Ear Infection?

[arazla]

Today I noticed that one of my hens, Mary Claire, has ears that are blocked and protruding. It may be a bit challenging to see from the pictures because naturally she was trying to get away from my cell phone. The surface of her ears are hard and stick out like little cones approximately 1/2 cm from her head. I've noticed that she has been very drowsy during the day and was trying to monitor her, but was away for a while during the Thanksgiving and just returned a few days ago. I am wondering about mites vs. bacteria vs. fungal infection??! What should be the first line of treatment? I'm finding some of the threads on ear infections confusing. I'm a little weary of sticking anything into her ear or removing anything by force. What is the most gentle treatments and can I mix anti-fungal with other treatments?

Background/situation: I have 34 chickens divided between two main flocks, plus 1 sub flock of three chickens (2 huge hens with a one-eyed/one-spurred rooster). Everyone shares common areas while free ranging. Each of the two main flocks has 2 roosters. Mary Clair is in the alpha flock. Most of the girls in this flock including her, just went through a molt.

We treated everyone with elector PSP in early summer because some of my girls had a bad case of lice under their saddles. As a precaution, I treated again in October with a diluted version of Captain Jack's Spinosad to equal the ratio of elector PSP.
Also, 4 of my girls in flock #2 had Bumblefoot, so it's possible staff is still circulating. At least two have healed naturally. All we did for that so far was to lower the roosts, spray feet with Vetericyn nightly, and spray down all roosts with a vinegar mix daily. I did bandage one girls feet that had it the worse, but never had to remove anything. There has been a respiratory illness circulating at times, but Coryza, and some of the other common respiratory issues were ruled out by lab testing through out vet. We used to add a tablespoon of ACV per gallon of water a few times per week, but haven't been as consistent, however, we do add some sort of magic water with ACV, garlic, cayenne and/or oregano to feed approximately once per week. We've had bags of sulphur hanging in the coops, but apparently it wasn't as effective against lice for us as the research suggest. We have sand boards under the roosts and clean them daily.

Separating any more chickens at this time is nearly impossible, especially due to the cold.

Thanks so much for any shared experiences or suggestions.

 

[azygous]

Have you pulled the ear flaps back so you could peer into her ear canals? If you see they are clogged with crust, you will need to clean them out.

Use hydrogen peroxide to soften the crust. Then use a tooth pick that has been rounded off on the ends with sandpaper in order to get rid of the dangerous points, then use it to pull the crust and pus out of the ears.

Finish the cleaning by pouring peroxide into the ears and allowing each ear to drain. End by stuffing each ear full of a triple antibiotic ointment or Neosporin.

 

[arazla]

Thanks so much. I haven't pulled the ear flaps back, but I think the hard pus is sticking out so far that there are no ear flaps to be found. It definitely feels like something that could pop right out. I did apply some triple antibiotic because I don't have any Neosporin. Would you know whether hydrogen peroxide could potentially damage her hearing if I actually pour it in the ear canal?

 

[azygous]

I would not give you instructions that would harm your chicken. The instructions are what we Educators have been giving for years here on BYC to treat ear infections. (BYC Educators have all been thoroughly vetted by BYC staff so you can trust our advice.)

After you use the peroxide in the final step to rinse the ear canals, tilt her head to each side to allow the peroxide to all run out. Any peroxide that may linger is not going to hurt anything. Then stuff the antibiotic ointment in.

Is she scratching at her ears or shaking her head? If so, it means the ears hurt.

 

[arazla]

Thank you. I'll try this approach. I haven't noticed any itching or scratching, but definitely some hiding. She has been sleeping in a corner of the sand board, but a few of the girls that are lower in the pecking order do that at times. She also may be running from me during the day because I've been picking her up and examining her ears.

 

[arazla]

Ok, so I tried this tonight and was able to get a big chunk that was sticking out off and some yellow stuff underneath that out, but it's so deep I can't seem to get it all out. I did pour hydrogen peroxide down there and stuff with triple antibiotic ointment. It's really difficult not to get it in her eyes and seems like some hydrogen peroxide may have spilled into one side. Really hoping no damage was done. Wondering if I should try again tomorrow to see if I can get more of the yellow gunk out. I think I'll try the hydrogen peroxide with a syringe.

 

[azygous]

You get "A" for effort. By all means give it another try today to get as much of the dried pus out as you are able. You are removing bacteria with the pus. Using the rounded off toothpick as a scraping tool really is helpful in this task. You won't want to go deeper with it than a quarter inch.

While you don't want to get peroxide in the eyes, the 3% solution you are probably using isn't strong enough to damage them, but it can burn a little, so try to avoid it.