Very Swollen comb

[eyupchook]

I help Little Hen Rescue as much as I can by bringing a few ill ex battery hens for TLC and retirement.
Poor Amy has such a swollen comb and is on antibiotics BUT we don't know what the problem is.
Just for your information, I haven't let her get this bad. She was only rescued from the battery cage on Sunday.
It looks as though she has been pecked on the comb and infection has set in but having bathed it in warm water & antiseptic and lanced it only a tiny bit of blood came out then in another place just a bit of clear fluid- We expected to be covered in pus.
Her comb is red hot and as it flops one way it affects her right eye so we have to keep sitting her on our knees and holding it flopped the other way to ease the pressure on her eye.
After each session of warm water/antiseptic bathing, we then put purple spray on.
Hopefully the Antibiotics will kick in soon...she took her 1st one on Sunday evening.







Any advice welcomed.
Lyn & the Rosah flock

 

[CMV]

Egads! I have never seen such a thing. That is a brutal infection. I have no words of advice because you guys obviously have a handle on things, but keep us posted. I'm interested in whether or not she survives such a bad infection and how you treat her clinically.
Good luck.

 

[FosterFamily]

Oh my that looks horrible... great job by the way... I love a person that rescues sick animals... I don't have any advice, but there are some really knowledgeable people on here... so hopefully this will help bump you up so more people take notice of your post. Good luck!

 

[eyupchook]

Thankyou so much for your replies and kind words.

We hope she makes it and the antibiotics zap any infection but as it is still hot and just as large, and bathing with warm water on a flannel hasn't relieved any pus I'm kind of assuming it's cancerous.
I keep flopping it to the other side as she sits on my knee to relieve pressure on her eye that it leans on. I thought I'd lost her earlier as she sat on my knee and keeled over but she was ok...just feeling really relaxed I think and fell asleep.

The battery cages in the UK are horrendous, the barn system isn't much better but there is a new European law coming in the next year or so whereby the commercial egg farms have to use "enhanced cages" giving somewhere to perch etc so a lot of farmers are giving up due to the costs of changing over. They have no interest in the hens welfare, just profit. So many hens are dead in the cages and some have been there so long they are trampled in and decomposed.
By Little Hen Rescue and other hen rescue's in the UK we are hoping to get hens re-established as British pets so many people will have their own eggs and put the commercial farmers out of business full stop.

BTW I LOVE the large coops you have over there. Everyone's pages are amazing. I have put links from our forum to give inspiration to our members who have good carpentry skills.

Lyn

 

[eggsrcool]

I help Little Hen rescue too. I got mine on Sunday. As these are battery hens, they WILL have large combs, combs are used to cool the hen down and in such hot environments they comb will grow. It causes no discomfort to the chicken, but if you are worried call their advice line.

 

[Crystalchic]

In my chicken health hand book there is a section called fatty liver syndrome
start researching that
it states that it is not common
the characteristics are in a mature hen
pale, swollen comb and wattles
article copied from the chicken health hand book written by Gale Damerow
For educational and idea purposes only

 

[Crystalchic]

does the hen have diarrhea

 

[sammi]

poor little girl..she looks very uncomfortable.

this swelling isn't normal.
further..if it's hot..it indicates infection.

note that puss in chickens isn't always like we have..
it can be a cheesy plug, and not liquidy.
if liquid did drain out..she might need a drainage tube inserted..or a syringe to pull it out.
there is a possibility that a fly or other insect has laid eggs/larva.

the comb needs attention, and possibly lanced open to remove the plug, ..might be best done by a vet, since they do bleed a lot from the comb.

what antibiotic are you using?
topical antibiotics won't do the job.
she might need an injection into the area, or at least a systemic..of a med suited to treat staph or strept..most likely staph.
slight possibility, she might also need an anti-inflammatory..
but once the infection is out..she'll do better.

A BIG PAT ON THE BACK for rescuing these battery hens.
please note that they sometimes need special attention..
you can pm me if you need more info.

 

[Crystalchic]

someone just told me that that is normal for beterie caged birds
what ever that means
wow

 

[sammi]

do you mean that it's normal that pecking infections like this are common?
probably is..with the way they are caged.
pretty horrible really.