Severe Inner Ear Infection - No antibiotic seems to be helping. Please Help!

[texrex]

Hello, I'm a long time reader of these forums but a first time poster. I have a 1 year old hen who is battling an inner ear infection and nothing we have tried seems to be working.

Emma is a 1 year old blue-laced red wyandotte who is normal weight. On Feb 27th she began losing her balance and flopping onto her left side. She also seems to turn her neck permanently in that direction. She has a small amount of yellow discharge in her left ear. We immediately took her to the vet and after testing for Merek's, lead poisoning and parasites (all negative) they put her on Bactrim (Sulfamethoxazole) for an inner ear infection. Remedyl for inflammation. We also got an unmedicated ear wash to use on her daily called TrizEDTA. She was stable and making very small steps in progress for about 2 weeks - got to where if she was in open space, she could walk a straight line for a bit before falling over.

Then on March 11, she seemed to regress overnight back to not being able to stand long without falling over. I took her to the emergency vet who specializing in exotics and they confirmed the first vets diagnosis of an inner ear infection and put her on Clavomox 250mg, twice daily. Again, she stabalized, we not making huge progress, but got back to where she could walk about 20 yards before falling over. We kept her on that for 6 days.

And then I made the decision to call a chicken biologist who has treated many infections like this and he recommended putting her on Keflex 250mg, twice per day. She has been on that for 2 days now and seems to be tanking. Now can't even stand.

Through all of this, she is alert, eating and drinking normally and still laying eggs.
She was separated from the flock back in Feb when we first took her to the vet.
I have 2 other hens who are completely healthy and have shown no symptoms of anything at all.
Her poop looks normal.

Her backstory may also be relevant. She is a rescue. We got her in September after her original flock rejected her and almost pecked her to death. She had no feathers on her head when we got her and had crust in both ears. We got her help from the vet and she took a course of antibiotics that seemed to clear it up.

The poor girl has really been through it and I'm just not ready to give up on her. I'm writing to see if by some miracle anyone out there has face a similar situation that they found a remedy that worked for. At this point I'll do anything I can to help her if there's a chance it will help her get better. She does not seem like she's in pain and aside from balance issues seems to want to live and be happy.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[-Shade-]

This looks very similar to something that happened to a neighbor's chicken once. She was a black australorp. She was not fully one year yet, but she decided to go broody on a lone egg which hatched normally and healthily, although the mother hen developed a revolting ear (and later entire head) infection. She was on unprescribed antibiotics for several months, before my mom agreed to try and take her in as a final effort to help her. It looked very similar to what your hen is experiencing, only much worse. She had the same problem of making progress and then relapsing. Unfortunately, after months of fighting with little to no change, we had to put her down. But we did find a few potential causes and solutions that may help your chicken, who is much sooner in the infection than she was.

My first tip would be to check her for mites or lice. The hen we had ended up being infested with the little monsters and we assume it may have been a possible cause for her infection. If you do find mites on her try giving her a warm bath with a natural minty or herbal soap such as Pure-Castle Soap. CAUTION. Be sure to stay near the hen at all times during a bath, as the warm water may cause them to fall asleep and if you are not present to hold them and/or wake them up they could drown. Especially if your hen has trouble standing. And make sure not to make the water deeper than they are tall, as it helps for them to be able to feel the bottom of the tub or toat.

You could try using diluted Apple Cider Vinegar in a spray bottle or a dropper and carefully apply it to her ear. Be careful not to use too much as it might burn her skin. Colloidal silver works well too. Make sure to thoroughly clean any of the infection that falls off or comes out, and disinfect surfaces that it comes into contact with (not including the chicken's head unless you have a disinfectant that is safe on animal skin. Even if, keep it away from her eyes, nose, and ears).

If her condition continues for a few weeks or longer, make sure to give her breaks from antibiotics as they can reduce her immune system, which may make the condition worse. And make sure to run all procedures by a vet or other specialist to make sure they are safe and effective.

Best of luck to you and your hen. I hope this helps some. God bless

 

[texrex]

This looks very similar to something that happened to a neighbor's chicken once. She was a black australorp. She was not fully one year yet, but she decided to go broody on a lone egg which hatched normally and healthily, although the mother hen developed a revolting ear (and later entire head) infection. She was on unprescribed antibiotics for several months, before my mom agreed to try and take her in as a final effort to help her. It looked very similar to what your hen is experiencing, only much worse. She had the same problem of making progress and then relapsing. Unfortunately, after months of fighting with little to no change, we had to put her down. But we did find a few potential causes and solutions that may help your chicken, who is much sooner in the infection than she was.

My first tip would be to check her for mites or lice. The hen we had ended up being infested with the little monsters and we assume it may have been a possible cause for her infection. If you do find mites on her try giving her a warm bath with a natural minty or herbal soap such as Pure-Castle Soap. CAUTION. Be sure to stay near the hen at all times during a bath, as the warm water may cause them to fall asleep and if you are not present to hold them and/or wake them up they could drown. Especially if your hen has trouble standing. And make sure not to make the water deeper than they are tall, as it helps for them to be able to feel the bottom of the tub or toat.

You could try using diluted Apple Cider Vinegar in a spray bottle or a dropper and carefully apply it to her ear. Be careful not to use too much as it might burn her skin. Colloidal silver works well too. Make sure to thoroughly clean any of the infection that falls off or comes out, and disinfect surfaces that it comes into contact with (not including the chicken's head unless you have a disinfectant that is safe on animal skin. Even if, keep it away from her eyes, nose, and ears).

If her condition continues for a few weeks or longer, make sure to give her breaks from antibiotics as they can reduce her immune system, which may make the condition worse. And make sure to run all procedures by a vet or other specialist to make sure they are safe and effective.

Best of luck to you and your hen. I hope this helps some. God bless

Thank you Nicole. I have checked her for mites and lice and she is clear. I will still give her a nice bath though as I think that may be a welcome change for her. I'll have to hold her to no worries on the leaving her alone part. I truly appreciate you taking the time to respond. Everything I have read about inner ear infections says they're extremely hard to treat so I'm just going to keep trying as long as she seems to still want to try with me.

 

[-Shade-]

Yes, as long as she is willing to keep trying. The hen we had hung on for so long. The only reason we gave up is because she was ready too. Keep trying, ad I'll pray for you and your girl. Good luck.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

You could try colloidal silver
A few drops in both ears 3 times a day along with giving it to her by syringe. My ducks weighs 2.1 kg anc I give her 1ml 3 tones a day for a different reason but giving an example weight wise
Also have you tried probiotics after all the meds
I’m doing that now as well to help mine build herself back up

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Did the vet run some cultures to determine the cause of the ear infection?

Is it bacterial, fungal or protozoal or? Knowing that may help get her on the correct medication.

Look up ear canker here on the BYC site as well as the web, you may find a bit of info to see if you need to go in another direction.

I'd make sure she's eating a nutritionally balanced feed, a bit of egg or fish for a treat. I'd also start her on some vitamins to see if those make a difference as well. Give 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily.

It may be that she has something else going on in addition to the ear infection, but hopefully you can find the correct treatment and get her back on her feet.

https://www.chickenwhisperermagazine.com/health-and-wellness/ear-canker

 

[texrex]

You could try colloidal silver
A few drops in both ears 3 times a day along with giving it to her by syringe. My ducks weighs 2.1 kg anc I give her 1ml 3 tones a day for a different reason but giving an example weight wise
Also have you tried probiotics after all the meds
I’m doing that now as well to help mine build herself back up

Thank you for the recommendation. I've been more focused on treating it internally than through the ear so I will pick some of this up and run it by my vet. Thank you again!

 

[texrex]

Did the vet run some cultures to determine the cause of the ear infection?

Is it bacterial, fungal or protozoal or? Knowing that may help get her on the correct medication.

Look up ear canker here on the BYC site as well as the web, you may find a bit of info to see if you need to go in another direction.

I'd make sure she's eating a nutritionally balanced feed, a bit of egg or fish for a treat. I'd also start her on some vitamins to see if those make a difference as well. Give 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily.

It may be that she has something else going on in addition to the ear infection, but hopefully you can find the correct treatment and get her back on her feet.

https://www.chickenwhisperermagazine.com/health-and-wellness/ear-canker

They did do a culture and we are waiting on those results to come back. Hoping to hear tomorrow and that it will be the unlock we're hoping for. I started her on a vitamin supplement today in her drinking water but really like the idea of adding some egg or fish to her daily food supply. Thank you for that reco. Can do that for sure.

Hopefully tomorrow I can report back on exact cause of infection...but also agree that it could be something larger that is creating the infection in her ear. Particularly given her history and the trauma she sustained when she was very young. No telling what issues that could have caused that are just bubbling up.

I built her a walker based on some plans I saw online and it was very easy and very inexpensive. Honestly not sure how i would be doing this without it since she truly can't feed herself or drink water without assistance. May do a post on that for others who are dealing with chickens who can't sit /walk on their own.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

@casportpony told me about the dosage of clavamox and I can't remember it now, but I do remember the necessary dosage is quite high.
I had to use Animax in my bird with an ear infection. Thankfully it worked well for him. Your beautiful girl is so lucky to have someone care for her and to take her to the vet That's a luxury that many don't have. I wish you and your bird the very best

 

[texrex]

@casportpony told me about the dosage of clavamox and I can't remember it now, but I do remember the necessary dosage is quite high.
I had to use Animax in my bird with an ear infection. Thankfully it worked well for him. Your beautiful girl is so lucky to have someone care for her and to take her to the vet That's a luxury that many don't have. I wish you and your bird the very best

She was on 250mg of clavamox for a bit. We may go back to that depending on what the vet comes back with tomorrow. Regardless, I will share in this thread for others who may be dealing with this issue or have it in the future.

And yes, you're right. I am lucky to be able to take her to the vet (even though lots of people think I'm nuts for it). Threads like this are so helpful for anyone caring for these creatures. Thank you for the well wishes.