Rooster with swollen ears

[tripletfeb]

Thanks for the update! Hope he gets better soon!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Update:

I am not seeing change fast enough, and I still can't find any sort of ear on the left side, but found it finally on the right. I lightly squeezed the bump to see if it is annoying to him, hurts him, a hard or soft, and he sort of shuts his eye like it hurts, and it seems more hard than soft. Freaky.

Took him to the avian vet or whatever today. They are using a different spectrum antibiotic (wife didn't tell me what it was yet), and he couldn't find the ear either! (I feel less idiotic now). Seems they can sometimes grow over or something like that, like a deformity or perhaps over active membrane he said. Whatever is going on (or it is just hidden like no other due to the swelling), he talked about how they produce a hard material vs soft as a puss? They talked about removing it under gas, etc., after 5-7 days of this antibiotic and measuring his lumps for change. This will be cheaper than the first visit by a long shot!? Crazy, lol.

I just want my rooster back to normal, he is the coolest!

Keep us posted.

 

[Eggcessive]

Ear infections can be due to a virus, a fungus, or a bacterial infection. Sometimes it may be from ear mites or a respiratory infection. My vet prescribes a ketoconazole/Baytril solution for mixed infections in my bloodhound’s ears, and that treats bacterial and fungal infections. Mineral oil is good for ears to kill mites after cleaning my cat’s ear. So those could be useful, and your vet may help. Here is a thread showing a bad infection in a silkie ear:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...nfection-in-a-silkie-hen-graphic-pics.831156/

 

[FeeltheLove12]

Could use an update on this thread or the ones that are similar. My favorite Serama Roo came down with a very similar issue.....looks like all the posts of the silkie, etc... He is very small (< 1 lb. )and his ear is the size of an olive....huge for him! When I first noticed it 3 days ago, I was able to peel the hard crusty, pus sack out easily.....then I started him on an antibiotic (2x/Day LA 200 .2 cc orally). The swelling is a bit better, but there is a hard crusty ball in the ear....I have been softening it per these threads, but it won't budge.....and when I try to lift it out, he bleeds a little.....and I freak out because I can't tell if I am pulling on his flesh or that hideous mass.....it looks just like all the other pictures posted, but is on the inside, not bulging out. Unlike the cap I previously pulled out, this mass seems embedded in his ear......if the active infection dissipates, will it dissolve or shrink?

I am not anxious to keep trying to remove it...it clearly hurts him although he is so patient. Does it really have to come out???

Please don't tell me to take him to a vet.....there are none here (2 hr radius) who treat chickens, and I have worked very hard to find one. (I suspect I could BEG a local one to surgically remove the mass if that is my only option, and it has to be done.....)

He is eating, drinking, crowing, and otherwise mostly okay.....
The antibiotic seems to be working albeit slowly, but I don't want to overdose him....would another work better? Can I combine Baytril and this one?

Is there any great emergency to intervene if he is not continuing to swell?

 

[azygous]

Try coconut oil. Warm to body temp. Take an eye dropper or syringe and place a drop or two in his ear with the infected mass. Do a very gentle massage on his outer ear to distribute the oil.

In the morning check to see if it's softened enough to pull out. If not, don't worry about it. Continue the drops of warm coconut oil with massage, several times a day. Coconut oil is a natural antibiotic. It should help tame the infection so you can pull most of it out after a bit. What remains will be resorbed by his body or dry up.

Baby aspirin can help with pain if he's in a lot of discomfort. No more than two tablets a day, morning and night.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Could use an update on this thread or the ones that are similar. My favorite Serama Roo came down with a very similar issue.....looks like all the posts of the silkie, etc... He is very small (< 1 lb. )and his ear is the size of an olive....huge for him! When I first noticed it 3 days ago, I was able to peel the hard crusty, pus sack out easily.....then I started him on an antibiotic (2x/Day LA 200 .2 cc orally). The swelling is a bit better, but there is a hard crusty ball in the ear....I have been softening it per these threads, but it won't budge.....and when I try to lift it out, he bleeds a little.....and I freak out because I can't tell if I am pulling on his flesh or that hideous mass.....it looks just like all the other pictures posted, but is on the inside, not bulging out. Unlike the cap I previously pulled out, this mass seems embedded in his ear......if the active infection dissipates, will it dissolve or shrink?

I am not anxious to keep trying to remove it...it clearly hurts him although he is so patient. Does it really have to come out???

Please don't tell me to take him to a vet.....there are none here (2 hr radius) who treat chickens, and I have worked very hard to find one. (I suspect I could BEG a local one to surgically remove the mass if that is my only option, and it has to be done.....)

He is eating, drinking, crowing, and otherwise mostly okay.....
The antibiotic seems to be working albeit slowly, but I don't want to overdose him....would another work better? Can I combine Baytril and this one?

Is there any great emergency to intervene if he is not continuing to swell?

I'm sorry to hear about your rooster.
If you can post photos of what you are seeing that may be helpful.

Is it pus in the ear or could it be a tumor or abscess?

Chicken pus for the most part is a semi-hard yellow or white-ish cheesy/waxy substance. It is not absorbed back into the body so it would need to be removed (if it's pus).
Have you tried applying warm compresses to see if that will help loosen what's in there?
Did he have a respiratory infection?
Does he still have symptoms of any infection besides what you see in the ear - any respiratory distress, lethargy, etc.?

The best instructions I know of are in post #5 of this thread.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/gunky-ears.630778/#post-8525433

 

[Shomare]

Update: Sorry for the delay, but I thought he was just going to die, and that it was going to take time, but he never died, he is doing excellent.

We tried over and over again to find his ears as people stated and sent pictures, etc. We couldn't, but used various stated remedies to hopefully open them up and soften whatever it was in his ears, so that we could (maybe they were hiding in the feathers due to the swelling or something we thought.

We gave up, and went the VET option ($150 total since he stayed a few days), because none of it made ANY SENSE. Basically, there was NO EAR HOLE, period.

The vet said there are NO EARS...they were closed up due to who knows why. He opened the ears up, cleaned them out, and gave him back to us with directions to clean the ears over and over again 2x a day so that they wouldn't seal back up.

He did great, then didn't look good after a week, so we took him back (one side was fine, the other was still quite swollen). He opened it up again, and cleaned it out - note, it was still swollen vs removing something that was creating the bulge and then the bulge is gone for example...that wasn't the case. Still swollen due to infection, not build up pushing outward). He showed us how to clean the ear with a solution, which seemed horrible to do. After the cleaning, we had to inject a small amount of something I would compare to polysporin into the ear, which again, seemed a tad insane. The cream that filled his ear, attacked the infection, yet kept the ear open, and it simply vanished over time, yet that side may have scar tissue, because it isn't as flat as the other side. We did that for like a week, and then my wife said enough, he is either going to make it now or not.

He is still doing excellent, zero problems with either ear, eats like mad, is very active, and Mr. Friendly, pushing his way to your hand to get as much food as possible when we hand feed treats, food, whatever.

So...to recap, if you can't find the ear hole...their might not be one. If you can, then maybe these remedies will work for you. That cream stuff, was obviously key for us, since it allowed the ear to heal in an opened state, and since an ear is a closed off area sort of, and infection can live there so easily once there is a problem. Even though we were basically filling his ear up with that stuff, he didn't seem to have any pain, or odd behavior afterwards, and when we say, "Here chick chick chick" from out of sight, HE GOES NUTS, so I know he isn't def or anything like that from the ordeal.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for the update, and glad to hear that he is recovered and healthy.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Update: Sorry for the delay, but I thought he was just going to die, and that it was going to take time, but he never died, he is doing excellent.

We tried over and over again to find his ears as people stated and sent pictures, etc. We couldn't, but used various stated remedies to hopefully open them up and soften whatever it was in his ears, so that we could (maybe they were hiding in the feathers due to the swelling or something we thought.

We gave up, and went the VET option ($150 total since he stayed a few days), because none of it made ANY SENSE. Basically, there was NO EAR HOLE, period.

The vet said there are NO EARS...they were closed up due to who knows why. He opened the ears up, cleaned them out, and gave him back to us with directions to clean the ears over and over again 2x a day so that they wouldn't seal back up.

He did great, then didn't look good after a week, so we took him back (one side was fine, the other was still quite swollen). He opened it up again, and cleaned it out - note, it was still swollen vs removing something that was creating the bulge and then the bulge is gone for example...that wasn't the case. Still swollen due to infection, not build up pushing outward). He showed us how to clean the ear with a solution, which seemed horrible to do. After the cleaning, we had to inject a small amount of something I would compare to polysporin into the ear, which again, seemed a tad insane. The cream that filled his ear, attacked the infection, yet kept the ear open, and it simply vanished over time, yet that side may have scar tissue, because it isn't as flat as the other side. We did that for like a week, and then my wife said enough, he is either going to make it now or not.

He is still doing excellent, zero problems with either ear, eats like mad, is very active, and Mr. Friendly, pushing his way to your hand to get as much food as possible when we hand feed treats, food, whatever.

So...to recap, if you can't find the ear hole...their might not be one. If you can, then maybe these remedies will work for you. That cream stuff, was obviously key for us, since it allowed the ear to heal in an opened state, and since an ear is a closed off area sort of, and infection can live there so easily once there is a problem. Even though we were basically filling his ear up with that stuff, he didn't seem to have any pain, or odd behavior afterwards, and when we say, "Here chick chick chick" from out of sight, HE GOES NUTS, so I know he isn't def or anything like that from the ordeal.

Glad to hear he has recovered!
Thank you for the update.

 

[azygous]

Thanks for bringing us such awesome news! It's what we all want to hear!