pullet with swollen head

[pbjmaker]

Does anyone know what can cause a pullets head to swell? I have a 6-7 month old banty cochin whose head has swollen up today. She is missing a lot of her head feathers from being mated. I was wondering if it is because today is the first "hot" day we have had since last summer and with her naked head the sun has irritated it. I did a search for swollen head and most everything I came up with had to do with injuries. She doesn't seem injured and is getting around OK, eating, and drinking.

My son thinks she is having an allergic reaction to something...

I have another hen with a naked head and she seems fine.

 

[ruth]

Does it look like she's got a golf ball under her feathers and feel kind of hard or maybe like a hackey-sack? I just operated on a pullet about the same age whose head looked and felt like that. After examining her, I found a small "love bite" at back of neck that had scabbed over and seemed to be healing but I knew the huge golf ball head had to be from infection. I had to lance the back of her head from below crown to "love bite" spot and repeatedly soak and flush with warm water. Eventually, after about an hour of digging and probing, the "stuff" starting coming out. I pulled out hunks of abcessed pus that looked like rubber or cooked meat. It kept coming out in big hunks and long shreds. When I was done, and did the final flushing, she had a huge gaping hole. I did a couple of stitches to close up the incision and I've been cleaning it each day for the past three days and she looks like she's just about good as new.

Chickens get abcesses - the pus does not stay liquid or squeeze out like in humans or other animals. It kind of turns into a "cottage cheese" "rubbery" glob of hardened junk that has to be dug out.

 

[TheReidHomestead]

There was a sad post last week about someone who was culling their flock due to MG (Mycoplasma gallispectum) also known as CRD (Chronic Respiratory Disease), and one of the symptoms she first saw was a swollen face. :-(

I hope it isn't something as serious as that. Good luck!

 

[TheReidHomestead]

Oh, here's a link to their thread.....https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2176855

 

[pbjmaker]

Thanks for the link. This girl doesn't have the bubbly eyes part. I felt the top of her head and it just seems "puffy". The only birds I have that I didn't hatch myself were 2 day -old chicks. That was over two months ago, so I don't think they were diseased.

She does have one tip of her comb that got frost - bit this winter - could that be infected? Her comb doesn't really look swollen. Just the top of her head and around her eyes.

 

[Judy]

My guess would be mating injuries, esp. since you have another with a naked head.

 

[pbjmaker]

I have my MIL making these two girls chicken saddles - but I don't think they will wear a bonnet

I think they lose feathers easier because they are frizzled cochins. I only have two roosters - and one just started trying to mate this week. There are 16 hens for the two of them to choose from.

I will seperate her out in the morning and keep an eye on her.

I'm also wondering if its a bee sting. There have been lots of big bumble bees in my yard and she would be one of the first ones to try and catch one to eat.

 

[pbjmaker]

I pulled her out of the coop this morning to seperate her. One of her eyes has become just a slit now. She is still eating and drinking. I gave her a peice of whole grain bread to amuse her for the day.

I did see a little white mite type bug on her head just now. I have treated them for poultry lice in the past but that never made their head swell. Would this be a different kind of bug - and would it make her head all puffy?

It was VERY tiny and white.

 

[pbjmaker]

Good news - I just got home from work and the swelling is going down. She is still a little puffy but both eyes are open and the lids no longer bug out to the sides. I put her in the garage all day where it is shady and about 10 degrees cooler. This seems to have helped.

Now I am really thinking it was a reaction to the sun or a bee sting.