Deformed faces - baby chicks

[cundare]

A free-ranging hen ("Sylvia") spends a lot of time in our yard along with her 6 chicks. She's pretty much part of the family by now & interacts every day with our other birds. Last week, we noticed that one of her chicks had some kind of deformities or growths on its face, which we hadn't noticed before.

Today, we took a closer look and saw that her other chicks were developing something similar. I'm pretty sure that they looked normal a few weeks ago.

This is only on their faces. Legs look normal. And they don't seem to be sick. They act like normal, hyperactive, hungry little chicks. And Sylvia looks perfectly fine.

About a month ago, we saw that one of the Java sparrows that eat at our feeder had severe deformities in its face, like Elephant-man type growths. We don't see that bird any more. But to be honest, the sparrow's issues don't look exactly like what we're seeing with the chicks.

Could this be a parasite, an infectious disease, or an injury? Or is this something normal with certain breeds (these guys are all neighborhood mutts.) Should we be concerned about allowing these birds back into the yard with our 20 other free-rangers? Unfortunately, it'd be hard to discourage Sylvia from coming into the yard, after all this time, but it might be possible.

I have NO idea what's going on. Does this look familiar to anybody?

Sorry for the crummy photographs. These little guys are constantly moving and the only way to photograph them is to zoom way in, take as many pix as you can, and pick out the top 5%.

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

 

[McChooky]

Some form of Avian pox.Fowl pox?

 

[SourRoses]

There is severe swelling all around their faces and even the back of their heads.
My first guess is they are being injured badly by pecking. Either by the mother, your hens or roo, or a bully chick among them (it would look fine).

If those are not injuries (it is really hard to see clearly), then it's some kind of serious disease you do not want to deal with (not pox or anything so mild).
All of them including the mother would need to be culled for the sake of your flock and all the other birds / flocks in your area.

The common denominator here is that separation is in everyone's best interests.

 

[McChooky]

There is severe swelling all around their faces and even the back of their heads.
My first guess is they are being injured badly by pecking. Either by the mother, your hens or roo, or a bully chick among them (it would look fine).

If those are not injuries (it is really hard to see clearly), then it's some kind of serious disease you do not want to deal with (not pox or anything so mild).
All of them including the mother would need to be culled for the sake of your flock and all the other birds / flocks in your area.

The common denominator here is that separation is in everyone's best interests.

There are debilitating cases of pox...but I agree the pics are horrible and make it hard to determine the cause

 

[McChooky]

A free-ranging hen ("Sylvia") spends a lot of time in our yard along with her 6 chicks. She's pretty much part of the family by now & interacts every day with our other birds. Last week, we noticed that one of her chicks had some kind of deformities or growths on its face, which we hadn't noticed before.

Today, we took a closer look and saw that her other chicks were developing something similar. I'm pretty sure that they looked normal a few weeks ago.

This is only on their faces. Legs look normal. And they don't seem to be sick. They act like normal, hyperactive, hungry little chicks. And Sylvia looks perfectly fine.


View attachment 3969005View attachment 3969006View attachment 3969007View attachment 3969008View attachment 3969009View attachment 3969010

About a month ago, we saw that one of the Java sparrows that eat at our feeder had severe deformities in its face, like Elephant-man type growths. We don't see that bird any more. But to be honest, the sparrow's issues don't look exactly like what we're seeing with the chicks.

Could this be a parasite, an infectious disease, or an injury? Or is this something normal with certain breeds (these guys are all neighborhood mutts.) Should we be concerned about allowing these birds back into the yard with our 20 other free-rangers? Unfortunately, it'd be hard to discourage Sylvia from coming into the yard, after all this time, but it might be possible.

I have NO idea what's going on. Does this look familiar to anybody?

Sorry for the crummy photographs. These little guys are constantly moving and the only way to photograph them is to zoom way in, take as many pix as you can, and pick out the top 5%.

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

The only way to prevent the spread of disease from other birds is to not let other birds eat with yours. My feed and water is kept inside a covered run.If you want to rescue a bird it should be placed in quarantine and observed and treated for disease before adding it to your flock

 

[McChooky]

The 1st and 2nd pictures of the chicks look very much like the 2nd photo(s) I posted.I have no idea what else it could be.Perhaps I'm wrong.

 

[SourRoses]

There are debilitating cases of pox...but I agree the pics are horrible and make it hard to determine the cause

Good example photo! I've never seen dry pox that bad.
But most chickens get a very mild case. Those with severe symptoms have unusually weak immune systems.
So it's unlikely that 4 or more chicks would all have extreme cases of fowl pox.

Personally, I would have an extreme reaction to seeing birds in that state anywhere near my flock. I'd immediately go catch them, even if it took asking neighbors/friends to help. Give them a close inspection to figure out if they were wounds or growths.
If I wasn't sure they were wounds they would all be culled, including the mother, no matter how sad it made us.
The list of infectious poultry diseases is huge and frightening. For many of them, simple proximity is enough. And the responsibility carries further than one's own flock, other peoples flocks can be affected too. If concerned about a disease, contact your local cooperative extension office.

 

[PimsGarden]

That looks alarming, I'd take this seriously and separate asap and figure out if you need to cull the flock. Wishing you luck

 

[cundare]

Oh boy. Unfortunately, it would be pretty hard to separate all these birds from the rest. They're all free-rangers and this hen & her chicks know how to get in & out of the yard and roam the neighborhood. We've tried a lot of things in the past, but nothing keeps them in one yard. And there are local zoning ordnances barring the construction of fences too high for the birds to get over.

I'll try to get better photos, but it's not easy. I can't get within 10 feet of the chicks.

As you may be gathering, we're kind of at the end of our rope.

We live in a part of the country where few are familiar with birds and where there are no local Cooperative Extensions. Wild chickens roam freely here and it's almost impossible to keep our own birds completely isolated from feral birds and from neighbors' birds that roam into our yard at feeding time. We chase invaders with a hose, but they come right back as soon as we go in the house.

The mother hen shows no sign of this problem even now, a week or two after we first noticed the problem with the first chick. We initially thought it was some kind of congenital deformity -- until all the others developed the same problem last week.

 

[cundare]

MORE PHOTOS

There are at least a couple in this batch that I think give a better idea of what this looks like. Does this look like fowl pox to anybody? Some kind of parasite?