Sick Rooster

[HighHopeRanchGR]

I have an olive egger rooster- Oliver- who has been sick for three weeks now.

I first noticed he was looking pretty grungy and had swelling on one side of his face, was not eating or drinking so I quarantined him and started syringe feeding.
I’ve identified that he has fowl pox and have treated the marks on his face with VetRX, they are now starting to disappear but the swelling hasn’t changed and he is off balance, he can stand but he’s not walking and is unsteady on his feet.

When I first brought him in he had discharge from his nose I cleaned up that never returned. But this last week I was checking his ears and found some junk that I cleaned out with an ear cleaning protocol. He was shaking his head quite a bit before I cleaned his ears out and it is noticeably better now. I’ve been checking daily and there’s tiny bits of…wax? I don’t know what but I’m keeping them clean.

Overall it seems like he’s improving however he will not eat or drink on his own and is still unsteady/off balance. I’m feeding twice a day and giving poultry cell and selenium/vit e paste by the recommendation of another group. I’ve also administered LA 200 at the very beginning of this every 3 days for 9 days and have started amoxicillin three days ago, again on the recommendation of another group.

We suspect it is either infectious coryza, or wet fowl pox. He doesn’t have any lesions inside of his mouth though it’s as clean as a whistle! So I’m not sure what it could be. Some suspect a neurological problem? But he recognizes his food and puts his face near it he’s just not opening his mouth! So frustrating. I’ve nursed him for almost a month, I want him to make it, has anyone ever experienced something similar? Any advice?

No chicken vet nearby, not an option. Thank you!

 

[EdgeC]

Must be a good Rooster... Not a doctor but uh but what I do... (depending on the situation) fishmox for antibiotics and ivermectin for anti-parasitic and maybe anti-viral... Unless you really wana pay those hundreds/thousands? on a vet for a $10 bird(Rooster)...

Can't give you any medical advice; or your birds though.

 

[HighHopeRanchGR]

Must be a good Rooster... Not a doctor but uh but what I do... (depending on the situation) fishmox for antibiotics and ivermectin for anti-parasitic and maybe anti-viral... Unless you really wana pay those hundreds/thousands? on a vet for a $10 bird(Rooster)...

Can't give you any medical advice; or your birds though.

Yeah I don’t think people go on these forums to ask questions about the lives of their pets to be dismissed about the monetary value of their pet so if you don’t have something helpful to say maybe consider not saying something at all? Obviously he’s not just a rooster to me otherwise I wouldn’t have gone through all of the trouble.

 

[Anon112]

I'm sorry about your rooster, poor guy. I'm not experienced with what you're describing. When you say he won't eat/drink on his own, what exactly does that mean? Will he take food from your hand? Are you feeding him via syringe?

And I know you said the vet isn't an option, but I was able to get a telehealth appointment for my rooster recently, so I wonder if there is a vet in your state that might offer that.

I hope Oliver continues to improve. It sounds like you're working hard to get him back in fighting shape!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I’ve identified that he has fowl pox and have treated the marks on his face with VetRX, they are now starting to disappear but the swelling hasn’t changed and he is off balance, he can stand but he’s not walking and is unsteady on his feet.

When I first brought him in he had discharge from his nose

But this last week I was checking his ears and found some junk that I cleaned out with an ear cleaning protocol. He was shaking his head quite a bit before I cleaned his ears out and it is noticeably better now. I’ve been checking daily and there’s tiny bits of…wax?

Overall it seems like he’s improving however he will not eat or drink on his own and is still unsteady/off balance. I’m feeding twice a day and giving poultry cell and selenium/vit e paste by the recommendation of another group. I’ve also administered LA 200 at the very beginning of this every 3 days for 9 days and have started amoxicillin three days ago, again on the recommendation of another group.

We suspect it is either infectious coryza, or wet fowl pox. He doesn’t have any lesions inside of his mouth though it’s as clean as a whistle!

Welcome To BYC

Does he have a bad odor about his face?

If he has something in the ears, it would be pus which indicated infection.

Wet Fowl Pox, you'd see lesions inside the beak and most of the time a lot of scabbing around the eyes, comb and wattles.

Infectious Coryza, there's usually a very bad odor.

From what I can see in the photos, he has some yellow pus in the ear. Put one drop of Peroxide in the ear and work the pus out. Once cleaned out, put a little Neosporin in the ear. Clean the ear daily as needed.

He has infection of the sinus, the pus needs to be pressed out and removed. Flush the eye with saline, press out the pus. Look inside the beak to make sure the Choanal slit in the roof of the beak is clear and has no pus.

Infectious Coryza is treated with Sulfa Antibiotics, so if that is what he has, find a different antibiotic besides Amoxcillin or Oxytetracycline.

I don't see lesions that indicate Fowl Pox in the photo. The minor scabbing at the tips of the comb generally indicates some picking.
Fowl Pox is a virus. Wet Form of Fowl Pox produces lesions inside the beak, you mention the inside of the beak is clean. Oxytretracycline can be used to treat secondary infection due to Wet Form Of Fowl Pox. Photos of Fowl Pox and more information is in this Article.

Another very common respiratory infection is Mycoplasma. It could cause some facial swelling and ear infection. Treatment is with Tylosin or Tetracyclines. Amoxicillin would not be effective since MG has no cell wall.

You need to determine what your rooster has in order to give him the proper treatment.

The balance issue may start to resolve once you get the ear infection treated and the pus out of his eye so he can see a little better.
Loss of balance could also be due to dehydration and not eating well if he's unable to do either on his own. You need to get fluids into him, once hydrated, then give food. You can tube feed him if necessary.

 

[HighHopeRanchGR]

Does he have a bad odor about his face?


He has infection of the sinus, the pus needs to be pressed out and removed. Flush the eye with saline, press out the pus. Look inside the beak to make sure the Choanal slit in the roof of the beak is clear and has no pus.


The balance issue may start to resolve once you get the ear infection treated and the pus out of his eye so he can see a little better.
Loss of balance could also be due to dehydration and not eating well if he's unable to do either on his own. You need to get fluids into him, once hydrated, then give food. You can tube feed him if necessary

Thank you for this informative and thoughtful reply!

I did as you said with his ears and there was hardly anything in there but I did the peroxide and Neosporin as instructed. I tried massaging his face to get the lump to move and release but no such luck with it, it seemed painful for him which is expected but it seemed to make it bigger than anything else. I tried saline in his nose and used a Qtip to wipe out anything and there was a little something in there but nothing large. I will keep at it though and hopefully it breaks up. I’ll also increase frequency of water- he has been getting syringe fed- won’t eat or drink without being prompted- he gets interested in food but won’t open his beak to eat it.

To answer your first question his face doesn’t smell off at all, no strong odor so I’m hoping that’s a good sign. The slit in his mouth is clear and clean!

Like I said I’ll keep at it and update if he improves. Thank you

 

[HighHopeRanchGR]

Update: I used a Qtip to clean the upper pallet of his mouth and while I couldn’t see anything, when I wiped it out I was shocked. He has a ton of bloody mucous up there. I watched a YouTube on how to properly clean it out. I’ve continued massaging his face to try and break up that swelling and it seems to be coming out through his mouth, gross I know.

It seems like he has a fever but otherwise I think it’s helping clear out the swelling bit by bit. I don’t have any of the medicines recommended for treating him for a sinus infection- any advice on where I might find those?
Thanks.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad you are able to get some of the mucous out.

You can find Tylosin at Jedd's or if you aren't planning on processing him for food (probably not), then you can use Baytril which is a much stronger antibiotic.

https://jedds.com/products/tylosin-powder?_pos=1&_sid=e8c332f06&_ss=r

https://jedds.com/products/enrofloxacin-10?_pos=1&_sid=1faf9a0d5&_ss=r