Possible ear infection - can we do more to help?

[Iwes]

Hi all,

In march we added 2 Wyandotte bantams to our flock (born december&january). 1 of the chicks (called Dotje) was always a bit different - she looked at you with 1 eye but was otherwise healthy. Until 2 weeks ago - it started with trouble jumping down, then her head started to turn (wry neck?). It's not constant, she has it in waves. We also noticed that her earlobe started turning white - it's not powdery, it really looks like the color is draining from her earlobe.

We went to the vet and he thinks it's some kind of ear infection. We're on day 9 of antibiotics and we called again today because she is not improving. We can pick up a new antibiotic in an hour, but he told us the prognosis is not good. Some more details about symptoms and what she gets are below. Do you guys have any suggestions on stuff we can try to help her get over this? We're not ready to give up on her yet.

Medicine:
- Antibiotics: 0.5ml 2 x day orally (bottle doesn't have a name, just "parakuur 10%" - we're going to ask the name when we pick up the new one)
- Painkiller/anti-inflammatory: Novacam 0.3ml 1x day orally

Symptoms
See video: https://streamable.com/g6o9k5 and picture of earlobe: https://ibb.co/0nfCTFd
- Earlobe turning white
- Head shaking/scratching
- Sometimes violent head shaking, where she staggers backwards - this started in the last week
- Sometimes after head shaking she lies down with her head upside down, eyes closed
- Problem is worse when it's dark of when she is trying to look up
- Progression: head shaking and staggering is more frequent (but duration seems shorter)
- Eating something also triggers the head shaking
- Eats less
- Drinks less
- She is way quieter than normal
- Still laying eggs, but less frequent (2-3 days between eggs) and eggs are smaller - it takes her longer in the coop to lay an egg
- Goes to bed earlier and doesn't perch anymore (she'd fall off if she tried, she already fell out of the nestbox)


Update:
- We picked up doxycycline, 2x 0.5ml per day oral and she just had her first dose
- The 'parakuur' we had previously is 'Trim sulfa', it's a combination that they mix themselves (they have a lab)
- If we don't see results by monday we can discuss analysing droppings or a swab (can you swab the ear of a bantam? I don't think anything fits in there!)
- We hid some crushed garlic inside some cucumber - she ate some of it, hope that helps as well

Details I forgot to add:
- She's vaccinated for Mareks and Coccidiosis, but the vet said that sometimes that might not be enough to prevent an infection
- Droppings look normal, but are smaller than normal. They were runny the first few days we started the antibiotics, but returned to normal consistency after a few days.

 

[DLA]

Found this older post that contains some things that might be helpful. I hope you're able to help her, she's very pretty.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hen-twisting-head-upside-down.1439741/

 

[Kiki]

What exactly have you been feeding this bird?

 

[Iwes]

What exactly have you been feeding this bird?

Hi Kiki,
We're giving them the following layer feed: click -> specs are on the bottom ("productspecificaties")
We add vitamins to the water once a week: click
And we mix & match with snacks: mealworms, sunflower seeds, cucumber, little bit of greek yoghurt, little bit of cheese, from our own garden: zuccini, beet-greens
But I think they mostly graze (is that the correct term? Sorry, not a native English speaker) the lawn (we don't add fertilizer to the lawn, we just water it from time to time) and hunt for small worms and other critters in and around the lawn.

Found this older post that contains some things that might be helpful. I hope you're able to help her, she's very pretty.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hen-twisting-head-upside-down.1439741/

We've got a multivitamin for chickens - it has B and E, but I'm not sure about the dose. I'll check if the dose is high enough - if not, that's something we can try, thanks!

 

[Kiki]

And we mix & match with snacks: mealworms, sunflower seeds, cucumber, little bit of greek yoghurt, little bit of cheese, from our own garden: zuccini, beet-greens

This could be the problem.
By offering all of these treats it is taking away from the bird getting a balanced diet.
I can't understand the link your posted but I think that feed is a layer type feed which would be a balanced diet.

On average a full grown bird should each about 3/4 cups worth of that layer feed.
If you are feeding a bunch of other stuff they aren't eating enough of the balanced feed which can cause wry neck.

 

[Iwes]

Oh no, I'm sorry I wasn't clear - we don't give them everything on the list every day! We do probably give too much snacks, but its certainly not their main source of food (for instance: today they've had some sunflower seeds and a few slices of cucumber, yesterday they got some birdseeds, half a tablespoon yoghurt each and some zuccini). I do think they eat more grass and critters they find in the grass/ground than layer pellets to be honest. But the snacks, I think account for at most 20% of a full crop (volume estimate) spread out over a full day.

If it's the food they eat, shouldn't the other chickens also show symptoms? We can try to lock them up in their smaller run (sandy ground) and don't let them out in the backyard for a while, to force them to eat pellets. The problem is she doesn't drink much water at the moment because that gives her the head-shakes - so we try to feed her more cucumber and other water-packed vegetables on the side so she gets her fluids in.


Layer feed specs in English:

Composition
Wheat semolina, Biscuit flour (crispbread, shortbread, etc), Bread flour, Corn gluten, Sunflower seed meal, Get/lime stone, Malt germ, Rapeseed flakes, Oat hulls, Potato protein, Molasses, Textured pea protein, Brewer's yeast, Monocalcium phosphate and salt.

Analytical constituents
Crude protein 17.0%, Crude fiber 8.7%, Crude ash 14.2%, Crude fat 3.3%, Natirum 2.4g per kg, Calcium 37.5g per kg, Phosphorus 5.5g per kg.

Nutritional additives
Vit. A Rentiyl acetate (3a672a) 8,160 IU, Vit.D3 (3a671) 2,040 IU, Vit. e all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (3a700) 12 mg, FE, Iron sulfate monohydrate (3b103) 48 mg, Cu, copper sulfate pentahydrate (3b405) 10mg, Mn, manganese(ll)oxide (3b502) 56 mg, Zn, Zinc sulfate monohydrate (3b605) 48 mg, Se, Sodium selenite (3b801).

 

[Kiki]

Oh no, I'm sorry I wasn't clear - we don't give them everything on the list every day! We do probably give too much snacks, but its certainly not their main source of food (for instance: today they've had some sunflower seeds and a few slices of cucumber, yesterday they got some birdseeds, half a tablespoon yoghurt each and some zuccini). I do think they eat more grass and critters they find in the grass/ground than layer pellets to be honest. But the snacks, I think account for at most 20% of a full crop (volume estimate) spread out over a full day.

If it's the food they eat, shouldn't the other chickens also show symptoms? We can try to lock them up in their smaller run (sandy ground) and don't let them out in the backyard for a while, to force them to eat pellets. The problem is she doesn't drink much water at the moment because that gives her the head-shakes - so we try to feed her more cucumber and other water-packed vegetables on the side so she gets her fluids in.


Layer feed specs in English:

Composition
Wheat semolina, Biscuit flour (crispbread, shortbread, etc), Bread flour, Corn gluten, Sunflower seed meal, Get/lime stone, Malt germ, Rapeseed flakes, Oat hulls, Potato protein, Molasses, Textured pea protein, Brewer's yeast, Monocalcium phosphate and salt.

Analytical constituents
Crude protein 17.0%, Crude fiber 8.7%, Crude ash 14.2%, Crude fat 3.3%, Natirum 2.4g per kg, Calcium 37.5g per kg, Phosphorus 5.5g per kg.

Nutritional additives
Vit. A Rentiyl acetate (3a672a) 8,160 IU, Vit.D3 (3a671) 2,040 IU, Vit. e all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (3a700) 12 mg, FE, Iron sulfate monohydrate (3b103) 48 mg, Cu, copper sulfate pentahydrate (3b405) 10mg, Mn, manganese(ll)oxide (3b502) 56 mg, Zn, Zinc sulfate monohydrate (3b605) 48 mg, Se, Sodium selenite (3b801).

20% treats is double what they should have.


Not all birds eat the same things offered so no even if it were food related it doesn't mean it will happen to all birds. This one bird could be eating way less of the feed and way more of the treats each day.

It may not be wry neck but it would be the first and easiest thing to try to "fix."



This is a good reading source:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...ement-poultry/vitamin-deficiencies-in-poultry

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...ement-poultry/mineral-deficiencies-in-poultry