Hello, I've got a sick rosecomb bantam (Meek Meek) at the moment. One side of her face has blown up so much that there is a lot of pressure on her left eye and the eye has moved and it looks really uncomfortable. She had no other symptoms but is slowly getting less active (although she's still out with the other chickens and doing her thing) She went to the vet who did a test and said that her head is full of mucous and has a sort of big cyst and gave me antibiotics but nearly a week later they aren't doing much. They have only slowed down the growth. She's getting more and more uncomfortable daily and now can't shut her eye properly. The vet said that the next step would be to surgically remove the puss from her head. So I was wondering if anybody has had any experiences with chickens being operated on and going under anaethetic. The chicken is quite old and I was wondering if that might have a big effect on her chances. I know I shouldn't have favourites but she's always been mine and I'm wondering if surgery is the best options for her or just me being selfish. She's a rosecomb bantam and she must be close to 7 years old. She's very used to being handled if that makes any difference. I just want to do the best thing for her but I've heard chickens don't generally do well in surgery, and hers would be right on her head. Thanks
If it were me, I'd do exactly what dawg53 said! For something like that, no anesthesia needed. In fact, I'd guess it's better to NOT have it. good luck!
you dont need a vet for this. Just do it like what dawg53 said. I do it differently but its still the best way.
Most people here will say that chickens do not do well under anesthesia. In my personal experience anesthetizing chickens for an avian vet, that depends more on the vet/anesthetist's skill than the fact that they are chickens. Granted, I've only anesthetized one chicken, but she recovered well from the first anesthesia (it was to keep her calm and perfectly still for x-rays after being hit by a car, and for bandaging the legs), and no doubt would have recovered well from the second anesthesia had the owner not opted to euthanize due to the severity of an infection that developed. But I have anesthetized 2 Emu and dozens of various parrots for many different kinds of procedures. Waterfowl are tricky because of their dive reflex, they are difficult to get down to a surgical plane of anesthesia and keep there. But chickens are pretty much just like any other bird. Yes, birds are more at risk than mammals for anesthesia, but with an experienced doctor and technician monitoring the surgery chances are in your favor. Especially if it is a short, minimally invasive procedure. If your doctor is more of a dog/cat or large animal vet who just happens to look at chickens and the occasional pet parakeet, then I would be concerned because their experience level is probably such that they do have a much higher mortality rate for avian anesthesia.
