Tick on chickens head with a major blue face reaction!! Help!

[ChickenLoverGia]

I pulled a tick off of my less than a year old hen, and she has this blue hot swollen face! Has this ever happened to anyone else and will she be ok?

 

[Jamity46]

Omg-poor thing, I wish I could help but new to chickens. Hopefully someone can help!

 

[ChickenLoverGia]

Yes! Welcome to the chicken community! I wish there was something i could do for her, but she is eating and drinking well and active!

 

[Eggcessive]

It has happened to several here on BYC where the wattle was bitten by a tick and had swelling with a blue color. The tick injects a blood thinner, and there was bleeding into the tissue which caused bruising and swelling. I would try giving a 1/2 of a benadryl 25 mg tablet only once, and then wait for the swelling to go away. It should be okay in a few days. Let us know what happens.

 

[ChickenLoverGia]

It has happened to several here on BYC where the wattle was bitten by a tick and had swelling with a blue color. The tick injects a blood thinner, and there was bleeding into the tissue which caused bruising and swelling. I would try giving a 1/2 of a benadryl 25 mg tablet only once, and then wait for the swelling to go away. It should be okay in a few days. Let us know what happens.

Thank you so much! I will try that!

 

[ChickenLoverGia]

Thank you so much! I will try that!

I just gave it to her i really appreciate your help!

 

[Kathy Golla]

Omg that’s good knowledge! Chickens! They are going to outlive the human species!

 

[ChickenLoverGia]

Omg that’s good knowledge! Chickens! They are going to outlive the human species!

It is! I greatly appreciate everyone's help on byc!

 

[micstrachan]

Brutal! Poor thing. I forgot ticks actually DObite chickens. We have tons of ticks and regularly pull them off the dog. I read that chickens are a great way to decrease the tick poulation in your yard (because they eat tgem). Not true?

 

[dawg53]

As Eggcessive mentioned, Benadryl should reduce swelling and open the trachea so the hen can properly breathe.
Ticks carry all types of diseases as we know. However in poultry, chickens are susceptible to spirochetes from ticks. I recommend that you get blood drawn from a vet and see if there are spirochetes in her blood.
If there are low counts of spirochetes, tylan 50 or tetracycline will treat them. If there are high counts of spirochetes, it's not recommended to use antibiotics. You would have to ask your vet what the treatment would be for high counts of spirochetes.
I hope your hen wasnt infected with spirochetes, they also contaminate the ground possibly putting your other birds at risk.