Other symptoms of canker?

[Farmgirl1878]

I had to humanely euthanize my three year old BLRW hen this week because she was ill from some unknown cause (and had been ill for about six months). I did not do a necropsy and do not have an avian vet within about a three-hour drive. There are several threads related to Lily’s illness, but the primary symptoms started with gaping when she was on the roost, progressed to gaping when she was lying down on the roost or on any flat surface and head shaking with some clear discharge from her mouth (but not from her nares), to finally gaping when lying down, head shaking, discharge from the mouth, weight loss, loss of appetite, a hard nodule under her esophagus, and lethargy. She never had any yellow or cheesy looking areas in her mouth or throat, but she did have crusty, yellowish gunk on her beak and wattles in the morning.

I treated her (and the rest of the flock) with various antibiotics and wormed everyone, kept the water and waterers clean, kept the treats to a minimum, and keep a clean coop and run. We have sand in the coop and run.

Now I’ve noticed that two of my eleven-month old Brahma pullets are starting to breathe like Lily did when they lie down. Does anyone have any ideas about what this could be? What are some of the other symptoms of canker that you’ve seen that aren’t necessarily listed in the medical journals?

 

[Farmgirl1878]

Anyone? @aart, @DobieLover

 

[aart]

Sorry, I know nothing about canker.
@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @dawg53

 

[Eggcessive]

In Ohio, you can get a necropsy for around $25 if you take the bird into the lab near Columbus. They may charge extra for certain testing. That is the best way to get a diagnosis of something like canker or a tumor.

I have never seen canker, but it can be common if pigeons and other wild birds eat and drink around your chickens. Usually, the inside of the beak may have some yellow material, and that can spread to the throat and into the crop wall, making it unable to breathe or eat. It is said to smell very rotten. Did you use metronidazole or another anti protozoan drug to treat your chicken? Sorry for your loss.

 

[Farmgirl1878]

In Ohio, you can get a necropsy for around $25 if you take the bird into the lab near Columbus. They may charge extra for certain testing. That is the best way to get a diagnosis of something like canker or a tumor.

I have never seen canker, but it can be common if pigeons and other wild birds eat and drink around your chickens. Usually, the inside of the beak may have some yellow material, and that can spread to the throat and into the crop wall, making it unable to breathe or eat. It is said to smell very rotten. Did you use metronidazole or another anti protozoan drug to treat your chicken? Sorry for your loss.

Yeah, it’s a two hour drive to C-bus, so I’m not that curious. The only wild birds I’ve seen in the run or coop are the Carolina Wrens who live in the woodpile behind the coop. They’ve discovered the treat bucket, so come in a few times a day for some BOSS or crack. Lily really didn’t have any yellow gunk, no smell, her crop was functioning fine, she ate and drank well right up to the end… I did not treat her with an antiprotoz drug, just the antibiotics. The growth was (I think) what finally killed her. She was a good bird.