Mysterious Beak Growth

[casportpony]

This picture has some pretty good detail of the choanal papillae, but not of the choanal slit.
Picture from:http://www.hopkinslivestock.com/oral_dosing_article.htm


-Kathy

Edited to add this interesting link:
http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/anatomy.html

 

[Nambroth]

This picture has some pretty good detail of the choanal papillae, but not of the choanal slit.
Picture from:http://www.hopkinslivestock.com/oral_dosing_article.htm


-Kathy

Edited to add this interesting link:
http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/anatomy.html

This peacock photo quoted here shows the trachea VERY well though, and is a very important reference for where not to put feeding tubes, medication, liquids....

That is one of my favorite links regarding anatomy terms online.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: Lol, that's one of the pictures I use when telling people how to tube or give meds orally and in those cases I always say "that's the opening to the trachea and *nothing* should ever go in there".

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

This is the other one that I use:


Just to be clear, these pictures belong to Hopkins' Alternative Livestock http://www.hopkinslivestock.com/peafowl.htm

Great article on how to give medications orally:
http://www.hopkinslivestock.com/oral_dosing_article.htm

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

.

 

[Eggna]

Thank you Kathy for all the wonderful pictures and links! I never knew how the inside of chickens' mouths are detailed. It's very hard to find a hen who will submit to such an exam!

My Ancona is appearing to be more blind. I let her walk outside for a few minutes and she walked erratically. She got stuck behind an open door and seemed baffled not knowing what to do next. I had to finally move her myself. She is now struggling to get her beak lined up with her food and water. It's like she's aiming for it but her head has another idea and sways around til she makes contact. Then it takes her a moment or two to actually scoop some food in. I suppose it is affecting her neurologically now or else it's just weakness.

I haven't had a chance to check her preen gland yet, but I'm thinking maybe this is more Marek's disease now. I did notice that her poo is a rather bright green that I haven't seen in our other birds before. I have only had chickens (29) now for 1 1/2 years but I have never seen this before. All other girls seem to be fine. Just a few more clues for you knowledgeable chicken lovers! Thank you so much for your input!

Amy

 

[Nambroth]

Oh dear, poor girl. Your descriptions seem to indicate that she does have vision loss, if not blindness. Yes, when you have a chance, see if you can't check her all over as best you can. You will need to part her feathers to see her skin. If she has skin irregularities, growths, etc... especially at the bases of the feather follicles (and for some reason it seems to also occur near the preen gland sometimes) then I would be cautiously leaning toward ocular/cutaneous Marek's as well.

 

[casportpony]

I have some blind girls (3 of them) that do fine in a small pen with deep bowls of food and water. Each started off in a plastic bin and learned how to find their food and water and have since graduated to one that's a little larger. Breaks my heart to seem them this way, but they seem happy and healthy enough

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

The larger pens are made out of pieces of 2"x 4" x 4' tall welded wire that I formed into 4' wide circles. They live in them during the day, but get placed in the smaller plastic bins at night.

-Kathy

 

[Eggna]

Our hen seems to actually be recovering! We were prepared to put her down, but she is eating and drinking and getting stronger. She still has the hideous growth on her beak and the small one in her mouth, her eye will be forever blind as it is clouding over now, but she is much stronger! Do you think she will ever lay again? I'm hoping if she does, we could hatch her eggs to have a group of chickens who are resistant to Marek's? What do you think? Will the growth fall off? Should we pull it off? (That makes me shiver to think about) Advice? When can we put her with her flock again? Or should we?

Thanks again for all your help and pictures!
Amy