A little advice please...

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I have 5 hens and up til now I've had no problems. Yesterday I noticed that one of them had watery eyes, like bubbles over the eyes, she was reluctant to leave the coop, but once out and I had wiped her eyes she was fine. This morning, one eye was watery, with the bubbles but she left the coop of her own accord, her feathers seemed to have darkened and look a little greasy, she has lost her balance on a couple of occasions today, has spent some time on just the one leg (that might be normal but I can't say I've seen it from her before). Any ideas? Local vets don't deal with chickens as a general rule.

So yeah...
watery/bubbly eyes
slight reluctance to leave the coop
darkened/greasy feathers
occasional loss of balance/spent time on one leg
NO LOSS OF APPETITE, DRINKING AS NORMAL

Thanks in advance for any advice you may be able to offer
 
Hi
Does her breath smell? Mycroplasma?

Signs: Discharge from the nostrels, bubbles in the corner of the eyes, wiping infected eyes/nose on their feathers (will darken the feathers), sneezing and rattling chest.
Worst case one or both eyes will close completely, under and forward of the eye will swell. With infectious synovitis the hook joints swell and the bird has difficulty in walking

Cause: Spread by wild birds and is then spread to other poultry by the infected bird sneezing, and in the drinking water.

Treatment: Can be treated with antlibiotics like Terramycin. Put Apple Cider Vinegar in the water with crushed garlic this will also help them. If possible keep infected birds away from your other birds.

If her breath does not smell then it will not be Mycroplasma, can be a common cold through the awful weather that we are having. Hens feet get cold and they do tend to stand on one foot, bubbles in eyes can be a eye infection (can buy Optrex Chloramphernicol over the counter at a chemist - but don;t tell them it is for poultry!) use one drop only each eye per day. Cold wind can also cause their eyes to run.


Sue

Sue
 
Hiya, thanks for that, no smelly breath as far as I can tell, but having my 5th cold of the season I may not have noticed, will get the hubby out there. Her droppings vary between a dark green to a mustardy yellow, they always have done though.
 
Yellow to dark green droppings is normally a sign of worms, personally I would
(1) Isolate the bird incase it is contagious for a day or two and see if there is an improvement, bring her somewhere warm with no draughts.
(2) ACV and garlic in all the birds water
(3) Optrex eye drops one per day in the infected bird
(4) Flubenvent poultry wormer for all the birds for 7 days.

Even with a cold you would be able to smell the hens bad breath if it is mycroplasma, so that is a good sign.
 
Ah! so maybe mine didn't have myco then - their breath didn't smell. Perhaps it was just a respiratory infection.
 
Anne W said:
Ah! so maybe mine didn't have myco then - their breath didn't smell. Perhaps it was just a respiratory infection.
Click to expand...

Birds can get all sorts of bugs especially in this weather, they are just like us getting colds and sniffles.
Birds don't tend to like getting wet and being in cold draughts. This alone can set off a bird sneezing or looking off colour. All hens should have access to warm dry bedding and a covered run so that they can get out of the terrible weather.

Hope your chooks are all well

Sue
 
Thanks Sue - they are both fine now and - touch wood - the others stayed ok. I agree - dry bedding is so important - and ventilation. They are free range and have covered runs but not very big so next year I have plans to give them bigger covered areas - all I have to do is try to convince my husband what a good idea it is :lol: I am sick of this weather but of course the alternative tends to be wet/damp - roll on spring!
 
Thankyou. Nope definately no smelly breath. Today her eyes were not watery but the feathers were still dark/greasy looking and she was a little bit wobbly still but it was -10 out there, I felt wobbly! Will get some wormer for them all. Thanks again
 
Clucky said:
Thankyou. Nope definately no smelly breath. Today her eyes were not watery but the feathers were still dark/greasy looking and she was a little bit wobbly still but it was -10 out there, I felt wobbly! Will get some wormer for them all. Thanks again
Click to expand...

I am glad it isn't mycro, keep the bedding dry, in this weather the entrance to the house can get very wet especially if like mine the snow has been going straight into the entrance of the houses. I tend to replace wet bedding twice a day at the moment.
It may well be a common cold, eyes run from the cold wind. Keep up with the apple cider vinegar and worming will definately help aswell.

Good luck

Sue
 
Really pleased that neither Anne's or Clucky's fowl have had myco,you must both be very relieved.
 
I have found Mycoplasma usually starts with foam / bubbles in the corner of the eyes and swollen sinuses. Then moves on to sneezing / rattling breathing / 'darth vader' breathing. There can be a sweet sort of smell to the breath but I don't always notice this (I don't have a brilliant sense of smell mind you!). Bubbles can of course just be a cold / runny eye though... but this is the classic start of a Myco infection.

Mycoplasma weakens the bird and causes the bird to catch respiratory diseases / Infectious Bronchitus as well as other infections so isn't always causing the symptoms above (e.g. IB has the same symptoms). Once a bird has respiratory problems such as IB, antibiotics will sort out the Myco infection but the secondary (respiratory) infection has to be fought off by the immune system - but if Myco can be controlled early, the bird stands a good chance of pulling through. Birds that are really bad with 'Darth Vader' sort of breathing often will not recover when they get antibiotics as it's the secondary infection that has crippled the bird, not the Myco.

Once the lungs are infected in a chicken, it quickly spreads to other parts of the bird (since chickens have 8 air sacs) which is why they can often appear fine one minute and have a slight cold and the next minute are really crippled.

There are many types of Myco, most which I don't fully understand - but the one I'm talking about with the respiratory problems is Mycoplasma Gallisepticum. Mycoplasma Synoviae infects the hock joints I think.

Hope this helps... I'm rather paranoid about Myco - but having lost so many good birds when I was younger and having had to start again, I keep a close eye out for the early signs. Touch wood I haven't had a Myco infection for some years now and I'm sure that keeping their immune system strong and not stressing them too much helps.
 
Thanks for that, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her breathing, but I shall keep a close eye out for a change. Off to get the necessarys today, hoping it'll pep her up a bit
 
My chook still isn't great. I've been out to check on them tonight (hubby shuts them in when he gets in from work, I go and check on them around 9) and the 'not quite right' chicken (separated from the others at the mo) has a fluid filled growth/lump hanging under her beak(was definately NOT there this morning....have been searching google for some answers but so far haven't come across anything. Sadly, I don't think things are looking great for her. Tomorrow, I aim to bring her in and give her a little tlc and time spent near the rayburn. Her eyes were stuck shut just now, no fluid/gunkyness just stuck! I'd love to bring her in now and keep her in overnight but my dog isn't so fond of birds :roll:
 
Personally,I would bring her in.It is too cold outside to not be snuggled up with her mates,or you could move her in the coop next to a friend.Surely though,she would be safe from your dog if she was inside a box or cage in your house.
I've no idea what her soft lump under her beak is,but sounds very similar to something ducks and geese can get when their tongue twists,and food then lodges under their tongue(or something like that)only chickens don't have this problem.
In the morning would you be able to take her to a vet?
 
I fetched her in shortly after I posted my last message but sadly she didn't make the night. Thanks for all the advice
 
Hi Clucky,

I'm sorry to hear you lost her. The fluid in the eyes can dry and cause the eyes to become glued shut. The lump is hard to say without seeing where it is and so on. Lydia is talking about a dropped tongue but that doesn't happen to chooks in my experience, only to geese - in particular Toulouse that have a rather big saggy chin..

It could have been an infection in the upper respiratory track but there's usually an underlying illness that causes these things to get so bad so quickly. In truth, it's very hard to tell without a Post Mortem.

You did the right thing taking her in and caring for her as well as separating her from the flock to prevent the spread.

Keep an eye on your other birds in case it has spread but chances are they should be fine...

Tim
 
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