Rooster with multiple sores on face

[Amelia Egghart]

I have a 2.5 year old phoenix rooster who had an injury on his right lower ear lobe this past spring. It healed over with a lump. I didn't think anything of it until the lump started getting bigger and then opened into a sore. Took him to the vet who did a quick cut and stitch and put him on baytril.

He was cooped up with a hen on baytril with bumblefoot. I'm thinking a piece of contaminated straw stabbed him in the face and got the infection going again, on the left side this time, right at the beak. Took him back to the vet.

That was several weeks ago. He's still not better. He was on baytril, then Amikacin and now Zosyn. He's starting to eat and drink less and his poops are very small. He perked up on the Amikacin but that damages the kidneys so he could only be on a short round of it.

Any ideas?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

At the ear, is that infected looking too or it that where the vet treated him?
The scabbing at the beak, is he scratching that?
Any lesions, scabbing, etc., extending to inside the beak?

I don't quite know what to make of that since your vet has given him some strong antibiotics. It could be something like cancer, but would be hard to know.
Maybe someone like @Eggcessive would have a better idea.

 

[Amelia Egghart]

There's three spots, maybe a 4th. None inside the mouth. The worst is the beak, then one behind his eye which you've noted, and on the other other side on his lower ear which is the first surgical site where the sore came back.

I hadn't thought about cancer. I hate cancer. Uuuuugh. Just lost my uncle to a rare cancer on Friday.

Yes he scratches it. Do cone collars work for birds?

What would the next step be? Xray? Blood culture? I want to do whatever I can for him, his flock adores him and he's trained, great with people.

 

[chickens really]

Almost like a flesh eating disease..
I definitely would do back to the Vet.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I agree, a revisit to the vet is your best option.

 

[Eggcessive]

The lesion around his left side of the beak might possibly be canker a protozoan disease, commonly treated with metronidazole (FishZole, Flagyl.) But if it is related to the other problems, I also wonder about cancer or fungus. Some cancers in chickens are caused by viruses, such as avian leukosis or Mareks disease.

If he was not such a treasured member of your flock, or an extra rooster, I might have suggested to put him down and get a necropsy to find a diagnosis. But, he sounds like a great rooster and those can be rare. It can be tricky to use so many different antibiotics, and the intestinal flora can become unhealthy affecting appetite and droppings.

If I were to see the vet again, I might suggest sending a tissue sample to your state poultry lab to look for what it might be, and to do a fungal culture on skin. Of course, if you should lose him one day, I would get a necropsy through your state vet, just to find out what might have caused this. Here is a good link to find state vets and poultry labs for testing:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[chickens really]

I'd remove him from my Flock if it's a potential contagious disease too...

 

[Eggcessive]

I would look inside his beak on his left side to see if there are any lesions inside. Canker is usually white to yellow. Since he has been with his hens for a long time, removing him at this late time probably would not affect the risk of spreading a disease to the others. Plus, since we are only guessing here, I would just keep him with them and happy. Separation could affect how he eats, and would upset the pecking order. This is just my opinion though. When we figure out that a chicken has an infectious disease, the others usually have already been exposed. Wild birds and pigeons sometimes can spread canker and other diseases.

 

[casportpony]

What would the next step be?

Great advice from everyone above!

So sorry your handsome rooster isn't feeling well.

IMO, next step would be to do a culture and sensitivity test of both scabby areas. Doing that should tell you if you're dealing with a bacteria, protozoa, or fungus. If it's too expensive through your vet, ask your vet about having it done by one of the UC Davis CAHFS Labs instead.

 

[Amelia Egghart]

Thank you. I'll have to wait until Monday, unfortunately. The scabbed areas have filled in a bit. I really hope there's scar tissue under there.

Vet looked inside briefly and said he saw a couple small bumps inside which were new. I'll have to ask what color. I'm not good at opening his beak while holding him so I'm relying on others to help.

I'll update with more info as it comes up. Thank you again.