Inner Ear infection

[coolcanoechic]

When my Gwennie started showing signs of losing weight and also vision troubles, I decided to bring her in and separate her from the flock. I had no idea what was wrong with her. I researched everything under the sun to try to figure it out.
I was at my wit's end looking and looking and trying to guess what was the cause of her troubles. The other girls seem just fine.
I set up my brooder in the spare room in the house and put Gwennie in there. I gave her water with electrolytes and plenty of food and treats. She had up's and down's all week. I truly don't know yet if she will make it. She is down to 3 1/2 lbs.

It all started about a couple of months ago. I noticed that Gwennie would always be shaking her head a lot. I thought nothing of it but decided to keep track mentally and watch her. The head shaking never stopped, even though she acted normally in every way. She is the lowest in the pecking order. I kept checking for lice or mites, but never saw anything.

A couple of weeks ago, she began having trouble getting into the coop at night. After about a week of this, I decided it was time to bring her into the house.

Her symptoms: Head shaking, head swerving to one side, sleepy, eyes always wanting to close, and sleepyness.

I did some online research and discovered a local vet who advertises being a mobile vet. She does chickens!!!!! I decided to call and set up an appointment for Gwennie. The vet came last night and spent well over an hour with Gwennie and I. We came to the conclusion that Gwennie was suffering from an inner ear infection.

We have antibiotics now and are treating Gwennie with those.

I just wanted to say that even with all of the available info out there on the web, that sometimes, it is nice to have an opinion from a professional and not have to guess what the trouble is.

I am keeping my fingers crossed for Gwennie. She will hopefully recover and I have learned a valuable lesson. That is, to take everything seriously that I see and not with a grain of salt. I do not want to let any of my girls suffer because I am not well versed in chicken health and now know that as with any animal, they often hide their symptoms until it is too late.

Thanks so much to my local mobile vet and her wisdom.

I just wanted to share.

 

[dawg53]

For inner ear infections you can use an eyedropperful of hydrogen peroxide and put a few drops directly into the ear. It'll bubble up, use a Q-tip to wipe the ear canal clean, be very careful and gentle, dont go in too far. Try and soak up as much of the liquid as you can with the Q-tips. You might have to pull off some of the cotton on the tip of the Q-tips in order for it to fit inside the ear. Once you're done, use neosporin ointment and squeeze the ointment directly into the ear canal, filling it. You're finished.
The best way to do this is to snugly wrap her in a towel and lay her on the side where you can easily work on her ear. Then flip her over if you have to do the same thing to the other ear.

 

[coolcanoechic]

I don't want to sound like a total dummy, but I had no idea that you could even get a q tip into a chicken's ear. Will it cause her pain?

 

[dawg53]

No pain whatsoever. I've done it to several chickens over the years, all standard size chickens. I imagine it would be difficult clearing out a banty's ear, or smaller bird such as a silkie. Initially I had to remove a little bit of cotton from the tip of the swab to get it inside the ear. The ear opening actually stretches some and then you'll be able to eventually get the swab inside the ear without having to remove any cotton at all. The key is not to stick the swab in too deep and be gentle. Keeping the chicken motionless on her side wrapped in a towel works really well.

 

[coolcanoechic]

OMG! I'm not sure I can do that. She is so sick. Poor thing. She has an appetite and wants to eat. She has one eye swollen shut and the other barely open. It is hard for her to see and eat her food. I have been giving her amoxicillin that the vet gave me. We are on day three. At one moment, she seems like she will pull through, then the next moment seems like she is not going to make it. It has been a rollar coaster ride with her this week. I will try to have a closer look at her ears tonight when I give her, her pill. Maybe I can figure out how to do this.

 

[dawg53]

OMG! I'm not sure I can do that. She is so sick. Poor thing. She has an appetite and wants to eat. She has one eye swollen shut and the other barely open. It is hard for her to see and eat her food. I have been giving her amoxicillin that the vet gave me. We are on day three. At one moment, she seems like she will pull through, then the next moment seems like she is not going to make it. It has been a rollar coaster ride with her this week. I will try to have a closer look at her ears tonight when I give her, her pill. Maybe I can figure out how to do this.

The symptoms you originally described, and now with a swollen eye and the other one barely open leads me to believe you are dealing with a respiratory disease, the inner ear infection is most likely a secondary infection caused by whatever disease she's been exposed to. I recommend that you stop the amoxicillin after the 5th day and purchase tylan 50 injectable and dose her orally 1/2cc once a day for 5-7 days...no more than 7 days. Tylan is more geared toward poultry respiratory diseases.
Tylan can be found in the cattle section at your feed store. Be sure you purchase a syringe with a needle to withdraw the tylan from the bottle. I dont recommend purchasing tylan soluable because normally sick birds wont drink it, nor drink enough of it to be effective.
Keep her seperated from your other birds, remember and practice biosecurity. You dont want this spreading to your other birds.

 

[majortaylor]

This sounds just like my Winnie hen’s symptoms! How did Gwennie do on the antibiotics??