swollen head above the eyes and towards the beak :( help please?

[L*A*G*]

my silkie hen has a swollen head in the area above th eyes and towards the beak. She has 3 chicks, should I separate her? she doesn't seem to be in any pain. It was like this this morning but at 2 pm it is this bad?! What should I do?

 

[L*A*G*]

please help me it's getting progressivly worse!!!! ;,(

 

[nakstk]

I don't know that I can offer too much help. But pics are very helpful for people to see exactly what your talking about. Is she still eating and drinking? Is the swollen spot squishy like an infection? I have read in other threads that you should lance it. I dont know. Try PMing dawg53 he knows a lot about it and he is on line right now.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Yes, I would separate her from your flock. However, if whatever is wrong with her is contagious the chicks probably already have been exposed, so you might decide to leave them with her: Your choice. Either way, I would keep them away from the rest of the flock as well.

Does she have any discharge from her nose or eyes? Rattle sound when she is breathing? Any bad smell around her beak/face? Or any spot that is redder and has a pimple like spot in the center of it? Does she have any scabbing on the affected area?

The first two could indicate some sort of respiratory issue, the smell would indicate infectious coryza, and the final two some sort of allergic reaction or localized infection resulting from a small injury.

Please add a photo and describe everything you notice about her injury in as great as detail as possible so we can get a more accurate guess-timation of what is wrong with her. Only then would it be safe to recommend a treatment. Otherwise you may not be treating her for the correct issue and we don't want to do that.

 

[L*A*G*]

Yes, I would separate her from your flock. However, if whatever is wrong with her is contagious the chicks probably already have been exposed, so you might decide to leave them with her: Your choice. Either way, I would keep them away from the rest of the flock as well.

Does she have any discharge from her nose or eyes? Rattle sound when she is breathing? Any bad smell around her beak/face? Or any spot that is redder and has a pimple like spot in the center of it? Does she have any scabbing on the affected area?

The first two could indicate some sort of respiratory issue, the smell would indicate infectious coryza, and the final two some sort of allergic reaction or localized infection resulting from a small injury.

Please add a photo and describe everything you notice about her injury in as great as detail as possible so we can get a more accurate guess-timation of what is wrong with her. Only then would it be safe to recommend a treatment. Otherwise you may not be treating her for the correct issue and we don't want to do that.

she's separated. the only signs of discharge is her white feathers on the top of her head is brown and wet but this might be something else. not too too wet but just wet. no smell, rattle, her skin is so dark to find a pimple, and no scabbing. the swelling has spread to all of her face and her eyes are on the way to closing. if you still need a pic i can get one but its really aweful to see. she can prob still eat and drink and i know she can breathe. i'm going to lay cold rags on her and just pray anything else i can do?

 

[nakstk]

You should lay warm rags on her head and see if it helps loosen up what ever the thing on her head is. Yes a pic would still be helpful. There are a ton more grosser pics on here. Each and every pic on here no matter how sad or gross is helpful to others that might be going through something similar with their chicken.

 

[L*A*G*]

warm? are you sure? i thought cold helped with swelling?

 

[nakstk]

Well if it is a sore that got infected the warmth would help to loosen it up and maybe it will drain. This is where a picture would come in helpful. So we all can see just what your seeing and dealing with.

 

[dawg53]

You might want to inspect her head for mites. If there arnt any, it might be possible there could be an injury of some type...perhaps pecked on the head by another chicken. If there's discharge from the nostrils or eyes in conjunction with the swelling, most likely it would be a respiratory disease.

 

[nakstk]

here are a few threads that have to do with swollen heads. Hope they help https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/414268/help-foamy-eye-and-swollen-face https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/680516/swollen-lump-on-head https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/679609/swollen-eyelid-and-swollen-flesh-around-eye