Whats wrong with this chicken?!

[Pine Grove]

Just to let you know before you order online the meds can be found in petshops in the fish department, Some walmarts carry this also

 

[maria22000]

Thanks

 

[johnnyjack]

i have seen alot but thats bad. good luck

 

[pollysmum]

I agree.. the bird has Canker

She has mouth canker.. she may also have sinus canker

Sinus canker

Sometimes canker organisms can invade the sinuses through the slot in the roof of the mouth and form a canker nodule here. The birds present with a firm swelling across the forehead between the base of the cere (swelling) and the eyes. Anticanker medication is given for 4 - 5 days to kill the active infection (Flagyl tabs). After this, lancing the area by making an incision in the skin over the most prominent area of the nodule enables the canker nodule to be expressed. Once the nodule is removed, it is best to continue with anticanker medication for several days. Healing is usually uneventful.

Treatment: Spartrix or Flagyl tablet​

 

[maria22000]

Though it looks like there is some developing on the top sides, it is mainly on the bottom left, going down in her mouth a little. I am thinking that her sinuses are alright but will keep an eye on that.

Pine Grove: 250 mg is the amount of active ingredient, right? Can I dissolve this in water and use a syringe or is it best as a pill? Sorry I am really ignorant here... never use medications. Just wanna know what I am looking for at the store.

Where can I get copper sulfate? Gardening store?

So is canker a fungus? What causes this? Do I need to clean out the coop real good or an it wait till spring?

Thank you!

ETA: saw the metronidazole online for reference so that I understand now. 250 mg pills.

 

[echickenlove]

I really hope she recovers..shes a beautiful bird and she looks like shes in so much pain. Do keep us updated on her progress.

 

[ChickenCop]

you can get copper sulfate at the pet shop also in the fish dept...I use it to kill snails in my fish tanks.

 

[pollysmum]

Nature of the disease

The disease canker is caused by a protozoan Trichomonas columbae. This is a microscopic single-celled organism.

It lives within the digestive tract of pigeons and other birds, in particular the throat and crop, and can also involve associated areas such as the bile duct.

The organism is fragile in the environment, only surviving for a few minutes once outside the bird. This helps with control of the disease and means that the birds cannot become infected from the coop or immediate environment as happens with other diseases such as worms and paratyphoid.

The organism (trichomonad) requires intimate contact between birds to be spread and is usually transmitted by saliva or pigeon milk.

Saliva contaminates food and water. As a bird drinks, the organism swims away from its beak and, when another pigeon or bird comes to drink, it not only drinks the water but also the trichomonads there.

When a bird sorts through grain, each dropped grain contains a small amount of saliva. In this way, the disease can also be spread through a feed hopper.


There is no drug that by itself will cure canker.
It is a matter of using medication correctly so that the birds can establish a strong natural immunity to the disease.

It is this natural immunity that, in the longer term, protects them from the disease.

Signs of infection can be subtle and quite varied. Typical signs that would alert the fancier to its possible presence include:

1. 'Penguin' posture - Associated with proventricular (glandular stomach) and crop pain. Birds will lean back on their tails and gulp. Noticed particularly after eating and drinking.

2. 'Dry feather' - Due to lack of down feather drop and bloom production.

3. 'Leady' feel - Affected birds will not come into condition and feel heavy in the hand.

4. Wet dropping - Inflammation in the digestive tract creates a thirst, leading to elevated water intake and urine production. This produces a clear watery rim around the dropping.

5. Green droppings - Due to digestive tract irritation and in some birds decreased food intake.

6. Inflammation in the throat - Tonsillitis and increased clear to grey bubbly mucus.

7. Interference with crop function - Delayed crop emptying and sometimes vomiting.

8. Increased food consumption by birds as a whole

9. Dry yellow canker - In birds of any age, this tells you that many other birds have elevated trichomonad levels, which have not yet passed the threshold for yellow material to form.

10. Indirect signs - respiratory problems that respond poorly to medication or quickly relapse, a dramatic improvement in the birds' general vigour in response to anticanker medication are all suggestive.

Definitive diagnosis, however, depends on microscopic examination of a crop flush. Microscopic changes that are suggestive of the problem also develop in the dropping,.

These changes are associated with the stress of the disease and include elevated E. coli and yeast levels. These changes, however, do not occur in all birds.


Other sites of canker

As fanciers would be aware, most canker lesions are found in the bird's throat and are often associated with their tonsils here. However, canker can affect a variety of other sites.

Such as mouth, throat, crop, Cloacal, Internal, Sinus

Medications Available

Any one of a group of medications called nitro imidazoles are effective against trichomonads. There are four commonly in use:

1. Dimetradazole - The common brand name here is Emtryl, available as a water-soluble powder. Dimetradazole was the first nitro imidazole available and is still an effective drug, although trichomonad resistance to it in some areas is a problem because it has been used for the longest. It must be used with care as it has a narrow safety margin. Overdose leads to a reversible loss of balance and coordination and, in high doses, death. The medication can interfere with sperm production in cocks, leading to a temporary infertility, and so is not recommended for use during breeding. The usual dose is 1 teaspoon (3 grams) to 4½ - 8 litres of water. Lower dose rates should be used in stock birds feeding youngsters and during hot weather when water intake increases and evaporation occurs from drinkers, increasing the concentration of the medication.

2. Carnadazole - The common brand name here is Spartrix. It is only available in tablet form. It has a wide safety margin and is very useful for individual bird dosing, particularly youngsters in the nest. The dose is one 10-mg tablet daily.

3. Metronidazole - The common brand name is Flagyl. This is available as a water-soluble syrup and as tablets in a variety of strengths. It is very economical, with the tablets being useful to dose individual birds. Individual birds are given ¼ of a 200-mg Flagyl tablet once daily. Flagyl syrup is water soluble and is given at the dose of 5 - 10 ml per litre but is very sugary and not very palatable to the birds.

4. Ronidazole - This is available as a water-soluble powder under a number of brand names world-wide, including Ridsol-S, Turbosole, Tricho-Plus and Ronivet. The usual strength used is 10%. The dose at this strength is ½ teaspoon per litre. Weaker preparations are available but the birds need to be treated longer with these. The drug is very bitter so preparations stronger than 10% tend to be unpalatable to the birds. It has a very wide safety margin and is safe to use during breeding, racing and moulting. World-wide, ronidazole is the current medication of choice to treat canker. However, in some countries it is not available for use in pigeons, authorities being concerned that resistant organisms may develop. As the drug is used in food-producing animals such as pigs, its use is reserved for these.

In any canker-control program, it is often best to rotate between at least two of these medications in order to decrease the chance of a resistant trichomonad strain developing. Currently, ronidazole-based preparations are used as the primary treatment because of their effectiveness and wide safety margin, but it is a good idea to swap to one of the other available drugs every third or fourth treatment.

 

[pollysmum]

Do not just pour it down the bird’s throat

Copper Sulfate Medication

Use 1 gm (0.035 oz) of Copper Sulfate (bluestone) to 2 litres (3.52 pints) of water – be very careful about the measurements of the Copper Sulfate too much will kill your bird

Add 2 teaspoons of Apple Cider Vinegar

Mix in some Cranberry Juice to make it more palatable for the birds to drink and disguise the taste of the copper sulfate and vinegar

Give this medicated water as the sole source of drinking water for 4 to 7 days, in some cases you may need to extend this time until you feel that the disease outbreak is over

Do not use metal containers only plastic ones

Put the mixture out fresh each day

Now I don't want to worry you BUT....


Copper sulfate in a single dose of >1 g is fatal. The signs are watery diarrhea and listlessness.

A catarrhal gastroenteritis and burns or erosions in the lining of the gizzard, accompanied by a greenish, seromucous exudate throughout the intestinal tract, are found at necropsy.

When you mix the 1 g of Copper Sulfate with water it is diluted and not fatal, only if you try and give the CS on its own is it fatal.

 

[dlhunicorn]

Where does this bird live (in what state) and what is the weather there?
(I ask because in addition to trichononiasis as mentioned above, it may also be the "wet" (Diphtheritic) form of fowl pox which can get as bad as illustrated in your photos)... here is an article (lesions shown here are milder than others I have seen):
http://www.spc.int/rahs/publication/leaflets/AHAL 01E.pdf