Swollen Right Eye, Bile, Eye Discharge, White Residue Around Mouth in Rooster

[eoneill2k]

When my brother went down to lock in the hens he sent me a message remarking that the hens were deep asleep already and some didn't even stir when he went in - this immediately struck me as very weird behaviour so I asked him to bother the hens and check their reactions - they're prey birds, they normally never sleep through someone coming into their shed. He said the rooster especially seemed to tuck himself in further when stroked under the chin and one of the hens sounded like she was snoring. These were immediate red flags for me and I told him to isolate the rooster, which he did. As soon as I got home I checked him over and found one of his eyes was swollen shut and had yellow discharge, some of which was dried. The other eye was open but had white foamy discharge. His breast feathers were wet under where his mouth was resting and his beak had white residue dried on and there seemed to be bile stuck to the inside and outside of his beak. He was very lethargic - he's normally quite docile but this was to a concerning level. I took some pictures (attached) and wiped his face with dry tissue as best I could. I put him back in isolation and immediately checked the rest of the hens.

All but two were fine. One hen, the 'snoring' one seems relatively bright and alert but is very audibly gurgling, and the other has an eye swollen shut and I can hear her wheezing. Both the hen and the rooster have their right eye swollen shut and the roosters stool brightly coloured.

All three are now individually isolated and I plan to try and get them to the vet as soon as possible but in the meantime does anyone know what may have caused this? We got two new hens and a new rooster recently, but those were isolated first and even now are kept separate to the 'main flock' as they are with my existing silkie hen. None of the new hens nor the existing silkie are sick, and the three of the main flock who are sick don't have access to them.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - they'll have water for the night but I'm unsure if food is a good idea

 

[eoneill2k]

The pale hen with the swollen eye is standing but her beak is gaping slightly

 

[eoneill2k]

They were all fine yesterday - wandering around and checking things out, eating etc and as far as any of us can tell they were fine for most of the day. Whatever this is came on very quickly

 

[coach723]

The symptoms indicate a respiratory disease, like mycoplasma gallisepticum. If you have a vet that sees birds, they can test to confirm what it is. Treatment with tylosin or tetracyclines can help with symptoms, but the birds won't be cured, they will be carriers for life and symptoms will recur especially during times of stress. It's very contagious, and if that's what it is then the whole flock is exposed and considered carriers.
https://poultrykeeper.com/respiratory-problems/mycoplasma/

https://www.maine.gov/dacf/ahw/animal_health/documents/backyardpoultry/Mycoplasma Factsheet.pdf

 

[eoneill2k]

The symptoms indicate a respiratory disease, like mycoplasma gallisepticum. If you have a vet that sees birds, they can test to confirm what it is. Treatment with tylosin or tetracyclines can help with symptoms, but the birds won't be cured, they will be carriers for life and symptoms will recur especially during times of stress. It's very contagious, and if that's what it is then the whole flock is exposed and considered carriers.
https://poultrykeeper.com/respiratory-problems/mycoplasma/

https://www.maine.gov/dacf/ahw/animal_health/documents/backyardpoultry/Mycoplasma Factsheet.pdf

I brought the rooster to vet and he's given me kariflox for the water for the whole flock, metrocare tablet for the rooster, an injection in the clinic and another to give him tomorrow, and maxitrol eye drops to give to all the infected birds. I've emptied out the hen house and am waiting on Milton to sterilise as much as possible.

My main concern now is with the gurgling hen - I dosed her with a small bit of the medicated water but her gurgling is very pronounced and I don't want to risk harm to her. Do you have any suggestion as to what I can do for her? Additionally despite having no food all night and minimal water her crop is very pronounced and soft

Can't attach a video but I posted a clip of her here:

 

[coach723]

Sounds like she is not digesting well. The gurgling could be from the crop contents coming back up and getting in her airway. That could be from whatever is ailing the flock, or could also have another cause.
Crop issues can have many different possible causes.
These are good articles with loads of information on crop issues:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Sounds like the vet is throwing everything at the illness, did they swab to test for what it may be?

 

[eoneill2k]

Sounds like she is not digesting well. The gurgling could be from the crop contents coming back up and getting in her airway. That could be from whatever is ailing the flock, or could also have another cause.
Crop issues can have many different possible causes.
These are good articles with loads of information on crop issues:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Sounds like the vet is throwing everything at the illness, did they swab to test for what it may be?

He did not take a swab but he's confident that the rooster will recover and that, since the rest of the flock were caught so early, there shouldn't be any casualties. The question in my mind is this dark hen because I completely forgot to ask him. I'll have a look at those articles you shared, thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

Do any of the sick birds smell bad around the face? MG and coryza are the common ones that cause eye drainage and swelling of the eyelids or face. Coryza is said to smell rotten. It sounds like the gurgling hen has a crop disorder. Check her crop every morning before she eats or drinks to check if her crop has emptied. If it is full and firm or doughy, it may be impacted. Impacted crop is treated with giving coconut oil to peck and crop massage several times a day. If it is full and mushy, it may be going sour. Sour crop which smells bad, is treated with an antifungal medication such as miconazole given orally twice a day. Here is a good article about crop disorders:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/