Is this canker?

[josie1]

Hi,

I have an old rooster who is nearly 6. He has never had any problems but has developed a yellow mass inside his mouth and has gloopy stuff/mucus there as well. His mouth also smells bad. His crop felt empty this morning. He is a bit lethargic (over last 3 or 4 days) but has been hard to catch which is why I've only now been able to look in his mouth. He still has an appetite and has eaten scrambled egg and oats mixed with live yoghurt today and some chicken pellets. His breathing and droppings are fine and he has no lesions on his head. I have isolated him from the flock (20 chickens). If it is canker, do I try and save him or is it best to dispatch him for the sake of the rest of my flock? I would really like to try and save him if it is possible and would like advice on how to treat if I can.

Thank you,
Wendy

 

[sourland]

It does look like canker. Metronidazole (Fish Zole at the pet stores) used to be the drug of choice. Not certain of dosage perhaps @casportpony can help.

 

[josie1]

Thank you so much for your reply. I am in the UK and I don't think we can get Metronidazole from a store. I have seen pigeon canker medicine which I can buy. Would that be suitable? One is called TriMax which has Ronidazole, Amprolium, Moxidectin. The other is called Spartirx and contains Carnidazole. I know sometimes pigeon medicines can be used for chickens though I have not used anything for pigeons before.

 

[casportpony]

You can use any of the pigeon canker products.

 

[josie1]

You can use any of the pigeon canker products.

Ok, that is such great news! Is the dosage the same? I will try and save him as I have read (don't know if correctly) that once treated, he can't infect anybody else. I have never had canker in my flock before and am worried about the rest of the flock now.

 

[josie1]

I'm going to try Fungitox Plus for pigeons which has mebendazole and ronidazole. It is administered via a dropper which I thought was the easiest. It says it treats fungal, yeast and canker of the throat and crop. Is there anything I should be feeding him in the meantime and do I treat my whole flock for canker or only when I see symptoms?

 

[Eggcessive]

Some oldtimers use 1/4 tsp of acidified copper sulfate per 4 liters of water for 3 days a month to help prevent the spread of canker. I would scrub out and disinfect all waterers and feeders first, since that can help it to spread. Pigeons and wild birds can spread it if they drink from your waterers. I haven’t seen canker in my flock, but in my plastic or rubber waterers, I put a few drops of chlorine bleach in each gallon of water to keep down bacteria and mold.

 

[sourland]

In my experience, canker has been an opportunistic illness that strikes in times of stress or debilitation. I would just treat the rooster but keep a close eye on the rest of the flock. I really feel (and this is just from my experiences) that healthy, unstressed birds are relatively resistant to trichomaniasis. Good luck in resolving this.

 

[sourland]

Great suggestion by @Eggcessive about using the copper sulfate for the entire flock. Don't use it in galvanized waterers.

 

[josie1]

Thank you very much everyone for all your advice. It is much appreciated. I will just treat the rooster and keep an eye on the rest of the flock. They all look healthy and happy at the moment. I only wish I had been able to get hold of my rooster before now so I could have caught it earlier.

My drinkers are plastic and I don't have pigeons here but a LOT of starlings come and drink and try to bathe in them so I guess that is where this has come from. The starlings are migratory and come in October and will leave in March. I will disinfect the drinkers and try to find acidified copper sulphate. I have only been able to find plain copper sulphate which it says is animal feed grade and used to control algae in water so not sure if that is the same. If I can get hold of the correct copper sulphate, can my 2 ducks drink it as well? They share the drinkers with the chickens.

Is there anything I should put in his water? ACV or vitamins? Do I carry on giving him his favourite foods like cooked egg and oats?

Thank you once again for your time and expertise.