow.

-> I don't have a vet around that treats chickens. I live in the countryside of Portugal and here they don't view chickens worthy of treatment. (it's cheaper to just buy a new one...)
-> I tried to inspect her throat but she does not allow me to open her beak for long enough to have a good look. The tip of her tongue seems fine. I assume the problem lies deeper

Any tips, ideas?

Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you post any pictures of your hen’s beak? Open the beak to look with a light for any yellow matter, or a string or hair wrapped around her tongue? Is there are bad odor? Can ker is a protozoan infection that can cause a bad odor, yellow cheesy plaques in the throat, esophagus, and crop.

 

[Mjarissa]

She doesn't allow me to open her beak for long/wide enough to look inside... But I don't smell any bad odor and the tongue is still pink so it doesn't seem to be dying off. Any other things that could cause this?

I will take a picture tomorrow of the outside of the beak and the tongue sticking out

 

[coach723]

Have someone hold her for you, pull down on her wattles and she will open her mouth. Put a thumb and forefinger in each corner of her mouth to hold it open, or one thumb on the tip of the top beak and one on the tip of the bottom of the beak. She may not like it, but you need to get a look in there. A small flashlight is also helpful, if you can tape the flashlight to the brim of a ball cap, even better, it leaves your hands free. Having a helper for this makes it much easier. If she struggles you can wrap her in a bath towel like a burrito to help hold her wings.

 

[Mjarissa]

Thank you for your replies! I'm almost positive it's canker. I now clearly see a yellow plaque on the left inside of her beak. It seems to have grown rapidly. I managed to remove some of it.
I just don't smell a very bad odor which makes me wonder if it's something else. I mean... it doesn't smell good, a bit like egg maybe, but not super strong or disgusting like I would expect looking at it.

Anyhow, I started treating her with copper sulfate today. 1 gram/L with some acv. I this the way to go? Are there more efficient treatments?

I don't have many resources for medicine around here so I'll most likely have to order it. But since I didn't want to risk waiting I just started the copper sulfate treatment already.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Thank you for your replies! I'm almost positive it's canker. I now clearly see a yellow plaque on the left inside of her beak. It seems to have grown rapidly. I managed to remove some of it.
I just don't smell a very bad odor which makes me wonder if it's something else. I mean... it doesn't smell good, a bit like egg maybe, but not super strong or disgusting like I would expect looking at it.

Anyhow, I started treating her with copper sulfate today. 1 gram/L with some acv. I this the way to go? Are there more efficient treatments?

I don't have many resources for medicine around here so I'll most likely have to order it. But since I didn't want to risk waiting I just started the copper sulfate treatment already.

Oh, I keep messing up what I want to type. But this article might help:
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/canker

I hope it clears up!

 

[Eggcessive]

Acidified copper sulfate is what is used, but never just copper sulfate. The kind that comes in this package is 1/4 tsp per gallon of water, so it sounds like you are dosing that.

https://birdpalproducts.com/products/acidified-copper-sulfate

Metronidazole, also called Aqua Zole for fish, or Ronidazole are anti-protozoan drugs that can treat canker. You can get both online for fish or pigeons. Fowl pox can cause a similar yellow plaque inside the beak, and that is a virus.

Many have said that the bad odor increases in canker. They can get it from drinking out of puddles or where pigeons or wild birds have been drinking. It helps to separate one with canker, and then disinfect all feeders and waterers with 10% bleach water, then rinse well.

 

[Mjarissa]

Thank you both!

@Eggcessive It's a Portugese product but I can't find anything about it being acidified. The stuff consist of tiny bright blue rocks. I did mix it with apple cider vinegar tho. So maybe this will add the acid component that would otherwise be missing. We are treating the whole flock with it because I read that's what you should do. If it's the wrong product, will it harm them? D:
*edit: sorry I already found it online. Acidified copper sulfate is just copper sulfate with an acidic component added to the overall product. Apple cider vinegar should do it's job

 

[Mjarissa]

Acidified copper sulfate is what is used, but never just copper sulfate. The kind that comes in this package is 1/4 tsp per gallon of water, so it sounds like you are dosing that.

https://birdpalproducts.com/products/acidified-copper-sulfate

Metronidazole, also called Aqua Zole for fish, or Ronidazole are anti-protozoan drugs that can treat canker. You can get both online for fish or pigeons. Fowl pox can cause a similar yellow plaque inside the beak, and that is a virus.

Many have said that the bad odor increases in canker. They can get it from drinking out of puddles or where pigeons or wild birds have been drinking. It helps to separate one with canker, and then disinfect all feeders and waterers with 10% bleach water, then rinse well.

Sooo sadly the copper sulfate does not seem to work. I removed the lesions as best as I could while treating her but they just slowly come back over time. I want to try Metronidazole now but cannot find the right dosage. Does anyone know how much to give to a small chicken with canker?

 

[Eggcessive]

Metronidazole dosage is 50 mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 5-7 days.