Super swollen wattles in rooster. Infection?

[cmbookworm]

Hey yall...rooster injury question. When we got home yesterday, our buff rooster had blood all over his chest. After they went to bed, we got him down to look and it looks like the wattle got injured somehow. It was super swollen and crusted over. We cleaned it up and put Neosporin all over. The flock has been on antibiotics for a week because of respiratory issues. This morning, no crowing (which is way unusual) and both wattles are very swollen. Any suggestions???? Oral antibiotics? Drawing salve with electrolytes in water? Cut and drain? Help!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Could you post some pictures tomorrow? Do you have more than one rooster? What symptoms are you seeing from the respiratory disease--nasal drainage, sneezing, coughing, rattly breathing, or any bad odors? The swollen wattles could be from an injury, but coryza and fowl cholera can cause swollen wattles. So can tick bites. I would not lance it. What is the antibiotic? Are they deinking enogh of the medicated water? Hopefully the swelling will start going down. I'll look back in the morning for pictures.

 

[cmbookworm]

I will post some tonight. We are going to grab him to isolate tonight. He is the only rooster. Whatever happened was in late afternoon. We returned from an errand and he has blood all over his chest. On one wattle, there is a sore from some sort of injury. This morning the second wattle was just as swollen. We cleaned him up and rubbed Neosporin all over. Tried to feed eggs to him today and no go. That's why I want to isolate..we have some higher protein crumble we can mix w yogurt for him in the am

They haven't been free ranging...we wanted to be sure all they were getting is antibiotic water. They were sneezing and coughing and a bit of discharge from a couple. We had 3 die before we started antibiotics and I think we started too late. We have been putting tetroxy in the water.

 

[cmbookworm]

I took these tonight

 

[Eggcessive]

Since you have had a couple die from the respiratory disease already, his wattles could be swollen from that, or from the pecking or injury he has suffered. If they were swollen before, the swelling may have caused him to bleed more. Hard for me to know. Other than seeing a vet to test for what they have or getting a necropsy done on one that dies or is put down, I don't know what else to recommend. Are you using Tylan as an antibiotic or something else? Whatever they have, sounds pretty serious, so be sure to close your flock to birds going in or out of your flock until you have a handle on what is going on. Do you think the swollen wattles are from the injury or the infection?

 

[cmbookworm]

Swollen wattles are from injury for sure. They are mostly clear from respiratory issues now and the wattles swelled after we saw blood all over yesterday. They were free ranging yesterday for the first time in over a week. Tetroxy is the antibiotic we're using.

 

[Eggcessive]

Could he have been hurt by a possible predator out in the yard? I hope the poor guy's swollen wattles go down soon. The blood and scab should fade with time, probably weeks. In the past with other roosters, their swollen wattles may keep them from eating or drinking enough because of pain. Watermelon is a good thing to use to get fluids into him if he is not drinking well. Please keep us updated on his condition.

 

[cmbookworm]

Could be a possible predator for sure. We've lost hens to predators (hawks, fox, etc.) and he's been a pretty brave rooster in the face of them. We've still lost a few, but he's lost tail feathers, etc. standing up for them. It could have been barbed wire on some of our fences, but they are experts at navigating it to get into neighboring pastures. Given the amount of blood, it looked torn or punctured. We have barn cats, but they usually give the chickens a wide berth.

I gave him yogurt mixed with higher protein meatbird food and some eggs (that were withdrawn from hens because of antibiotics) along with water with antibiotics. When we scooped him up last night, we cleaned the wattles again and put blue cote on them. I have my fingers crossed he turns the corner.

He is a mean bird (to us, but he loves his ladies) and I hate to see him hurting. Any other suggestions would be welcome.

 

[Eggcessive]

You can give him a low dose 81mg aspirin twice a day for pain. It can be given in the back of his throat or in water or feed.

 

[cmbookworm]

Someone on another site recommended penicillin via injection. Wise choice? If so, how to give? Or...is what we're giving enough?