Please help with damaged beak! Rooster, insect bite. Swollen face

[Kris5902]

Yesterday morning my rooster was perfectly fine, but sometime between then and this morning I believe he was bitten on the face by something and has had a fairly severe reaction. I dosed him with some Benadryl about 1/4 of a 25mg tablet at 11 am and redosed him again about 5 minutes ago when I took these pictures. This morning his right eye was swollen completely shut, with a slight white/grayish discharge, his face was much more swollen. His tongue is also quite swollen and he is having a lot of difficulty eating. I’m quite concerned as he has removed a significant amount of his own top beak, I believe by rubbing it against the hardware cloth of his pen to relieve the pain/itching of the swelling. I don’t see any imbedded stingers or even puncture/bite marks. I’m considering giving him something for the pain, and I have Baytril on hand if that seems advisable. Any input on how to proceed, prognosis for the beak is appreciated.

 

[Kris5902]

I should add, he roosted normally last night, and as I came in late I just Secured everyone for the night and checked that everyone was accounted for. It was dark and I couldn’t see this. He is crowing and behaving mostly normally, but can’t eat pellets, I’m guessing because of the state of his beak. So those little dots on it are some soaked chickstarter I was hand feeding him. He’s having trouble aiming and focusing on things visually, but can see even with the mostly closed eye. I’m planning on leaving him in with his six hens, as he was stressing out when he would lose sight of them while I was feeding and pilling him. They aren’t pecking at him so far as I can tell.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

That looks so painful, poor thing.

I don’t suppose an occasional cold compress could be applied if he is willing to sit in your lap for 10 minutes?

How is he going now? Any improvement?

 

[Kris5902]

That looks so painful, poor thing.

I don’t suppose an occasional cold compress could be applied if he is willing to sit in your lap for 10 minutes?

How is he going now? Any improvement?

I went out for dinner, the First day thelocal pub has been open since May! I’m going to check him again as soon as we get home.

 

[Kris5902]

Update: Barney is doing much better with the swelling. His tongue has returned to normal but he’s still having issues eating. I just wish I had been home when the bite happened, and able to give him something for it sooner. Then he may not have self mutilated his beak trying to get relief. I’m a bite scratcher too, and highly reactive to them so I understand the pain. My primary concern now is the damage to his beak. It used to meet up almost perfectly, and he has literally rubbed it raw and soft it’s not weeping, but you can tell it was, and that he was bleeding from it as well. I’ve never dealt with a beak injury like this. If anyone has any experience or suggestions on how to help him heal I’d greatly appreciate them.

pics are same orientation as before: first the bad side, then the less swollen one. He’s squinting at the camera a bit funny. And that’s my morning concentration on taking a picture face, I’m not angry. I gave him another 1/4 tablet this morning, and will repeat once more this evening, then I think we are good for the swelling. It’s just the sore and damaged beak to deal with. Will it eventually regrow?

 

[Kris5902]

@EggSighted4Life @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive ? Anyone out there?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your rooster. The top beak should heal from what I have read from others. Some take Crazy Glue or super glue and the paper from a tea bag to repair a badly cracked beak. You could try 1/2 of a low dose aspirin twice a day for 2 days for pain. I would try to get him to eat moist feed and some scrambled egg. Hand feeding might be helpful to get some into his beak. Tube feeding could be done if necessary. I have never treated a beak injury like this, but it is probably painful for a few days. Here is some reading about treating an injury:
https://www.tillysnest.com/2011/12/how-to-fix-broken-beak-html/

https://the-chicken-chick.com/repairing-chickens-broken-beak/

 

[EggSighted4Life]

then I think we are good for the swelling. It’s just the sore and damaged beak to deal with.

Are you sure it's an allergic reaction and self inflicted wound and not the results of a run in with something more nefarious than the wire, which has certainly left it's mark on plenty of my birds also?

But I mean is the beak itchy?? I've seen birds try to rub something off their beak... but scratching usually involves tow nails making marks all over the place.. in MY experience.. That's why get together and brainstorm what ifs..

I haven't seen anything like it before.

If I was going to administer something it be aspirin.. often used for short term relief of pain as a non steroidal anti inflammatory in pets including chickens.. please research the appropriate dosage! Thing for me is it isn't just pain relief but inflammation impairs function (sometimes a good thing for limiting movement to protect the body).. but sometimes.. a little relief from the symptoms can allow the body some rest and give a boost to help recovery.

I would also make sure there doesn't become any secondary fungal pr bacterial infection.. watering down the feed a little extra might help. I don't put anti biotics on everything though as the body produces it's own. Crumbles and pellets water down all the same so using the feed with the highest amino acid (and protein) content will likely be the best choice to support his immune system. Yes, I do think it will heal once given the opportunity.

 

[Kris5902]

Sorry about your rooster. The top beak should heal from what I have read from others. Some take Crazy Glue or super glue and the paper from a tea bag to repair a badly cracked beak. You could try 1/2 of a low dose aspirin twice a day for 2 days for pain. I would try to get him to eat moist feed and some scrambled egg. Hand feeding might be helpful to get some into his beak. Tube feeding could be done if necessary. I have never treated a beak injury like this, but it is probably painful for a few days. Here is some reading about treating an injury:
https://www.tillysnest.com/2011/12/how-to-fix-broken-beak-html/

https://the-chicken-chick.com/repairing-chickens-broken-beak/

thank you for the links and information he is taking egg yolk and wet feed from my hand (so messy) but he won’t eat without his girls nearby and they go crazy for it, so I’m having to sit right next to them just outside to get him to eat. The swelling is almost completely gone now, so I will switch over to the aspirin for him. I’ve got several rescues with horribly cropped upper beaks, and didn’t quite know what the potential for recovery here could be.

Are you sure it's an allergic reaction and self inflicted wound and not the results of a run in with something more nefarious than the wire, which has certainly left it's mark on plenty of my birds also?

But I mean is the beak itchy?? I've seen birds try to rub something off their beak... but scratching usually involves tow nails making marks all over the place.. in MY experience.. That's why get together and brainstorm what ifs..

I haven't seen anything like it before.

If I was going to administer something it be aspirin.. often used for short term relief of pain as a non steroidal anti inflammatory in pets including chickens.. please research the appropriate dosage! Thing for me is it isn't just pain relief but inflammation impairs function (sometimes a good thing for limiting movement to protect the body).. but sometimes.. a little relief from the symptoms can allow the body some rest and give a boost to help recovery.

I would also make sure there doesn't become any secondary fungal pr bacterial infection.. watering down the feed a little extra might help. I don't put anti biotics on everything though as the body produces it's own. Crumbles and pellets water down all the same so using the feed with the highest amino acid (and protein) content will likely be the best choice to support his immune system. Yes, I do think it will heal once given the opportunity.

Thanks for the response! 100% positive By now it Was a bite of some sort. The swelling started to respond almost immediately to the anti-histamine, my first pics were a few hours after I gave it to him, the swelling was initially much worse, but I was concerned about treating him and getting everyone set up for the day over taking the pictures first thing. he does have a tiny scratch below his eye on the worse side. I’ve found the spot on the wire where I think he was rubbing, it’s a bit bloody, and a sort of patch/smear between chest and head height. Also, I can’t Just think what else could/would remove that much of the outer beak like that. If a predator had gotten in there would have been carnage, we only have mink, raccoons, and birds of prey here. We do have some pretty nasty spiders here. I just can’t think what else could have done this to him. I’ll definitely keep up with the hand feeding softened feed and try the aspirin for pain relief.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have used and held up a small shallow cereal bowl with mushy feed, scrambled egg, and can alternate with canned catfood or tuna. Sprinkling a few bits of crumbles can create some extra interest. The watery chicken feed can get more water into him as well.