Loss of voice? Seems ok otherwise.

porokelle

Chirping
Dec 5, 2021
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Hello all,
Our tiny running-the-show bantam, suddenly went croaky yesterday around noon. I didn't notice it in the morning when giving them some oats and their first mealworms.
At noon, I noticed a croaky response from her that got worse throughout the day.

Eat, drinking, pooping has been fine. Running around and chatty and in charge as always.
No discharge out of the nose, eyes, or mouth.
Comb is upright and red.
We're in NZ, and start of winter, and noting she hasn't molted yet.
It's been rain on and off hourly for 3 weeks, along with widely varying temperatures - so... take that as a perfect conditions for any kind of infection.
About a week ago, we put some barley straw in their dry outdoor covered area (not in the coop), and noted it was a bit dusty.
At night she sleeps nestled on the floor (does not like roosts) between some massive orpingtons, so I don't know how much clear air she's getting.

She slept in the house last night, dry and warm. Was straight asleep as soon as the sun went down.
None of the other girls are showing any symptoms.

Took her to the vet today with nothing too obvious.
She's barely squawking now, only tiny high pitches.
Wants to stay in the pet carrier and rest rather than out in the pen.
Vet took temp at 41.2C (106F)
Normal weight 1.4kg (3.1lbs)
Breathing is fine.
Gave her a 3 day dose of tetracycline just in case it is a bacterial infection, and a few days of metacam to help if there's any pain.

The vet did see white specks down the middle of the throat area, and we are probably going to try to treat for thrust/fungal.
They were not big globs.
But getting any oral meds (we can get topical things like myconazole, just not pills) or even copper sulfate is difficult in New Zealand.
Either shipping will be a week away or is unavailable over the counter.

**Any suggestions of what else we could try if it is a thrush?
**And any suggestions of what else it could be to make her lose her voice so fast - that we should consider and look to treat?

I will try to take pics of her mouth tonight.
I can also add video of her croaky voice if that's of help.

Thank you!
 
No, they weren't too familiar with chickens.
And they didn't have any oral antifungals - (which seems really odd).
But we're in a rural town in New Zealand.
The vet is checking tomorrow in town to see if they have anything else that's possible, but I'm trying to find anything that could even be over the counter.
Unfortunately we don't even have Monistat here - which I've seen suggested for other oral thrush on Backyard Chickens.
 
No, they weren't too familiar with chickens.
And they didn't have any oral antifungals - (which seems really odd).
But we're in a rural town in New Zealand.
The vet is checking tomorrow in town to see if they have anything else that's possible, but I'm trying to find anything that could even be over the counter.
Unfortunately we don't even have Monistat here - which I've seen suggested for other oral thrush on Backyard Chickens.
Oh, I see:(

Can you get Clotrimazole? It's an anti-fungal medication (usually cream). I use it to treat Sour Crop in my hens.

I'm not familiar enough with herbal/natural remedies to recommend anything.

Hopefully you can find something. Keep me posted.
 
Yes! We definitely have clotrimazole as a topical cream. You can give it as an oral, as well? Do you know the dosage to give? I can get Clotrimazole 10 mg/g concentration at the grocery store or pharmacy.

Her voice is still small and high pitched today, a bit better in the morning, but by evening she had gone silent again.
She's a bit of a chatterbox normally, with us she constantly high pitch chips.
She's not doing her big bagawks that went very raspy (the one in the video below), because she's not in the yard with her girls - so it's a bit hard to tell if she's really getting that much better or just not using her voice.

This is her when we first noticed:

The videos of today's voice are too soft to hear, so I'll try to get one tomorrow.
 
The clotrimazole we have over the counter (Canesten by Bayer) also contains benzyl alcohol as a preservative, not sure if that makes a difference.
 
Mine contain those ingredients as well, I've used it multiple times in hens with Sour Crop and haven't seen any adverse affects, but do your research.

I give around 1/2" of cream twice a day for 7 days. This helps treat a yeasty crop, so it may help treat the Thrush.
 
Thanks. I will pick some of that up.
We spoke to the vet this morning and we also can get nystatin oral drops, which is safe for poultry.
Her voice is worse today, but honestly she's not showing any other signs except maybe a sore throat - some yawning and head movements after eating, so we'll give those a go and see what happens.
 

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