Pekin Bantam: removed tick but face swollen & remains lethargic

[Coye16]

Hello I’m looking for some advice please!
I have a 2.5yr old pekin bantam who is unwell.

Her Symptoms:
Lethargic - noticed her sitting & closing her eyes afew days ago.
Swollen on one side of face & around eye - noticed this yesterday.
Small black tick on swollen side of her face which I removed yesterday.
Poop seems more white than usual & she did one very runny poop today.

Other Info:
Pale comb - she only stopped being broody 2 weeks ago so perhaps relates to this? She hasn’t been laying for about 6 weeks to now.
Starting to lose feathers yesterday so think beginning to moult?
No pus or discharge by swollen eye.
Eats when I hand feed her & drinks water when I put dish in front of her.

Action Taken:
Removed tick on face yesterday.
Gave her vitamin water as from yesterday & today.
Thoroughly cleaned coop yesterday with Smite & Virkon S & put in fresh straw & sawdust & sprinkled DE around. I didn’t see any mites or ticks except afew little black dots like grains of sand? Not many though so not sure if that is anything?
Checked her vent - it’s clean no sigh of any ticks etc.
Checked her feathers as best I could & couldn’t see any ticks.
Checked her feet & no injuries or sign of scaley mite.

What I’m worried about is how lethargic she is & her swollen face. She didn’t have the energy to fly up into the coop tonight so I lifted her into the nest box. The swelling on the side of her face hasn’t reduced today.

Is it possible all her symptoms are due to the tick & she needs to recover from that? How long after a tick bite would swelling go down? Is there anything else I should check for & do? Should she be having treatment for the tick bite from a vet? Should I take her to see a vet based on her symptoms listed?

Any advice would be greatfully received!

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you post any pictures? Is the swelling bluish in tint? Are you certain the swelling is from the tick? Are there any symptoms of a respiratory disease, such as sneezing, nasal drainage, labored breathing, or rattly/wheezing sounds? I would give her 1/4 of a benadryl 25 mg tablet orally or crushed into food—give only one dose to see if it helps reduce swelling. Ticks can cause severe swelling due to bleeding into the tissue. I would also give her some Poultry NutriDrench 1-2 ml orally, and make sure that she is taking water. Offer some chopped egg and wet chicken feed.

 

[Coye16]

Can you post any pictures? Is the swelling bluish in tint? Are you certain the swelling is from the tick? Are there any symptoms of a respiratory disease, such as sneezing, nasal drainage, labored breathing, or rattly/wheezing sounds? I would give her 1/4 of a benadryl 25 mg tablet orally or crushed into food—give only one dose to see if it helps reduce swelling. Ticks can cause severe swelling due to bleeding into the tissue. I would also give her some Poultry NutriDrench 1-2 ml orally, and make sure that she is taking water. Offer some chopped egg and wet chicken feed.

Thank you so much for replying Eggcessive. Here are some photos I took today - 2 days after tick removal. It was definitely a tick as it was firmly holding onto her face & it was still alive when I managed to get it off her.

The main swelling is on the right of her face in the photo though I thought around her left eye looked abit swollen today too. I can see a tiny hole on the bottom right of her swollen cheek.

I also saw & heard (it sort of sloshed out of her) her pass a foamy green poop this morning - see enclosed photo.

She eats when I give her food - I gave her chopped boiled egg on Sunday after tick removal & fruit yogurt yesterday with sunflower seeds & corn. She ate some layers pellets today when I hand fed her. I will give her some chopped egg again today as you advise.

Since Sunday I’ve been giving her 1ml Nutri-Drops diluted in about 70ml water which she sips when I put it in front of her. Is that the same type of thing as Nutri-Drench? I will try to put some undiluted directly into her mouth tonight with the help of my husband. We were putting it in her drinking water as we didn’t think she’d let us put it in her mouth but we’ll try tonight.

She is still very lethargic today - came out of the coop very late & is now sleeping in the bushes.

Based on her lethargy & the photos & now the green foamy poop do you think I should be as worried as I am or do you think it’s all due to the tick bite & she just needs time to recover?

Thank you so much for you help!

 

[Eggcessive]

Ticks can spread diseases, such as spirochetosis and others. The Nutri-Drops look to be very similar to NutriDrench—both contain electrolytes and vitamins plus extra B complex for stressful periods. I would take a small amout of the layer pellets and add water to them, plus a small spoonful of plain yogurt, and offer it in a small bowl, as well as some egg. Can you get antibiotics in France, or so they have to come from a vet? Amoxicillin, Tylosin, or Tetracyclines are used to treat some tick diseases, which are rare, depending on the type of tick. As long as she is eating and drinking, and acting fairly normal, hopefully she will recover. Watch the would in case an infection occurs.

 

[Coye16]

Hi Eggcessive - I took your advice & gave her some pellets with a little water & plain yogurt & she ate abit this morning. She still isn’t drinking much water & it is hot here today in France so she is panting but doesn’t look too heat exhausted (wings not outstretched etc).

Her face swelling has not gone down at all & in fact around her other eye looks a little swollen today. She seems weaker too & her poops are very runny.

I was unable to find the anti-biotics you suggested online so I think we will try to take her to see a vet either tonight or tomorrow morning. We were hoping not to have to put her through the stress of boxing her up & seeing a vet but I think now as there is no reduction in swelling 3.5 days after tick removal & she seems weaker it seems the best option to take her to the vets.

Many thanks for all your advice & taking the time to reply - it is very much appreciated!

 

[anna-newhampshire]

We have a first aid homeopathic remedy that would help and in France they carry homeopathics at ordinary pharmacies (I seem to remember), right?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that you chicken has not gotten better, but glad that she is eating some better. Does her swelling in her left side feel hard or soft? Please let us know what your vet thinks about her.

 

[Coye16]

Sorry that you chicken has not gotten better, but glad that she is eating some better. Does her swelling in her left side feel hard or soft? Please let us know what your vet thinks about her.

Hi Eggcessive
We took her to the vet yesterday. She was quite surprised that a tick bite had caused so much swelling. She gave her a thorough exam checking her breathing, inside her beak, that her vent was clear & had no obstructions or anything on it & she checked under her wings for anything too. There seems to be no other physical problems.

When she checked the swelling on her ear lobe she lifted it up & underneath it looked bruised & bluesh. I know you said to keep an eye out for signs of infection but sadly we hadn’t lifted up her swollen earlobe & looked underneath so we hadn’t spotted the bruising. The vet gave her an injection of antibiotics & put some Cortanmycetine cream on the swelling. She said to use the cream morning & night for 8 days & we are to take her to the vet again in a week.

This morning we put the cream on (see attached photos incase the name & contents is useful to anyone else).

She’s not really improved very much although the ear swelling may have gone down a tiny bit. She’s more unsteady on her feet & more lethargic pretty much napping all day. She’s too weak to fly up & down to the coop so I take her in & out to sit in the garden in the shade.

She eats when I hand feed her so as you suggested I give her wetted pellets with egg in. She isn’t drinking much water so tonight we gave her some cantaloupe melon which she happily ate & we hope will help keep her hydrated.

I had hoped for more of an improvement but perhaps it will take a while for the anti-biotics & the cream to work.

Thank you for your help! Hopefully she’ll start improving soon!

 

[Coye16]

We have a first aid homeopathic remedy that would help and in France they carry homeopathics at ordinary pharmacies (I seem to remember), right?

Hi Anna-Newhampshire

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I’ve not really thought to look in a pharmacy - what I should be looking for to treat a tick bite in particular?

We have a cream prescribed by the vet we have to use for 8 days so hopefully that will do the trick but I’ll keep in mind anything else you can suggest.

Thank you again for your help.

 

[Eggcessive]

The cream has chloramphenicol, an antibiotic and prednisolone, a corticosteroid just like our hydrocortisone creams in the US. I am glad that you were able to see the vet, and I really hope that she starts getting better with her antibiotic, along your good care. Ticks can cause hemorrhage into the skin, and fequently cause the bluish bruising. I would be more inclined to follow your vet’s instructions for the cream, but someone today posted an interesting article about using echinacea augusitiforum (not pupura) on wounds:
http://doctorschar.com/echinacea-wound-healing-agent/