Worried

[welovechickens]

Well, my Japanese Bantam definitely has the dry version of fowl pox, and I'm thinking she also has CRD, since I found her with a foamy eye today. Her little face is so swollen and scarred from the pox, and now her eyelid is swollen on one eye, she looks terrible.

I'm really worried I'm going to wake up one day and find her dead out there!

Is there anything I can do to help her be more comfortable through this? I started Duramycin today, and we squirted her foamy eye with saline solution to help soothe it a bit.

I would really like to bring her inside and spoil her. But I can't bring the other two chickens in too, because we don't have a cage big enough for all 3, and the stink would be tremendous! They're used to sleeping all together, so I can't separate them at night.

Any advice or reassurance you want to throw my way would be very appreciated!

We've had chickens many times before and they never had any type of health problems at all! So having a sick chicken is entirely new to me.

 

[sammi]

other then the swollen eye..what makes you think it's CRD?
any other symptoms?
mucus from nostrils, wheezing?
describe droppings..color and consistency.

could it be a bad case of Pox?
have you checked her mouth and throat for lesions and/or cheesy substance?

have a read::

http://fowlfacts.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=afflictiondiseaseff&action=display&thread=1484

for eye ointments and info:

http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/store/index.php?cPath=21_57


the neo-poly--dex..has antibiotic and anti-inflammatory.

 

[welovechickens]

I read someone else's question about a foamy eye, and the response was that it was probably CRD......I panicked and got the medicine..lol

She does have a large pox spot underneath her foamy eye. Her voice is a bit croaky, but not horrible. She doesn't "talk" quite as much.

She doesn't act sick, other than being a little quieter than usual. She sneezed once or twice this morning, but her nose doesn't look gunky. One nostril looks swollen shut, but the other one is clear. She isn't panting, other than occasionally when she's been out running in the sunshine. (it's HOT here - 90+)

Should I wait and see on the eye? The foamy stuff is just watery...not cloudy, and doesn't seem to be goopy. She just looks miserable.

 

[sammi]

do the checks as I posted..she could have lesions in her throat.

you can wash the eye with saline eye wash...
and I'd try and get that ointment I posted..might help keep away any infection and help with the swelling and irritation.

do read the info in the link..

try and get some poultry vitamins, or Poly-vi-sol liquid baby vitamins, Enfamil brand if possible, no iron..give 2-3 drops on beak once a day for a week, then taper off for another week.
make up some water moistened feed with baby applesauce or unsweetened applesauce..and cooked chopped egg yolk..
make mix puffy.
or soft scrambled egg..something she can easily eat and swallow.
she really needs extra protein and nutrition to help her fight the illness.

not sure, if at this point, the duramycin will help her unless she does also have respiratory illness..
better for her to drink and keep hydrated..sometimes they won't drink medicated water..

 

[welovechickens]

Ok, I just woke her up and checked inside her mouth/throat. No gunk/cheesy stuff/bumps or anything weird. She kind of gasped a couple times after I let go of her beak, then her voice sounded even more raspy. The mucous membranes inside her mouth and throat were normal pink and slick.

Her voice being "croaky" is what is making me think it's a respiratory thing, now. I will keep a lookout in her mouth and throat for any lesions.

Do you think the pox spot under her eye could be irritating enough that it makes it water, almost like an allergy-type thing? One nostril looks to be swollen shut, but I'm not sure if that's irritation from a respiratory thing, or a pox lesion. I don't want to give medication unnecessarily, but I also would hate for her to be sick and not be getting treatment. I will get some vitamins (minus iron) to give to her, too.

She is drinking the medicated water, and doesn't seem to have a distaste for it. I didn't give them any wet food today because I wanted them to be drinking the water more often.

ETA: Thank you so much for your advice and info links!

 

[sammi]

Pox can be very irritating to the eyes.

ok..go ahead with the duramycin..her immunity is probably down..

is she eating?
would she eat a soft scrambled egg?

 

[welovechickens]

Yes, she eats the chick starter and anything else I offer very readily. I'm sure she'd be happy to eat the egg! lol. I'll try some tomorrow. Thanks!

I wondered if maybe the pox lowered her immunity a bit, and the respiratory thing took hold.