Silkie Roo with swollen face on one side

[SilkieChickensLove]

Hi all!

I have a silkie injury or infection question.
One of our silkie roosters- Marv has some swelling near the corner of his beak under his eye. He is acting totally as usual - eating, scratching, crowing, happy and sweet, etc. But definitely has a swollen area on his face. We aren't sure if he got into a fight with another one of our roosters or it is a spider bite, an infection or something else.
He was in the bachelor flock for awhile and all of our roos get along quite well most of the time but we did notice a couple young roosters who seem to be having a hormone surge in the past week or so who have been getting a bit 'cocky' and challenging some of the older roos- Marv included. Our first though was he was in a fight and had an injury that was swollen- so he has moved on out of the bachelor flock for now. But it has been probably 4-5 days now and it is looking pretty much the same. We started him on Tylosin- now sure how long that might take to help but figured it would be better to try something in case it is an infection.

Any ideas of what this might be or suggestions for what we should try?

Sharing a photo of the swollen side and the regular side. Thank you in advance!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you take some photos of the inside of his beak?

 

[SilkieChickensLove]

Hi there! I will see what I can do! What should I be looking for?

 

[Eggcessive]

Look for any yellow to gray gunk inside his beak near the swollen cheek. Canker can look like that. Does he have a bad odor?

 

[SilkieChickensLove]

Hi again!

Okay- here is an update with photos! This is what I was able to capture of him crowing. (He looks a bit like a wild man haha-but a couple of screenshots from video- sorry for the poor quality. )

I was surprised to see that it does look like there is something yellow there in the crook of his beak of where the swelling is inside. We did just put some corn on the cob out for them and they were enjoying that just before I took these - not thinking that it is a bit of corn just mentioning it.

I am also including a side view again- so you can see how the swelling looks since the original photos.

He is acting like his usual self- eating, crowing, wandering around and taking care of his ladies, etc. We pressed on the swelling a bit - it is firm but soft, he does not seem to have a smell that I can tell.

I should mention- most of our chickens did get a respiratory infection after we adopted some older hens who were in need of a home a couple of years ago. We quarantined before mixing them but obviously, that didn't work. We were new chicken parents and didn't fully understand the importance of a closed flock and were honestly just trying to help save some older chickens. Not sure if that could be related to this but it has been about 2 years since adopting them.

We have been treating with Tylosin (in water) for the past week. It does look like the swelling has been going down little by little in the past couple of days- so maybe it is working? I am not sure how long it would take for it to get it back to looking normal?

We also have the 4 in 1 powder which says it treats canker-but not sure if we should we try that next or if there is there something else we should be using?

Really appreciate your help- thank you everyone.

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, that really looks like canker, and it can spread to the throat, esophagus, in to the the crop wall. It is spread by pigeons and through water contaminated. Wet fowl pox can look very similar, so let us know if you have seen any fowl pox scabs from pox which is spread by mosquitoes in hot weather.

I would use the 4 in1 powder, but make sure it contains ronidazole on the label. Separate him in a dog crate with the treated water. Disinfect your waterers and feeders with 10% bleach water, then rinse well.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here are a couple of good links about canker with pictures:
https://birdpalproducts.com/blogs/news/the-scoop-on-canker-birds

https://bitchinchickens.com/2020/07/06/avian-trichomonosis-canker/

 

[SilkieChickensLove]

Okay- thank you @Eggcessive! That is so helpful!

We are wondering if we can treat with the tylosin and the 4 in 1 at the same time?
Or should we finish or abandon the tylosin and start 4 in 1?

Reading one of the articles you shared mentioned secondary infections. Since the swelling seems to have deflated a little bit since using tylosin do you think that is a secondary infection and so the tylosin is helping? I just wonder about discontinuing if tylosin is needed or if the 4 in 1 will help with both.

 

[Eggcessive]

How many days have you treated with Tylosin? Tylosin should be used for 3-5 days, then discontinued. Tylosin won’t treat canker, so I would try to get the
at started right away. I don’t recommend mixing them, and they need to drink enough of the treated water.

 

[SilkieChickensLove]

Okay- I think it has been 5 days (today is probably the 5th full day) so will switch over to the 4 in 1. Thank you again!