I think Popcorn is sick

[Moodleroni]

Good morning. I am not sure if I am being paranoid so I figured I would post and see what you guys think.

Popcorn is a Cuckoo Maran rooster (born early March 2023) who currently has a swollen head/face. More specifically, the left side, above and slightly around his left eye. He does have some healing scabs on his comb and wattles, but I am pretty sure those are battle scars. There is no wheezing, coughing, bubbles, puss, or smell. He is acting normal otherwise so I assumed it's a bug bite or "bruise" since he beats up, and gets beaten up, quite frequently; it's like fight club in there sometimes but they all seem to get along the rest of the time.

Anyways, this morning his crows sounded like he has something in his throat, definitely not his usual crowing, and still no other signs of illness or infection. I couldn't see anything in his throat, his crop was basically empty, and he is still strong & lively as he fought well while I inspected him.

It has been averaging 110-116 degrees here, dry heat, so they have tons of water and ice throughout the day, areas to dust bathe, and lost of shade. I will be doing another deep clean of their coop/run but should I be concerned or am I just being paranoid? None of the other roosters or hens are showing any issues.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Tonyroo]

That's very hot for chickens in general if they start developing symptoms it's from heat related stress.

Wetting a shaded area or draping a cloth netting and watering it can keep the ambient air significantly cooler. But it watering needs to be repeated at those temperature.

 

[The Chick Addict]

Good morning. I am not sure if I am being paranoid so I figured I would post and see what you guys think.

Popcorn is a Cuckoo Maran rooster (born early March 2023) who currently has a swollen head/face. More specifically, the left side, above and slightly around his left eye. He does have some healing scabs on his comb and wattles, but I am pretty sure those are battle scars. There is no wheezing, coughing, bubbles, puss, or smell. He is acting normal otherwise so I assumed it's a bug bite or "bruise" since he beats up, and gets beaten up, quite frequently; it's like fight club in there sometimes but they all seem to get along the rest of the time.

Anyways, this morning his crows sounded like he has something in his throat, definitely not his usual crowing, and still no other signs of illness or infection. I couldn't see anything in his throat, his crop was basically empty, and he is still strong & lively as he fought well while I inspected him.

It has been averaging 110-116 degrees here, dry heat, so they have tons of water and ice throughout the day, areas to dust bathe, and lost of shade. I will be doing another deep clean of their coop/run but should I be concerned or am I just being paranoid? None of the other roosters or hens are showing any issues.

Thanks in advance!!

Can you send pics?

 

[Moodleroni]

Sorry if they are a bit blurry, I had to chase him around for pictures, he's done with me today after I manhandled him this morning

^ 'Normal' right side for comparison ^

^ left side with swelling ^

^ top view since it's kinds hard to see in the left view picture ^

 

[Moodleroni]

That's very hot for chickens in general if they start developing symptoms it's from heat related stress.

Wetting a shaded area or draping a cloth netting and watering it can keep the ambient air significantly cooler. But it watering needs to be repeated at those temperature.

Yes, I would agree.

They do have those UV Ray blocking tarps that I do dampen about 3 times a day, they have 8 watering stations which includes a sort of trench area around a tree with boards in it that they use to dip their feet into, and I would say that about 90% of the whole run is shaded, by either the tarp or the tree.
I do have to be careful though, too much moisture makes it humid which makes it harder to breathe along with the heat.

 

[The Chick Addict]

That looks like the early stages of Wet Fowl Pox. There are two types of Fowl Pox, Wet and Dry. Wet pox infects the mucous membranes. This can make them harder to spot in the earlier phases. With wet pox, the early stage symptoms are pale spots on the comb and pale marks inside the mouth. They can also migrate down further into the throat and crop area. In severe cases, the pox can grow large enough to prevent swallowing. Your poultry can then become dehydrated and undernourished, and their overall health can deteriorate quickly. Thankfully, wet pox is less common than dry pox. Popcorn looks like he has the early stages of Wet Pox. It's good that you caught it early! Check inside his mouth and see if there is any cheesy, yellow stuff inside his throat. That will confirm it. Separate him from your flock so he will not spread it to your other chickens since it is highly contagious. The throaty sound inside his throat when he crows is likely the sores inside. There is no professional treatment for Fowl Pox but here are some things you can do for Popcorn and your flock:

• Applications of a topical antiseptic (e.g. Betadine) or tomato and lime juice can be used directly on the pox to heal the sores on his comb.
• Warm saline solution can soften mouth sores (yellow cheesy stuff) so you can remove them to enable eating.
• Adding a tablespoon of vinegar per gallon of water will help sanitize shared water sources within your flock.
• Administer tetracycline antibiotics for three days to the infected birds to help keep secondary infections at bay
• Add vitamin supplements to the rest of your flock's drinking water to boost their immunity
• Dilute iodine solution in water and use it to clean the scabs
• Mix the sulfur powder in an ointment or petroleum jelly like Vaseline and apply it to the comb scabs to soften them
• Sanitize the drinking water by adding a diluted iodine solution to it (1% per gallon of water) until the outbreak subsides
• Don’t change their usual diet as this may shock their digestive system and make them more susceptible to opportunistic infections

You might give Popcorn and your flock vitamins to strengthen their immune system.
Some of the common vitamins given include Vitamin E, Vitamin D and Vitamin A. These oil vitamins will work best when you give it to them in liquid form. If you see the yellow sores inside, you can give him the warm saline solution to soften the sores and you can remove them. There are also Fowl Pox vaccinations available. Once a chicken gets Fowl Pox, they cannot get it again and they will be immune to the disease. If the disease spreads to the rest of your flock, treat them the same way you would for Popcorn. I hope Popcorn will get well and that it does not spread to the rest of your flock!

 

[Moodleroni]

So I'm not paranoid! Even though I think in this case I would have preferred to be

I have a lot of work to do, THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!!

 

[The Chick Addict]

So I'm not paranoid! Even though I think in this case I would have preferred to be

I have a lot of work to do, THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!!

No problem, update us on how the treatment works!

 

[The Chick Addict]

@Moodleroni, how has the treatment been going?

 

[Moodleroni]

Hey @The Chick Addict thanks for checking up on us!!

The day after the last posting, Popcorn & Noodle got into a big fight. Noodle had wounds on his comb & waddle and Popcorn had a cut just above his eye, all over his comb & waddles, and was missing feathers; he looked horrible. We decided not to separate them, just spent the next two days in there "promoting peace", by giving treats when they were near each other and distracting "face-offs". Crazin also seems to act like he's playing peacemaker on a daily basis since then.

I never saw anything in Popcorn's throat so I was hesitant to give antibiotics, but I did clean & treat his & Noodle's wound areas. They both still get random wounds but have healed from the incident and Popcorn's face/head is no longer swollen, he just has a slight scar where the cut was near his eye.

Everyone got vitamins in their water & I put some red pepper flakes or oregano periodically in their water, they seem to like it.

No one else seemed to develop any swelling or 'pox' looking things, and I guess we caught Popcorn's symptoms really early since it went away so fast, it took him longer to heal from the fight!

I'm still monitoring but I think we dodged a bullet!