Molting Buff Orphington Inside Beak Swollen/Breathing Issues

[ashe1263]

I really don't know what to say, I've never had this happen before. I'm worried because I live in the NE and it's starting to get incredibly cold. I just lost a hen recently from something completely different and I really don't want to lose another.

My buff orpington started molting and everything seemed fine but her molt started off incredibly hard and she was very quickly nearly naked on her back. Out of nowhere I've noticed she started losing weight and wasn't eating as much but I mistakening assumed it was because she was stressed from her molt. She also hasn't been laying since she started molting.

Today I finally decided to really look at her because I caught sight that something about her beak was really off. It looks super dry and, upon closer inspection, something is completely wrong. I'm not sure where her tongue is or if the swollen part is her tongue but either her tongue or the roof of her mouth is insanely swollen. Please any suggestions on what to do would be apreciated. I only have 2 hens since I plan on moving soon and these are the last of my original flock of 12. She's been sleeping separated of her own will and I would prefer her snuggled up to my ameraucana during these cold months coming up.

No sneezing, no coughing. Just eating issues and labored breathing, I do make sure she gets food since I noticed her molting so she IS eating just definitely not enough.

Edit: I typed this up and then took pictures. I couldn't get a good shot of the right side but I did manage to get a really good picture of her left side where I believe her tongue is visible. I also want to note that her beak was completely normal looking before Halloween.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi, and welcome to BYC!

So sorry about your hen.

If she has absolutely no other symptoms like coughing, sneezing, swollen or infected eyes, etc., and just the weight loss which may be attributed to molting, or because she's having difficulty eating, then she might have injured her tongue or perhaps got bit by something.

Can you inspect it over as best you can to see if anything is stuck in, around, or on her tongue or if you can see if it might be injured?

Dehydration can happen quick so if she isn't able to drink, use an eyedropper to get fluids in her by dripping it on the right side of her beak. She should swallow. I'd give her vitamin water to help support her molting.

Not laying is typical for molting hens.

Does she try to eat? Maybe try making a mash by wetting her feed and see if she can/will eat that.

If she's eating, scrambled eggs is good for her as the extra protein will help her molting.

 

[ashe1263]

Hi, and welcome to BYC!

So sorry about your hen.

If she has absolutely no other symptoms like coughing, sneezing, swollen or infected eyes, etc., and just the weight loss which may be attributed to molting, or because she's having difficulty eating, then she might have injured her tongue or perhaps got bit by something.

Can you inspect it over as best you can to see if anything is stuck in, around, or on her tongue or if you can see if it might be injured?

Dehydration can happen quick so if she isn't able to drink, use an eyedropper to get fluids in her by dripping it on the right side of her beak. She should swallow. I'd give her vitamin water to help support her molting.

Not laying is typical for molting hens.

Does she try to eat? Maybe try making a mash by wetting her feed and see if she can/will eat that.

If she's eating, scrambled eggs is good for her as the extra protein will help her molting.

Thanks for the reply, I can definitely give her another once over and see if I can get her to open her mouth more to get a better look. I'll see if I can also get some more pictures for an update.

She's been trying to eat and she does manage to get some of her regular pellets, though I've been supplementing with different things to keep her interested in eating more/add more nutrients, so I'm sure she's been drinking but I can watch her more closely with that as well.

I've been giving her shredded pumpkin because at least in my mind it has some water content to it and she's definitely motivated to eat it.

I'll for sure wet her regular feed and try scrambled eggs if nothing else.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Looks like her beak is full of gunk and Canker, is there a bad odor?

Treatment for Canker is Metronidazole or Acdified Copper Sulfate.

 

[ashe1263]

Looks like her beak is full of gunk and Canker, is there a bad odor?

Treatment for Canker is Metronidazole or Acdified Copper Sulfate.

I don't recall a foul odor but come morning I'm going to try to get her mouth open without stressing her out and thoroughly double check my findings. I just ordered fast shipping on ACS just in case. Thanks for the advice!

 

[ashe1263]

UPDATE: In case anyone stumbles upon this an has a similar issue

I brought her inside for a couple minutes to look her over again, make sure she was definitely getting food AND, more importantly that she could actually get food in her. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any better pictures because I was more focused on paying attention to her.

I gave her more fly larvae, scrambled eggs and watered down pumpkin mash. She had no issue going back and forth eating from both bowls (solids in one, liquids in another). When her crop was decently filled and she stopped eating I brought her back out so she didn't get too used to the indoor temp.

To my knowledge, at least for now, I do believe it's most likely canker. There's still no other issues besides the stuff in her beak- no smells, no sniffles or sneezes, no cough. She didn't poop in the house so I'm not sure how she's doing in that department but her bum feathers are a bit of a mess so I think I can assume it's at least a little watery.

Once the acidified copper sulfate arrives I'll start giving that to her and I'll update again once I notice any changes, good or bad

 

[ashe1263]

FINAL UPDATE: Unfortunately, not a happy ending...

I ended up bringing both of my chickens inside because Pecker, my struggling buff orpington, was still not getting better and I figured if she were to pass I'd have to bring Becky, my ameraucana, inside anyway.

On Tuesday after switching from pellets to crumbles and adding so much supplementary factors into their feed, I finally noticed a difference in her ability to grab food. I noticed she was unable to eat for the entire day but she was still able to drink and she was very clearly looking to me for food.

I see a lot of people (maybe not on here, but in general) having negative opinions on bringing chickens to the vet but I'll say these were my last 2 chickens, Pecker was from my original batch of 6 chicks- I had an emotional bond with her. Maybe if I had a consistent larger flock and I didn't soend so much time with them then I would be more comfortable with culling my own birds but that's currently not for me. I brought her in to the emergency clinic. The exotic vet wasn't in but they sent me home with an avian powder solution to try feeding her by syringe and they set me up with an appointment for Thursday with the exotic vet.

I tried my hardest to feed her with the syringe but she absolutely would not have it and she practically begged me to feed her the normal food and i felt so bad I couldn't help her.

During her appointment, she was normal and walking around, trying to follow everyone in and out the door. The vet tried doing a scrape but she fought him and without doing any testing, with the information we had, he said he was confident it was an aggressive tumor. We would have to do a biopsy to find out if it was cancer or possibly even fungal but that would be very stressful for her. I decided that she's 8 yrs old, she's already stressed from not being able to eat and I didn't want to put her through any rigorous procedures.

I decided the best option was euthanasia. I brought her home to bury her with her previously deceased sisters.

Honestly this whole thing sucked and it still sucks but I'm happy she's at peace now.

For future warning, if you see something similar in your hens and you've tried canker remedies to no avail, be prepared for this possible outcome.