Puffed up with swollen feather follicles? Going downhill fast!

[Island Chick]

My favorite chick Bubbles has been my special one from the get go, him and his buddy Kevin (both pullets I think too) have always been a bit behind especially after getting cocci. For hatching may 1st, they are just now getting the rest of their feathers.

Well lately Bubbles has been pretty perky, super appetite etc and have been roaming the yard from 7am-7pm for weeks. Yesterday I thought he looked a bit pathetic, he's always been a ball of feathers with a tiny head but he was super puffy so I have him yogurt, thinking maybe a lingering sour crop?

So today he won't even eat, nasty green stinky poop stuck to all the butt feathers. Gave him a bath and noticed many of his feather follicles are very swollen?? They just look infected and are hard balls. Maybe 3 or 4 feathers look like they've fallen out and just little bloody spots are left.

Is this some sort of infection?? Lethargy, puffed up for weeks now but has been active till now, many swollen or infected feather follicles all over body, no appetite? He ha what I suspected was cocci beginning of June but seemed to get over it without using Corid.

I just gave him some polyvisol and Karo syrup water to see if he would eat some scrambled eggs but no luck. Ill try to post pictures ASAP.

 

[Island Chick]

Not the best picture, but you can see how some are swollen. There are some areas like on the back and tail that are worse and seem to affect multiple follicles but they are hard to see without being here in person.

 

[Island Chick]

So after much researching, I am hoping this isn't some form of avian pox? The follicles are definitely enlarged, not all but a couple all over his body for sure. I have checked all my other chickens and not one has anything like this.

Forgot to mention, I did pull a tiny tick off his chin about 48 hours ago? His best buddy had two I got off today. So gross, so I dusted them. Also syringe fed part of an egg yolk and a couple drops of polyvisol and yogurt water. Should I start some duramycin? I don't think this is respiratory related though.

Wish I had a ton of money, would bring him to vet out of pure curiosity since this has been quite the roller coaster with this one!

 

[chick chicks]

A certain type of mareks can cause swollen feather follicles and will also cause them to stop eating and drinking, would you say this could be a possibility?

 

[Island Chick]

I would highly doubt it, this guy and 5 others came from a breeder who would have told me if there was some sort of outbreak by now, I am picking up an additional 25 chicks next week for a friend. They are incubated and kept in a very isolated room with same breed chicks as is.

My other 12 chickens came from hatchery, everyone is doing wonderfully. I will be on very high alert as it wouldn't surprise me if somehow it was mareks, that his probable compromised immune system made him the first victim.

I just find it odd, gets a tiny tick and now is so sick. I live on a small isolated island by Seattle so generally contagious diseases are very rare.

 

[chick chicks]

You mentioned ticks above, are you sure there are no more? Ticks and lice can cause the follicles to swell

 

[Island Chick]

After the dusting he just got, I would doubt anything will still be alive. I used y-tex Python dust, was out of regular poultry dust but this stuff works wonders. Hoping to see improvement in morning, it would be nice if it was just some bug problem though I would kick myself over it. I am so bug phobic, I comb through their feathers like a monkey every day.

Being blue and lavender orpingtons made seeing the ticks really difficult and if they haven't been near the corners of their beaks I doubt I would have seen them at all.

 

[chick chicks]

Hmm well I hope he/she? gets better

 

[Island Chick]

Well he passed away last night. His buddy Kevin is pretty bummed, so sitting in my lap while I have my coffee. Unfortunately the little guys were even lower than the bottom of the pecking order, so putting just Kevin in with the rest of the flock might be a rough road. For now keeping him separate to see if I can find him a similarly sized buddy.

 

[chick chicks]

Im so sorry I hope his friend is okay