Pullet cannot fully open mouth

[Bkaye]

Ok so Im lost. I’ve searched and searched and haven’t really been able to find anything on the topic.

I have a buff Brahma that we got as a day old in March of this year. Has been doing great, acts normal and so forth. For the past month I have noticed that she will stretch and open her mouth like she’s adjusting her crop but she’s been doing it a lot followed by shaking her heard. When I first noticed this I thought something may of been going on with her ears or crop inside. So I picked her up to check out her ears and it was like she had some food in them. Cleaned out her ears and used some peroxide to make sure they were all good. Put her back in and she was still doing it. Head shaking seemed to of slowed down a lot. Later that evening I picked up up again to check her out further. Her crop was completely empty which I thought was odd because she had been at the food all day eating. Went to open her mouth to check inside her mouth and couldnt really get her mouth open very far. Couldn’t even get it open to the point where I could hold my finger sideways in her mouth. So after that I started giving wet food. I’ve been taking her a couple times a day and trying to work her mouth to see if she can get it open further. After working a few days I noticed she seemed to be actually getting some food in her. She even seemed to be eating the dry crumble too.

Fast forward to this week. Yesterday her crop was again completely empty. I tried to get her to at least eat some baby food last night but she wasn’t interested. When I got home tonight she again had an empty crop and her poop has turned green from not eating. However it is still firm. I picked her up and held some crumble in my hand tonight and she very lightly pecks at it and it falls out of her mouth like she can’t physically eat.

She still acts normal otherwise, tail up, running around, I have not noticed anything else with her or any of my other girls/guys. Her beak looks normal, everything looks aligned in her beak as it should so I don’t know if this is some sort of injury or if I could be dealing with something else.

Any help, advise or anything you guys can offer would be appreciative.

 

[azygous]

I sure do wish we could be there to help you, but you do need to find a helper to help you by holding her and prying open the beak so you can get a look inside with a strong flashlight. You need to see what's in there to diagnose her.

If she had crust in her ears, she likely has an ear and throat infection, but you need to be sure it's not something else.

You need to be checking her ears daily, cleaning them out when necessary and then packing the ear holes with antibiotic ointment.

When you look into her mouth, look for anything other than the normal pink smooth tissue. If she has swelling or blisters or crusty or gummy plaque, that could be why she isn't eating. She would need an antibiotic or if it's infectious coryza, an anti-protozoa med.

She also is a likely candidate for tube feeding. It's really very easy to do and an efficient way to get nourishment into a sick chicken who cannot eat. A chicken that is starving doesn't have an efficiently operable immune system. Meds administered to such a chicken have a poor chance of helping. It's very important to get nourishment into her, even if it's just vitamins and sugar water for now.

 

[Bkaye]

I sure do wish we could be there to help you, but you do need to find a helper to help you by holding her and prying open the beak so you can get a look inside with a strong flashlight. You need to see what's in there to diagnose her.

If she had crust in her ears, she likely has an ear and throat infection, but you need to be sure it's not something else.

You need to be checking her ears daily, cleaning them out when necessary and then packing the ear holes with antibiotic ointment.

When you look into her mouth, look for anything other than the normal pink smooth tissue. If she has swelling or blisters or crusty or gummy plaque, that could be why she isn't eating. She would need an antibiotic or if it's infectious coryza, an anti-protozoa med.

She also is a likely candidate for tube feeding. It's really very easy to do and an efficient way to get nourishment into a sick chicken who cannot eat. A chicken that is starving doesn't have an efficiently operable immune system. Meds administered to such a chicken have a poor chance of helping. It's very important to get nourishment into her, even if it's just vitamins and sugar water for now.

Thanks for the reply. I’ve tried to look into her mouth but I physically cannot open her mouth very far. The little bit I can get it open I have not seen anything out of the ordinary. My husband will help me again tomorrow when I get home and I will take another look. As far as her ears, if she does have an ear infection would that keep her mouth from opening all the way? Her mouth will physically not open fully. I haven’t noticed any swelling.

 

[azygous]

Can't answer that. It's why we need to know what's going on inside the mouth and throat. Swelling in the ear can affect the throat. It's all tied in together. You only notice swelling on the outer ear when the infection gets severe.

Also, you may be just a bit hesitant about forcing open her beak. Chickens can exert a lot of strength to keep their beaks closed. Once you get it open a crack, you can usually get it past the muscle control and it will open wide. I think you'll do better with your helper there.

 

[Bkaye]

Can't answer that. It's why we need to know what's going on inside the mouth and throat. Swelling in the ear can affect the throat. It's all tied in together. You only notice swelling on the outer ear when the infection gets severe.

Also, you may be just a bit hesitant about forcing open her beak. Chickens can exert a lot of strength to keep their beaks closed. Once you get it open a crack, you can usually get it past the muscle control and it will open wide. I think you'll do better with your helper there.

Got a look in her mouth tonight. Didn’t see anything other than normal pink tissue.

Both her ears were gunked up one side worse than the other. There was yellowish white puss in both ears. Cleaned them out with peroxide, got all the hard gunk off and as much as the yellowish puss out that I could. Got the ears dried out and packed with neosprin.

I’m really hoping that she just has swelling and that’s contributing to her mouth not opening up. I can open her mouth up enough for my finger to fit sideways inside. I also got her to eat a couple eggs tonight.

 

[azygous]

Ear infections are also painful. Pain could be causing her not to want to open her beak. Soft, moist foods that you might feed to a sick child who has a sore throat and ear ache (except ice cream) would be what you want to give this hen. Well cooked boiled rice, yogurt, unsweetened applesauce, pureed cooked carrots, etc.

If you have it, Poultry Nutri-drench is an excellent supplement for sick chickens, and this will give her immune system a boost to help her fight off this infection.

 

[Bkaye]

I left out wetter food for everyone when I left for work this morning and fixed some special scrambled eggs for her this evening after I cleaned up her ears. I plan to do the same for her tomorrow.

I do have nutri drench I can give her. I can give her a direct dose in the morning.

I am in your debt with as much as you have helped me. I really do appreciate it. I have learned so much from you and others on this amazing forum in the short time I have had my flock.

 

[azygous]

One other thing. Watch carefully for signs this infection is getting worse and spreading to her eyes. If that happens, you probably will want to get her started on an oral antibiotic. Do you have anything on hand? Tylan 50 or amoxicillin or Denaguard? Penicillin would work.

 

[Bkaye]

I actually have quite a few antibiotics and other meds that I have stocked up on that I’ve seen people in other posts recommend. Figured it was better to have an not need then be in a situation where I need it and it takes days to get in. I have tylosin, amoxicillin, denaguard, and a few others.

I will watch her carefully. I thought about starting her on amoxicillin to try to help her get a jump on it.

 

[azygous]

That might be wise. As you say, a "jump" could seal this recovery.