Hen has fishy/sour smell near head

[BeccaSmith]

I have a hen that has been indoors due to being will with a distended abdomen (periontitis). She just came off a 2 week treatment of Baytril on Friday. On Saturday I noticed she had a fishy smell around her head. I don't recall her having that before and I was giving her pills while she sat on my lap and I never detected the smell before. She was outside on Saturday eating earth worms, she also eats chick starter food as she is really under weight and has trouble eating pellets due to an over grown beak that I just noticed this weekend as well. She also eats rice, meal worms, and sprouts, and I also mix grit in with her food. I've read on sour crop, her crop has never been normal since I brought her indoors in January. Sometimes her crop feels mushy and sometimes it feels like I can feel pieces of grit in it, but she never has a huge full crop or a watery crop so I wouldn't think she had sour crop. The vet has recommended a culture but they said it would be anywhere from $150.0 to $200.00 total and I've already incurred a couple vet bills taking her in for her abdomen and I really can't afford to pay cash for another vet bill. So I'm trying to see if anyone has any experience with chickens having a fishy almost sour smell around their head area? I did notice before she was on Baytril she was occasionally shaking her head and opening her mouth and while on Baytril it went away, but returned as soon as she was off of it. Hopefully this will be enough info for someone out there to be able to provide some feedback! Thanks!

P.S., she was also wormed with Valbazen about a week or two prior to the Batryl since she tested positive for round worm and tapeworm so I am ruling out worms since the Valbazen is supposed to kill gapeworms as well according to the threads on this wonderful forum!

 

[CMV]

She should go on a course of probiotics to replenish the flora and fauna of her gut. A couple tablespoons of yogurt or buttermilk each day for a couple weeks, and some organic ACV added to her water each day should help.

I hope she continues to mend. This might just be a little bump in the road to recovery.

Good luck.

 

[BeccaSmith]

Thank you for the help and response! I gave her some yogurt this morning to eat during the day before I left for work. I'll look into the organic ACV as I don't have any on hand since we use a galvanized fount with the flock. At the moment she is using a plastic chick fount. I'll give her a couple more days before I decide if I take her into the vet or not and monitor how she is doing. I honestly can't say if the fishy smell started before she was done with the Baytril and it just really concerns me.

 

[BeccaSmith]

Ok, I went to the store on my way home and got the organic ACV, some Kefir, buttermilk, and a small container of greek yogurt, I think I'm all set....lol. Now I need to just find out how much ACV to add to her water.

 

[Lacy Blues]

If she has a plastic chick fount, about one quart? I would add 1 tsp of ACV. Shake it up well first.

Fishy smell? Have you aimed your nose directly at her ears? Maybe she has an ear infection?

 

[BeccaSmith]

If she has a plastic chick fount, about one quart? I would add 1 tsp of ACV. Shake it up well first.

Fishy smell? Have you aimed your nose directly at her ears? Maybe she has an ear infection?

I found a reference on her to use about 2 tablespoons per gallon so I went with half a tablespoon for the quart. Is it ok to give to baby chicks that are about 2 to 3 weeks old?

I haven't tried smelling her ears, but last night I did try giving a good smell with her beak open and closed, trying to figure out if it is coming from her mouth area or nostrils and it all seems to smell about the same. I'll try the ears this evening.