Swollen Face, Bubbly Eye

[Lady Dre]

1) What type of bird, age and weight. Silver Laced Wyandotte, 4 years old, about 5 lbs

2) What is the behavior, exactly. She is acting completely normal. Doesn't seem to be bothering her.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? About 16 hours

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No, she is house chicken so she doesn't live with my other chickens

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. Tiny scab behind left eye. She did have a tick on her face a few weeks ago.

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. Possibly stung by something? Swelling started around her left ear area and got much worse over night. Her eye is swollen shut and is bubbly.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. She is eating normally and is excepting treats of grapes and sunflower seed.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.Normal poop

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Nothing so far.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? I would like to treat her myself. I have some Tylan 50 here if needed, just wanted to get some advise first.

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. Here is a picture of her face

 

[CMV]

Sounds like an infection. What kind? I am not sure. The tick bite has me pausing. Normally I would say that she has a respiratory infection, but the tick bite makes me wonder if she hasn't got some sort of tick-borne illness. Are any outside chickens showing signs of illness? Any new birds come in recently?

I would treat her with the Tylan. I would also assume that she has a respiratory illness and start keeping her quarantined from the rest of the birds. Since she is already kept apart I would be making sure that your contact with the outside flock is hygienic- separate clothes and shoes worn between contact with the various birds, good handwashing, etc. See what plays out over the next few weeks. Should your indoor chicken continue to show signs of illness or get sick again I think it safe to assume she has acquired a respiratory illness somewhere and she should be tested and/or culled. You might consider having her tested anyways.

Good luck.

 

[Lady Dre]

None of my other chickens are showing any symptoms. I just got 13 new chicks back in April. They are doing great. The chicks are the only chickens that my hen really hangs around, but there is no direct contact with them. I will start her on the Tylan and keep her indoors. See how its goes the next couple days and if nothing improves I will definitely get her in to see her vet.

 

[CMV]

Where did the chicks come from? Hatchery or backyard breeder? She does not need direct contact to get sick from them. Respiratory illnesses are often passable via the air. The chicks may not show signs of illness if they are just carriers, but any bird they come in contact with could get sick. I am not saying they are sick, but just letting you know.

 

[Lady Dre]

The chicks came from MyPetChicken.com. I would imagine they come from a hatchery somewhere.

Thanks for letting me know this could be airborne. I will keep my eye on the chicks just in case.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Lady Dre]

I just found two more ticks on her. I think I am just going to take her up to the vet to be safe. I have the ticks in a bag to show them.

 

[CMV]

Good idea. Let us know what the vet finds.