Swollen pale face hen

[MMPoultryFarms]

here is a site that can anwser all your questions. http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/Diseases_Of_Poultry it has Pictures and proper medications and dosages.

 

[chickenmommava]

I have a hen with a similar situation. She has a swollen cheek. It was first swollen yesterday morning. By the afternoon, it looked a little less swollen, but overnight there was no change. It is pale in color, doesn't feel too warm, doesn't smell. She doesn't seem to have any respiratory symptoms. Did you ever figure out what was the cause? Did you treat it or did it go away on its own?

Thanks.

 

[RedDrgn]

I'm beginning to think it might be a food allergy. I'm trying to find my receipt for the last sack of feed that I bought and see if that coincides with Penny's puffy face. I live in the Northwest, and we definitely don't have chiggers here. I have checked her feathers and skin for signs of mites, and there are no red markings nor any sign of eggs on the feathers.

I really appreciate everyone's suggestions! Thanks!

Quicker than tracking down a receipt, get a small bag of another type of feed and switch hers and see if it makes a difference. That is the darndest thing and if anyone figures it out, I'd be interested to know what the source was.

 

[urbanfarmgirl10]

This happened twice. The first time around I switched the feed and the puffiness went away leading me to believe it was a food allergy. The second time it was indeed mites. Yuck! I cleaned out the coop and gave my chickens a warm, soapy bath. Once the mites died off the puffiness went away. I've decided this little hen has a sensitive immune system and has an allergic reaction to various things displaying a puffy face.

Good luck!

 

[chickenmommava]

Thanks for the input. The swelling seems to be going away. I think it was a couple of splinters that she got in the corner of her lip. I was looking it over and happened to see them. I applied a warm water compress as much as she would tolerate this morning and evening. Thanks again.

 

[MEchickenfarmer33]

i had one that did that. My biggest black star chicken did this too with her face. If im not mistaken it looks as if your chicken is a black star too and mine had something similar to this but not as severe as your case. After a while it went away and today she is happy as can be. I was worried too but it got better. I would just wait it out and it will get better

 

[Hannah Picard]

I also have a pullet with this problem. She's a black cochin bantam, about 6/ 7 mo. old. The area around her eyes are swollen (in a perfect circle). Her comb, waddles, and face are also really pale. Again, she's acting fine, eating and drinking water, etc. She's had this for a while and it doesn't seem to be bothering her. She's been molting for a verryyyy long time now, I think it's been around 2 months. She stopped molting for about a week at the beginning of December/ end of November. During that period, she laid 3 eggs, one every day. Then she resumed molting, and hasn't laid an egg since. She was sneezing for a bit, so I thought it could be a respiratory disease. But I turned on a heat lamp and gave her warm water and the sneezing went right away. It's been really cold out lately. I cleaned out her coop today.

All my free range large fowl had very pale combs until they started laying eggs regularly, at which point they turned red. If it wasn't for the swelling around her eyes, I would just think it was a combination of this and the cold and her molting.

I heard someone suggest Tylan 50. I don't know if I want to give her medication unless I can be really sure that it's the right thing to do. Are there any negative side effects or reasons I shouldn't give it to her? Or is it just a "couldn't hurt" sorta thing? I also had a friend suggest giving her Sulfa; she said that's what she gives her chickens when they have colds.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[mrsaregis]

I also have a hen that is going through this. We haven't been able to figure out what is wrong with her. Did you find anything out??
Thanks so much!

 

[suburbansilkies]

The same is happening to mine. What did you do?

 

[Chicktender2320]

My 8month old black/araucana hen, Penny, has a swollen head that is pale. Her comb is also pale. Beyond a puffy face, she is normal in every respect (eating, drinking, foraging, etc.). Her face has been swollen for almost 3 weeks. I have been adding vitamin/probiotic powder to the hens' water for about a week now. I have done endless searching on the Internet for clues as to what she has and how to treat it, but I haven't found anything close. She does not have trouble breathing, she doesn't smell, no watery eyes or runny nose. The only difference from her and my other hens is her puffy head. Her head seems to run warmer than my other hens.
My other two black hens (same age, same brood) just started laying. We have gotten a few soft-shell eggs in the coop, and I'm pretty sure those belong to Penny. I feed my hens a local non-soy, non-corn pellet food, plus some corn scratch every once and a while, oyster shell, and then whatever they find in the yard. Their bedding is straw and wood chips that is cleaned on a regular basis.

What is wrong with my hen and what can I do?

Thank you for your help.

Did you ever figure anything out with this. I know this is an old post. But your photo looks similar to what is going on with one of my hens. Looking for insight. Thanks