Hello to everyone,
I am new to backyard chickens and would like to thank you all for putting up such an informative thread. I keep chickens solely as pets, and love them to bits. I live in the UK and based in the West Midlands. About 6 weeks ago I noticed that a couple of my chickens had some swelling to their faces. I think I might have mycoplasma in my flock as this has happened before but not quite as bad as this time. The worse affected was my ex battery girl, so I took her to the vets and all the chickens were put on Tylan. Rosa, my exbat's face quickly settled down but my little pekin hen (Saffy) was steadily getting worse. The one side of her face was very swollen with lumps including sweeping to her comb. I took her back to the vets and told him that I'd found a little scab above her ear - he thought she may have been attacked by one of he others but also thought she my also have ringworm. He put her on medication for this and told it could take weeks to cure. Her face continued to get worse over the next few days with scabs starting to form on her face and her legs. I took her back again and was told she could have Fowl Pox, fortunately she was already separated from the others and living in the house. Knowing absolutely nothing about fowl pox, stupidly, when over the weekend one of my beautiful bantam orps started having breathing problems, I just thought it was a chest infection. I couldn't get in with my vet who knows a lot about chickens so out of desperation took her to another practice. The vet I saw, didn't have much experience with chickens, she didn't look in her mouth and even had to confirm with me, as to where they inject the antibiotic. That night Coco went downhill and sadly passed away, I was devastated as she was only 1 year old and so beautiful. I had to take Saffy back to my favourite vet the next day and also took Coco with me. My vet very kindly said, he would have a look at her to see what we lost her to. He told me the next day, that she had choked to death on a lump of pus, I was so upset, perhaps if I'd known about wet pox and I'd got in with this vet, I could have saved her. The first thing this vet does, when I take a chicken in, is open their mouth and has a good look.
Saffy is still with us but over the weekend seems to have gone off her food and sleeping all the time. Even when we get her out to try her with food and syringe it into her, she has a job to open her one eye ( the pox, has affected the other and is now permanently closed) she just keeps falling back to sleep. Her mouth over the weekend has seemed very sticky and pale.
This morning, she seems to be even worse..............I think she has given up the fight, I really don't know what to do with her. I have managed to get a couple of mils of water and antibiotic down her but feel so cruel messing about with her if this is the end. Please do you have any suggestions?
I have tried to upload some pictures but don't seem to be able to off an iPad.
