Hen with very swollen face on one side

[cstephens]

I have a hen with a severely swollen right side of her face. It has been going on 2 days now, and I can't figure out the cause. All the other backyard hens are fine, without any problems. I found her saturday, with a droopy comb and and tail, and have kept her in a kennel in the house since then. She is eating okay and drinking (although she has some spacial issues when aiming for her bows). There doesn't seem to be puss coming out of her face anywhere and the other side of her face is perfectly normal. I have smeered the swollen side with neosporin for 2 days now, with no improvements and I am going to try benadryl next since we can't get her into the vet until next week. I'm afraid her vision/eye on that side is already destroyed from the pressure of the swelling. If anyone has any ideas what might have caused this, or what I can do to help her, I would greatly appreciate your input.

Thanks

 

[mhwc56]

was she maybe stung /bitten by something?

 

[Miss Lydia]

FYI – Passing info along on treating a sinus infection in chickens in case it is helpful for others:

Took Sayuri (8 mos. old Aracauna) to the avian vet. She has a sinus infection. In Sayuri’s case it was caused by the injury from her left nostril being pecked at by other chickens in the flock.

Indications:

Warm beak and comb. Swelling of the sinus cavity that runs alongside of the face and under the eye causing the side of the face and eyelid area to thickly swell. Clear “weeping” discharge (with possible foam or bubbles) from nostril and eye on affected side of face. Discharge becomes more thick and egg-white like and then goes to a cottage cheese/gluey consistency as infection progresses.

Treatment:

Immediately separate chicken from rest of flock.

2x a day: Apply warm (not hot) wet washcloth compresses to affected nostril to keep passageway open and hopefully draw out discharge. It really smells when it’s coming out.

Use Baytril orally. She was given 40mg/ml suspension/#8 ml. Shake the Baytril well before dosing. Sayuri is 3.5lbs. and her dosage is 0.4ml administered orally with syringe every 12 hours (2x day) for 10 days. The 0.4ml dosage is “a little more than she needs at her weight” but the avian vet was allowing for her being unhappy about taking it and not getting it all down. If your chicken really opens up their mouth and the throat passage way is wide open do not squirt the medicine directly down the throat as that can cause the medicine to enter the lungs and cause pneumonia.

Hope this info helps others. Read this and see if it is similar to what is going on with your hen.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I know you said nothing coming from the eyes, but maybe warm compresses may help.

 

[weesy68]

Could it be frostbite?

My silkies faces swelled up terribly last winter, I think they may have had some frostbite. They recovered but their faces never quite looked the same again.

 

[cstephens]

There doesn't seem to be any sort of discharge at all. It is just really red and swollen, and not getting better. Its possible she was bitten by something, but the stinging insect count is really low right now due to the cold weather.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

I was thinking it looks like a sinus infection as well. Can a person buy Baytril without going through their vet?