is this earlobe injured or diseased?

[smnytx]

Hi, all -

I just happened to pick up my 7 month-old RIR hen and put her under my left arm, rather than under my right as I usually do. I then noticed that her right earlobe (which I guess I don't usually see) has something seriously wrong with it:

Is that a disease, or is this what a chicken's scab looks like (following some sort of injury)?

For comparison's sake, here is a (very fuzzy) picture of her left earlobe, which is normal:

Thoughts? Ideas for curing this, or will it heal on its own?

FWIW, this is the hen that I wrote about a couple weeks ago, with the funny eggs and runny poops. The eggs have since gone back to normal (she had about a week's worth of unusable, leathery eggs).

She does not appear to be in any kind of distress. She's her normal, aggressive self (she managed to get a good bite in on my today!)

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[CUDA]

Looks like some sort of infection, possibly due to an injury. I would put him on a broad spectrum antibiotic like terramycin to help out.

 

[pips&peeps]

It looks like she has some infection in there to me. It also looks as if it needs to be cleaned and maybe drained.

Hopefully someone here has some suggestions on what to put on it or some antibiotics for that type of infection.

 

[smnytx]

Thanks -

CUDA - it's a hen, not a roo - and any idea where/how to get antibiotics for a chicken? I would prefer to tough it out, but if this could be life-threatening, I will of course treat it.

P & P - how does one clean/drain a chicken earlobe? With this one, general anesthesia would likely be necessary! She's quite the pseudo-rooster!

 

[dlhunicorn]

This is abscessed and needs draining (it will prolly be a cheesy plugged up abscess and not runny > abscess is not "reabsorbed" in birds as it is in mammals)
Please go to www.featherfanciers.com and register and post your story along with pics and ask Peter Brown to help you with instructions to do this...you can also buy any meds he recommends as this is the forum for FirstState Vet Supply and he is very knowledgeable on meds.

 

[smnytx]

thank you - will do!

 

[CUDA]

If you want to try to drain it, it is no big deal. Roll the bird in a towel to keep it calm, slit open the earlobe with a razor blade, and squeeze out the puss. You can get Terramycin down to any local farm store. BTW, don't worry about hurting the bird by doing this, it is really not a big deal. If it bleeds some, don't worry about that, it will stop on it's own. If you are still concerned about doing it, feel free to contact me as I have done this sort of thing plenty of times for frostbite issues. You can get my contact information on my website. Good luck!