Swelling is often not a very good sign, this is true for both humans and for animals so you’d rightly be concerned if the area under your chicken’s beak suddenly starts to swell up.
This article looks into why your chicken may be swollen under its beak.
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Chicken is swollen under its beak:
Raising a chicken into old age is quite easy if your birds don’t become infected with anything or injured, but, injuries and infections are commonplace and can quickly change your bird’s quality of life.
This is why it is important to treat your bird when something is wrong, including a sudden swelling under its beak
Here is why there is swelling under your bird’s beak:
Abscess:
One of the reasons why your bird develops swelling under its beak is that the bird has an abscess.
Abscesses start off when your bird develops an opening under its beak because of an injury. If bacteria get into the wound then the bird’s body will try to fight this off by sending white blood cells to the area.
The fighting between the bacteria and the white blood cells causes nearby tissue to die.
The dead tissue, white blood cells, and bacteria are sealed in a pocket by the bird’s body and all this is what forms an abscess.
The contents of the abscess is called pus.
What to do:
You can either treat the abscess yourself, have a vet treat the abscess, or leave the abscess alone and hope that the bird’s body will reabsorb the pus and the bird goes back to normal.
If you choose to treat the abscess yourself then this is what to do:
Start off by cleaning the skin on and around the abscess very well, use an antibacterial soap to do this, rinse off, and wipe dry with a clean towel. Then go over the area with some alcohol for good measure.
Prepare your blade after this, use a razor blade or something sharp like an Exacto knife, clean the blade with alcohol, and then heat the blade under a flame to kill off any leftover germs.
Once this is done hold your bird steady in a towel, you may need someone else to hold the bird while you lance, but you can do both jobs if needed. Lance the abscess about a quarter inch in length and drain it.
Once all the pus is out, apply some triple antibiotic ointment on the area. You may also want to take the bird to the vet or the farm supply store for oral antibiotics.
Canker:
Another reason why your bird may have swelling under its beak may be that the bird has canker.
Canker is a parasitic disease that can cause swelling to develop under your bird’s beak. It can also cause cheesy yellow lesions to develop at the back of the bird’s throat.
This condition can turn quite serious as the sores that grow at the back of the chicken’s throat can grow so much that they block the bird’s throat.
Not only will the bird’s throat swell, causing a lump under your bird’s beak, but the bird’s nostrils and eyes may swell as well.
What to do:
Canker in birds is treated with antiparasitic medications, medications used for this condition include carnidazole, dimetridazole, and metronidazole.
Directions on these medications usually suggest adding the medication to the bird’s drinking water.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why Is My Chickens Skin Green?, Why Is My Chicken’s Skin Yellow?, Why Is My Chickens Face White, Chicken Has Lump Under Eye, Why Is My Chicken’s Skin Red?, Red Skin On Chicken Head, Why Is My Chickens Face Red?, Why Does My Chickens Face Change Color?, Chicken Pale Around Eyes