NEED HELP NOW GROWTH IN HEN'S MOUTH?

[mccoopie]

Hi, My hen is a 6 year old BR. She is very thin and was having trouble eating and swallowing food. That is when I looked in her mouth and checked her crop, (which was empty. For the last 2 weeks I have been trying to treat this growth on the bottom of her mouth, under tongue. For the last 5 days, I have treated her with 1 pill a day (250mg) of Metronidazole. And before that 3 days of Penn G injections. I thought it might be canker so that is why I put her on metronidazole because the Penn seemed to have no effect and I had looked at pictures on here of canker and they looked similar to what is in her mouth. Just yesterday, this growth was almost gone, but today it seems to have grown overnite. It is on the right bottom side of her mouth, under and along side of the tongue. I have been tube feeding her Kaytee the last 3 days which is going well. Her crop is working. Her vent looks good but I have a hard time finding her droppings. I have one other hen but her mouth is normal and she is perky. TwoCrows will be posting pics for me of this growth. One pic from the 20th and 2 from today. Has anyone seen this before, what is it and how do I treat it?

 

[TwoCrows]

Here are some pics of this hens mouth.....

 

[dawg53]

Open her mouth and smell her breath as best as you can. If there's a bad odor, it's canker. If not, wet pox.

 

[mccoopie]

Hi Dawg,

I'm here in Florida so it is dark already at 6:18 pm..12/23/14. I haven't noticed any bad breath but I will check in the morning and post my results. In the event it is wet pox, can you tell me what it is, how they get it and what meds to use or if I have to buy something, it will take a few days to get it in the mail. Whatever this is grew bigger overnight, I couldn't believe how fast.

 

[casportpony]

I could also be a bacterial infection. I think someone in the Nor Cal thread posted about it.

-Kathy

 

[dawg53]

Hi Dawg,

I'm here in Florida so it is dark already at 6:18 pm..12/23/14. I haven't noticed any bad breath but I will check in the morning and post my results. In the event it is wet pox, can you tell me what it is, how they get it and what meds to use or if I have to buy something, it will take a few days to get it in the mail. Whatever this is grew bigger overnight, I couldn't believe how fast.

Where are you at in Florida? I'm in Jacksonville.
Wet pox is fowl pox, usually transmitted by mosquitos. Chickens can have both dry and wet pox at the same time, or one or the other. Fowl pox is a virus, there arnt any treatments. Secondary infections from an infected scratch for example can be treated with antibiotics.
If in fact you're dealing with canker, the metronidazole shouldve cleared it up by now,
If it's wet pox, you can remove the lesions using tweezers. There will be blood, use a gauze to soak/wipe blood as best as you can. Then swab the area with a q-tip dipped in iodine. It will eventually heal with iodine swabs. The reason you have to remove the lesions is that your hen wont be able to swallow feed on her own; causing weight loss, eventual starvation leading to death. However if there lesions further down in her windpipe, there's not much that can be done. You would have to continue tube feeding her.

 

[dawg53]

I forgot to mention that IF it is canker, birds are carriers and it can be transmitted to other chickens via feeders/waterers. You can add copper sulfate to their non metal waterer. Dosage is 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water for 3 days straight once a month to keep it in check. Do not use more than 1/4cc per gallon of water and make it fresh daily during the 3 days treatment period.

 

[mccoopie]

Hi Casportpony,
I just hope it isn't wet pox. If it is a bacterial infection, how would I know? It looked like it was almost gone yesterday and then today I looked and it was back on the bottom of her mouth. Her throat far back looks good. This thing is just in her mouth. No runny nose and her eyes are clear. Her tail isn't droopy at all but she really is thin, and is having trouble negotiating food. There is also a clear drooly slime that she keeps trying to get out of her mouth. This sore has yellowie puss on top of this reddish raw looking thing, as seen in the pics. I just hope I can help her. I can't afford a vet. Thank you for replying to me.

 

[casportpony]

Here is the thread I was think about.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/741563/mouth-wound-on-cockerel-updated-with-necropsy-results

You're doesnt look quite like it, but thought you should see it anyway.

-Kathy

 

[mccoopie]

Hi Dawg,

I'm just east of Ocala. I guess the first thing to do is to smell her breath in the morning. I looked the best I could and didn't see anything in the beginning of her throat. She doesn't have any problem when I put feeding tube down it. In tweezing this off, if it isn't wet pox, will that hurt her? If I tweeze this off ok, the wet pox will still be there right? There is a clear slimey drool that is only in her mouth and she keeps trying to clean her beak. Is that an effect of wet pox? Thank you for your reply Dawg.