Swelling on/under ear, same side loosing balance

[Chick246]

Hello folks,
My female white sussex of 12 weeks old, unsure of weight but felt slightly lighter when held, has been unblanced on he right foot and hobbling. I noticed it slightly the other day, and that she was sitting alot more, and it was noticeable today - when inspected she had a swelling on the same side by/under her ear and a small bit of blood I thought was an insect.

The other birds (2 with her, 3 in a separate area) are fine.
She was seen to eat and drink today. Her much seems fine/nothing unusual in the run but havnt seen/checked specifically so not 100%. So far just researching

I've seen many options,
seems best standard is to keep it clean with hydrogen peroxide (what strength % is safe though?) and give her boosts to her immunity, apple cider in water (1 tbl per gallon water), and add powdered kelp, thyme oregano and garlic to the food/treats.
I'm going to check for mites and monitor, and have a list of possible things to try in terms of anti-bacterial treatments, but want peoples opinions?
Getting a vet for chickens is hard, but not impossible if it's life or death - what flags should I look out for to know it's that level of serious?
They are getting used to the outdoors, and stay in a small animal box with hay. They are urban chickens, but we try to keep area clean, so there is a risk of mice/rats sneaking into their area, but no birds due to still being under flockdown since cover hasnt been removed yet.

Thank you for your help!
These forums have been so, so helpful in learning how to hatch and look after them from chicks...

 

[Tookie]

How's your hen?

 

[coach723]

With the dark spot it may be an injury that's gotten infected, or it's an ear infection that someone pecked cause it's swollen and sticking out. This thread, post #4 has instructions on cleaning out ear infection: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ear-infection.767500/#post-15595721
If it's not actually in the ear, then you may need to either use warm wet compresses to loosen the scab so it can be cleaned out, or possibly lanced. An ear infection can cause balance problems.

 

[Chick246]

UPDATE: swelling gone down it seems.
Walking, but limping, the imbalance has gone but a definite limp and preference to sit.
Will inspect the leg full tomorrow.
Thanks - have brushed up on all the old ear infection threads.

 

[Chick246]

Hello! Swelling is reduced and seems to be fine/going away, lessened and not red,
but the limp is still there, she's less disorientated as before and more a classic limp.

Checked the leg and compared to the other, seemingly no surface skin break/bruises, and tested each joint and no pain response. Still limping though....any ideas?

 

[Tookie]

@azygous @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive

 

[azygous]

I'm going to guess an insect bite and that it's affecting her balance. The fact that the swelling is reduced already points more toward a bite than a respiratory disease, which could be expected to get progressively worse before it gets better.

Since the swelling is going down, I would just take a watch and see tact.

 

[Chick246]

Location is Scotland by the way, a city (RE: insects).
Outside of blunt trauma/direct pecks to ear and the infection of the inner ear, I didnt know other things could throw balance off - it's the limp rather than general dizziness that worries me though.
Will keep and eye on for now.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

.

Video of the limp? Upload video to youtube and provide a link.

You mentioned, the chicks are getting outdoors and stay in a small animal box with hay.
How big of a box and how many chicks?

 

[Chick246]

Here:

They are in a larger one now, had a cat box as an inbetween as they got used to it, is a 6 chicken sized one atm. Three chickens overall, dif breeds each. 2.5-3m by 6m run with net cover atm, but freerange when we're there.