Please help me determine what might be wrong with my hen who has had a swollen head for over a week

[Gardeningmama]

Sooo.. sorry

.

 

[Suzierd]

Very sorry

 

[Lobzi]

I may have had a hope if I had started treatment earlier. I thought it was a bee sting and I was not getting any advice otherwise.

In the end she was suffering so. With no sight it was hard for her to find food. The antihistamines just did absolutely nothing.
Next time I will get in and treat earlier. I read where mortality with SHS is on about 2%....that is pretty low if Im understanding it correctly.

 

[Gardeningmama]

The sad but good part is that because of what your girl went through, one day someone will Google that their chicken has a swollen head. Google (or whatever search engine) will find this thread and present it as an option, and the person that reads this will identify it quicker than you were able to. I can't tell you how many times old threads have helped me when all of my internet research couldn't. She didn't die for nothing.

 

[Lobzi]

You are correct. I was just thinking this morning that someday I may have enough expertise to actually help save a chicken. There needs to be more information and more science on helping them. I wish so much there was a way to just boost their own immunities.
I also was thinking....its one thing to loss a bird to a predator and quite another to lose them to illness. Then I realized that the bacteria and viruses that kill are just as much predators as the raccoons and hawks that take their heads off. Its no difference. We and they live in a world of predators constantly trying to take advantage of us and often kill.
Heavy I know, but I always have heavy thoughts when my heart is heavy...