nasal cavity infection?

[Poultry parent]

Hi! in a field by a school i found a white crested black polish pullet, and the poor thing is in awful condition, she is: underweight, malnourished, has a SEVERE lice problem, and her nasal cavity seems to be infected, i was looking her over after i found her (and she is very sweet) and lice actually jumped off her, they were so bad that they were all the way up to her neck!
we washed her and a lot of the lice died, we are going to wash her again, she has eaten, drunk water, and pooped (the poop looked normal thank goodness!) and there was nasty brown crusty stuff on her head feathers above her eyes, we cut it out because it wouldn't come off. well on her beak there is a bump right where her nostrils are (when i found her she was breathing out of her mouth) and i stank like an abcess ( i think the lump was always there as it is hard) and i cleaned the beak and one of her nostrils is about the size of a pinky nail, and the entire bump is filled with nasty yellow thick pusi cleaned some of it out and now she can breath better, the other nostril is also a but big but not as big, the eye on the side with the bigger nostril she keeps shut but when she opens it it looks normal. i'm sorry i don't have pictures, does anybody know what i can do for the poor dear's nose? or anything else?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It sounds like she has a respiratory illness in addition to parasites.

Does she smell really bad?

It could be Infectious Coryz, MG or another contagious illness.

Hopefully you are practicing biosecurity and quarantine procedures while you access her health and determine whether it will be worth keeping her and then trying to integrating her into your existing flock.

As far a removing the blocked nares you can try softening the plug with a little peroxide and start gently trying to remove it. I've read some people use a toothpick, fingernail or tweezers to help with the process. It may take several attempts over the course of a few days to get it all.

For the lice, she may have nits or eggs at the base of the quills, which are hard to remove, you can try using some coconut oil to help dissolve and smother the eggs. You can apply some poultry dust or spray under the wings and around the vent, taking caution not to make it too "dusty" since she is already having respiratory issues.

Washing her was most likely necessary especially if she is stinky, with warm weather it probably is ok, but since she is ill, make sure she has a warm place to dry (you can dry her with a hair dryer on a cool/warm setting) but not get overheated and preferable far away from your flock and downwind.

Illnesses with description, symptom chart and treatment options:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

Help unplugging a nare:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/PluggedNare/PluggedNare.html

 

[Poultry parent]

yes we are keeping her quarantined!
thank you! we are planning on taking her to the vet if she doesn't get any better in the next few days. i really hope she recovers! she is just the sweetest thing, she just sits on my lap to sun!

 

[Poultry parent]

she seems to be able to breath, i can't really tell if she is wheezing because since i cleared out some of the nose gunk the air that passes through her nose sounds like a snore.
her face is not swollen,there is no discharge from her eyes,and her eyes look fine when they are open.
when she is going to sleep she shakes her head pops back up and does that a few times before she sleeps