Please help!! Pullet with swelling below beak and growth in mouth

[Goldy wyandottes]

Hi everyone,

I have a blue laced wyndatotte that has developed a growth under her beak and has some kind of growth in her mouth. I was hoping someone could give me some advice, if they've seen this before or had a chicken with these symptoms, as I am very confused as to what it could be and how I can help her. Please see photos. I've also completed the questionaire below....

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
blue laced wyandaotte - around 18 weeks - around 400gm in weight.

2) What is the behavior, exactly. currenlty active and eating/drinking but has mouth slightly open

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? has had mouth slightly open for a while. Saw the growth in the mouth a few weeks ago and was able to clean it out (thought it was like she had something like grit in her mouth and she couldn't swallow it). now there is more of it and it won't come out as it seems to have formed a hard crust over the growth

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? none of the others have this growth- however, some other chickens in the coop also had worms - also dewormed them.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. none

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. could it be the worms?

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. yes, she is currently drinking and eating

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Believe it is ok

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Had another chicken with worms in the coop so gave this chicken preventatively a course of treatment for worms 14 days ago. Again repeated today - although in the course of administering this treatment today, my daughter seems to think that she may have seen some worms in her mouth (possibly hair worms??).

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? hope to treat her myself - cost prohibitive to take her to a vet here (if I could even find one that deals with chickens).

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use - in a coop with wood shavings for bedding

Thanking you all in advance.


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[Eggcessive]

Does the beak have a bad odor? Yellow lesions in the beak and throat can be canker, a protozoan infection. It smells bad, and can be treated with Aqua Zole (metronidazole.) But with the large lump under the beak, it could be a tumor. Some viruses including Mareks and lymphoid leukosis cause tumors, and there are other types as well. Here is some reading:
https://www.bhwt.org.uk/hen-health/health-problems/oral-canker/

https://bitchinchickens.com/2020/07/06/avian-trichomonosis-canker/

 

[Goldy wyandottes]

Does the beak have a bad odor? Yellow lesions in the beak and throat can be canker, a protozoan infection. It smells bad, and can be treated with Aqua Zole (metronidazole.) But with the large lump under the beak, it could be a tumor. Some viruses including Mareks and lymphoid leukosis cause tumors, and there are other types as well. Here is some reading:
https://www.bhwt.org.uk/hen-health/health-problems/oral-canker/

https://bitchinchickens.com/2020/07/06/avian-trichomonosis-canker/

Thanks for your reply.

The beak doesn't seem to have a bad odour at this stage. it seems that whatever is in the chicken's mouth is the same thing that is causing the swelling under the beak (maybe some kind of mucous thing that starts in the mouth and is pushing down the skin below). Does that make it less likely to be canker?

Also, would anyone know how likely a tumour would be in a young bird (18 weeks)?

If it is canker, i'm not sure where to find metronidazole in Australia. I found some other product (oxymav b antibiotic) which seems to be ok for protazoa, but it states that this product should never be used in birds intended for meat or for eggs - does that mean I could never eat eggs from that chicken even if the eggs are laid 6 months later?

 

[Banana01]

Thanks for your reply.

The beak doesn't seem to have a bad odour at this stage. it seems that whatever is in the chicken's mouth is the same thing that is causing the swelling under the beak (maybe some kind of mucous thing that starts in the mouth and is pushing down the skin below). Does that make it less likely to be canker?

Also, would anyone know how likely a tumour would be in a young bird (18 weeks)?

If it is canker, i'm not sure where to find metronidazole in Australia. I found some other product (oxymav b antibiotic) which seems to be ok for protazoa, but it states that this product should never be used in birds intended for meat or for eggs - does that mean I could never eat eggs from that chicken even if the eggs are laid 6 months later?

Try looking for metronidazole in a pharmacy or vet. I dont know how strict australia is if it is controlled or not.

If youre not a commercial seller then dont worry about the stated warnings. It just means you cant sell it or use it in birds intended foe sale.

I would personally try scraping it off or using tweezers to remove the scabbed part. I see it is swollen below the beak. Youre doing well if it isnt in the nasal area or if it doesnt spread and enter the choanal slit above the roof of the mouth. That is the passage way to the sinus and could be worse. Definitely want to try whatever medicine or antiprotozoal you have available. If you do start scraping it off try to keep it from entering inside the mouth, never know if it might spread further.

 

[Goldy wyandottes]

Try looking for metronidazole in a pharmacy or vet. I dont know how strict australia is if it is controlled or not.

If youre not a commercial seller then dont worry about the stated warnings. It just means you cant sell it or use it in birds intended foe sale.

I would personally try scraping it off or using tweezers to remove the scabbed part. I see it is swollen below the beak. Youre doing well if it isnt in the nasal area or if it doesnt spread and enter the choanal slit above the roof of the mouth. That is the passage way to the sinus and could be worse. Definitely want to try whatever medicine or antiprotozoal you have available. If you do start scraping it off try to keep it from entering inside the mouth, never know if it might spread further.

I just rang the pet store and it seems that in Australia they don't permit sale of such products with active ingredient to treat canker in poultry/birds as preferred course of action from our agricultural body is to cull the bird. She's been with the other chickens from day one and been like this for a while so I assume isolating her is now a waste of time. Do I just ride it out and see how she goes? Would anyone have other suggestions for treatment that I could try?

 

[casportpony]

I don't think it's canker, it looks more like an abscess or a tumor. Have you tried removing the yellow stuff? That's what I would do first.

 

[Banana01]

I just rang the pet store and it seems that in Australia they don't permit sale of such products with active ingredient to treat canker in poultry/birds as preferred course of action from our agricultural body is to cull the bird. She's been with the other chickens from day one and been like this for a while so I assume isolating her is now a waste of time. Do I just ride it out and see how she goes? Would anyone have other suggestions for treatment that I could try?

Since it is under the bottom of the mouth it is something that is rare, so i agree it is probably not canker but it is more like a cyst. Try to remove the hard part with tweezers. See if it is liquid filled like a cyst or if it is painful, bleeding dont cause her harm. It may be a tumor or cyst, but unlikely to need medication.

 

[Goldy wyandottes]

Since it is under the bottom of the mouth it is something that is rare, so i agree it is probably not canker but it is more like a cyst. Try to remove the hard part with tweezers. See if it is liquid filled like a cyst or if it is painful, bleeding dont cause her harm. It may be a tumor or cyst, but unlikely to need medication.

Okay, thank you for your advice, we'll see how we go....

 

[sourland]

Do a google search on 'copper sulfate canker treatment'. I would treat for canker if the bird was mine.

 

[chickiemama27]

Did you ever find out what ended up being wrong with your beautiful pullet? I’m going to attach a picture of my sweet little pullet. I posted in another thread but haven’t gotten any feedback. She’s only six weeks old and cute as a button! She has a growth under her bottom beak. Trying to decide if I should take her in to the local Avian Vet. My husband is not a big fan of this idea, so I’m seeking help here first. Any thoughts or ideas on what this may be?