Sneezing Peacock

[Peeper]

My young male peacock has watery eyes a runny nose and is sneezing. He is still eating but doesn't drink much water. He has been like this for over a week. What can I do to help him.

 

[silkiechicken]

I don't know about peafowl, but perhaps with more info including any recent changes in enviornment, feed, water, bedding, new birds and so on may be helpful for ones who know more about these birds.

Good luck.

 

[Peeper]

There hasn't been any changes but now he is getting worse. The left side of his face is so swollen he can't open his eye. He is having a hard time eating because he can't see the food. He shakes his head and the snot flies. He's my buddy and I really don't want to lose him.

 

[silkiechicken]

Perhaps it would be best if you could try and find a vet? Doesn't sound good and not sure if you'll be able to get an answer online from even people with peacocks. Swollen faces reminds me of coryza in chickens, but I am not familiar peafowl.

Sorry.

 

[Frosty]

Chronic Respiratory Disease, this can be treated with Tylan. Here is a link with some info, scroll down to the section on CRD: http://www.vonrussellfarm.com/pfcare.html He says to use Tylan 50, I think that was discontinued so you may need to either dilute Tylan 200 or use 1/4 of the dose. Notice that he says to inject directly into the sinus, Tylan can cause muscle damage if you inject it into the muscle. One of my peas had a swollen sinus last fall less than a week after I got them, so this stuff came with them. The difference in how I treat as opposed to the link that I listed is that I first get a syringe with a larger needle (I think I used an 18 gauge), insert it into the swollen area, and suck the gunk out before I shoot the Tylan in (with a clean needle and syringe). I only had to treat once. Let it go for two days before a second treatment if necessary, there may be some residual swelling the next day. If it's still swollen on day two, then think about treating again. I have done this with turkeys in the past, too. Amazingly enough, once I insert the needle, they stop struggling. Good luck with your peas!

 

[Peeper]

No kidding, Mr. Peabody just went limp after the needle was in. Some of the gunk came out but it was very thick and chunky yellow stuff and didn't want to go through the needle. I took out the needle and rubbed the swollen area and the gunk started coming out of his nostriles. I don't know if thats good or bad. I got my Tylan 50 out and started to load the syringe when I noticed it said for cattle and swine use only. Did I buy the wrong stuff? I am holding off the Tylan until I can get an answer.

 

[clhbubba]

It's the correct stuff, I had this same question when I had trouble with my turkey. I cannot help you with a dosage but it is the correct medicine. This will bumb you for a dosage hopefully.

 

[Frosty]

It's the correct stuff, but it's 'off-label' use. Mine was a young bird, about the size of a leghorn chicken so I used .5 cc. The site that I posted said to use up to 1 cc. When I first learned to do this, it was on a turkey and the person that told me what to do said to 'fill the sinus'. I am not sure why they quit struggling, I would like to think that they know that we are helping but it's more likely that they are afraid that if they struggle they will get ripped open. Taking the pressure off must make them feel better, anyhow. But DH still doesn't want me to drain his sinus...

Editing to add: When I use a needle to drain the sinus, it is very slow. I pull on the plunger a bit and wait for some of the gunk to come into the syringe and pull more. Just small amounts come out with each pull so it takes a bit of time. Another thing that you could try is to inject in a bit of sterile saline solution first and suck it back out to see if that thins it down some (I think I read of folks using contact solution for that?) I hope Mr Peabody feels better soon, that has got to be miserable!

Also be careful if you have other poultry, it is likely mycoplasmosis which can be spread to other birds such as chickens and turkeys (though I never saw any symptoms in my chickens). Once a bird is infected, it remains a carrier. It can be transmitted by hens through eggs (though talking to the vet at Texas A & M and a few other sources that I found indicates that the incidence of that drops after a period of time). The vet did say that the only way to get rid of the stuff is to completely depopulate and buy new certified stock. Anything that stresses the birds can bring it out, including weather stress.

In the case of my peas, a week after I brought them home, it got cold and snowy and one bird (out of 2) came down with it. I treated immediately and contacted the seller who generously offered to take the birds back and said that she had several birds down with it. She asked if I knew how to treat, I told her what I did and declined the offer of returning them because I love them. One treatment, two days later the pea looked great and no returns of symptoms even though they are in an unheated building and we had lows in the -20F to -30F range quite a bit this winter.

One other thing that I need to say... if you hit a vein in the face, they will bleed. I did that once and it scared me. A bit of direct pressure when I was done, the bleeding stopped and it was fine. Just wanted to mention the possibility...