Swollen face, no discharge, normal behavior, help me please. 🄲

HopeDelight

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Sep 12, 2025
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My 4 year old Orpington hen and rooster both have a swollen face, one side is worse than the other on both of them, there’s no discharge, they’re acting normal, eating, drinking, everything. I thought that maybe it was a bug bite or sting, but since they both have it at the same time, I thought that’s probably not what it is. I remember that my other rooster had something similar a few years ago, he recovered but has labored breathing, although I’m not sure if that was to do with the swollen face.
I wormed my flock yesterday with ivermectin, which always works to worm them and has even sorted some illnesses out pretty quickly. I don’t know what else to do… it doesn’t look that serious, but I’m worried if it gets worse.
 
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It is hard to know for sure what has caused the swelling of the face, but a respiratory disease called mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) is a common cause. Stings, pecking or other injuries might alao be possible. But when you see 2 at once with it, and had another in the past, that sounds more like MG. MG can cause a sunken eye appearance, bubbles or foam in one eye, or other respiratory symptoms such as mucus and head shaking, rattly breathing, or sneeze. Do not rehome any of your chickens in the future since they would be carriers for life. There is no need to separate any unless they are being picked on. I would suggest getting some Tylosin and treating with 1 tsp per gallon of water for 5 days. Get it here or at jedds.com online:
https://thecanaryfinchstore.com/product/tylosin-powder-for-birds/

Here is some reading about MG:
https://extension.umd.edu/sites/ext... Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) Infecti....pdf
 

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