Swollen, infected ear lobe

[SpeckledCoopQueen]

Six month old cream leg bar with a swollen ear lobe with a hard mass in it. She is getting picked on and initially started out as what looked like a cut a few days ago. I’ve been monitoring it and yesterday it started swelling so I put some left over Silver sulfadiazine cream on it and let it be. Now tonight the cut has split open revealing what’s inside which has a somewhat bad smell and I can’t remove it without thinking I’m going to hurt her. What more can I do for her and what exactly is happening?

She is still laying and eating/drinking normal. No other symptoms.

 

[Painted Calls]

The white/yellow stinky stuff is pus. Looks like it has abscessed/become infected.

She needs debridment and antibiotics. I've never had to medicate so hopefully someone with more knowledge on that will be by soon.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Black looks necrotic (dead), yellow is chicken pus. If veterinary care is not an option then you'll need to squeeze that pus out while the wound is still open and while you're wearing rubber/nitrile/food-prep gloves as staph infections can be transferred into any cut or open wound you might have on your hands. If you're forced to do this alone, then wrap her from the neck down in a clean terry towel that you don't mind getting stains on. This way you can cradle her like a football in the crook of your elbow on your non-dominant arm and still have both hands available to squeeze out the infection. Don't be alarmed or give up if she resists, both the necrotic tissue and the staph infested pus can cause death if not treated. Rinse the wound after you think you've got all the pus out so you can double check that it's ALL gone, anything left over will fester again and prolong the healing process (forcing you to do the squeezing all over again). Once you're satisfied that all the pus is out and you've removed the black necrotic tissue and rinsed the wound with saline or water (don't use hydrogen peroxide as it's powerful enough to kill living tissue and it stings), lightly cover her eyes and nostrils temporarily so you can spritz her ear with blu-kote antiseptic spray to camouflage the wound from her mates; any color except for red will work fine. Don't bandage the wound. Antibiotics have a chance at working once you've got the pus and dead tissue out of that wound. If the others continue to pick on her and you need to separate her, try to put her isolation pen in the coop where the others can still see and hear her. Out of sight, out of mind with chickens, and if one of their flock members is missing for about a week, their mates forget that they were ever in the flock... making for a rough reintegration. Putting your feathered family in my prayers.

 

[Suedan]

Six month old cream leg bar with a swollen ear lobe with a hard mass in it. She is getting picked on and initially started out as what looked like a cut a few days ago. I’ve been monitoring it and yesterday it started swelling so I put some left over Silver sulfadiazine cream on it and let it be. Now tonight the cut has split open revealing what’s inside which has a somewhat bad smell and I can’t remove it without thinking I’m going to hurt her. What more can I do for her and what exactly is happening?

She is still laying and eating/drinking normal. No other symptoms.

Sending warm thoughts and support your way! You can do it!

 

[SpeckledCoopQueen]

Black looks necrotic (dead), yellow is chicken pus. If veterinary care is not an option then you'll need to squeeze that pus out while the wound is still open and while you're wearing rubber/nitrile/food-prep gloves as staph infections can be transferred into any cut or open wound you might have on your hands. If you're forced to do this alone, then wrap her from the neck down in a clean terry towel that you don't mind getting stains on. This way you can cradle her like a football in the crook of your elbow on your non-dominant arm and still have both hands available to squeeze out the infection. Don't be alarmed or give up if she resists, both the necrotic tissue and the staph infested pus can cause death if not treated. Rinse the wound after you think you've got all the pus out so you can double check that it's ALL gone, anything left over will fester again and prolong the healing process (forcing you to do the squeezing all over again). Once you're satisfied that all the pus is out and you've removed the black necrotic tissue and rinsed the wound with saline or water (don't use hydrogen peroxide as it's powerful enough to kill living tissue and it stings), lightly cover her eyes and nostrils temporarily so you can spritz her ear with blu-kote antiseptic spray to camouflage the wound from her mates; any color except for red will work fine. Don't bandage the wound. Antibiotics have a chance at working once you've got the pus and dead tissue out of that wound. If the others continue to pick on her and you need to separate her, try to put her isolation pen in the coop where the others can still see and hear her. Out of sight, out of mind with chickens, and if one of their flock members is missing for about a week, their mates forget that they were ever in the flock... making for a rough reintegration. Putting your feathered family in my prayers.

THANK YOU! Is it normal that I will have a hard time pulling it out? It seemed like it was attached somewhere in there and I really would’ve had to use force to remove it which I felt uncomfortable with because I didn’t want to cause her pain. What type of antibiotic should I put her on once it’s out?

 

[SpeckledCoopQueen]

Sending warm thoughts and support your way! You can do it!

Thank you, I’m so shocked how quickly it has started to turn bad!

 

[Ebony Rose]

Typically antibiotics, such as erythromycin or penicillin, are used for infections of this sort in chickens. You can expect it to be wedged in the wound pretty good. Apply pressure to it as if it were a cyst or blackhead.

 

[slordaz]

THANK YOU! Is it normal that I will have a hard time pulling it out? It seemed like it was attached somewhere in there and I really would’ve had to use force to remove it which I felt uncomfortable with because I didn’t want to cause her pain. What type of antibiotic should I put her on once it’s out?

I would try a warm compress held to it to try and help soften it up, it needs to come out asap, I would have some Betadine on hand to clean the area and apply triple antibiotic. I know at the feed store you can get penicillin, not sure on the amoxacillin

 

[SpeckledCoopQueen]

I would try a warm compress held to it to try and help soften it up, it needs to come out asap, I would have some Betadine on hand to clean the area and apply triple antibiotic. I know at the feed store you can get penicillin, not sure on the amoxacillin

Do you think it’s okay to wait until tomorrow 5 pm which is around 19 hours away... yikes. To try to get it out?

 

[slordaz]

Do you think it’s okay to wait until tomorrow 5 pm which is around 19 hours away... yikes. To try to get it out?

Best to get it out ASAP