Wheezing/Breathing Weird! Help ASAP please! Something stuck in throat/nose possibly?

ozu

Songster
10 Years
Apr 4, 2013
446
175
221
michigan
My Coop
My Coop
So my chickens have been fine but suddenly after a run in the pen today, my Australorp, Laurel did a weird sneeze/cough as if she was trying to get something out of her nose/throat. Well, it's progressed to a weird wheezing noise when she breathes... here's a video of the noise:


She doesn't have her mouth open as often as she has it closed while she's breathing. Which makes me think maybe it's in her nose and she feels as if she can't get enough oxygen so she opens her mouth? It's not really panting as much as just breathing through her mouth.

I have tried olive oil down her throat and massaging her neck but neither has really helped per se. The time she stops is when she is laying down and relaxed... assuming that when she is relaxed, her breathing is softer, therefore whatever, if it is something blocking her breathing, isn't as much of a hindrance..

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.) Australorp, 11-12 weeks.
2) What is the behavior, exactly. "heeeeeeee.... hawwwww..." noises when she breathes. Breathing through mouth occasionally. Sneeze/cough.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? Since around 7-8pm (it's about 1am now)
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. I don't know. They were in the pen all day like they are every other day. They just relaxed and ran around all day. Am fearful she got a rock that was too big stuck in her throat?
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. Seems so... Crop felt like it had stuff inside and I got her to drink some water. But it's night time, she was tired and wanted to sleep, not eat/poop/drink.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. I don't know.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? A bit of Olive Oil. Antibiotics in water. Apple Cider Vinegar in water earlier... started antibiotics as soon as I heard her voice.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Treat myself... vet isn't really an option.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. Video above.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use. Bedding is pine bedding.. typical, been using it for a long time- same brand and everything. Outside pen is dirt and grass. It rained last night though so it was a bit damp out there.

Also I've been reading and a lot say to separate but she grows distraught out when she is separated from the rest, which makes her breathing worse because she's not relaxed/sleeping (like I said above, breathing is softer when relaxed/sleeping, therefore whatever, if it is something blocking her breathing, isn't as much of a hindrance).

Anyway, I am so afraid for my baby- she's my favorite chicken :(( Please help ASAP. I want her to be okay.
 
Sorry I can not be much of a help( not much experience). But it seems it might be some respiratory problem.
I would try to google the symptoms here on the BYC, and all over the Internet. Hope someone can help you with it.
 
Sorry I can not be much of a help( not much experience). But it seems it might be some respiratory problem.
I would try to google the symptoms here on the BYC, and all over the Internet. Hope someone can help you with it.
Thank you for your input. That was my first thought and I had a full out panic.... but she isn't having any other symptoms- no discharge or gurgling/rattling.. no watery eyes.. etc. Been googling and search on BYC for symptoms and whatnot for two+ hours now...... Nothing helpful really. Mostly peoples' chickens die or are completely fine like nothing happened. I'm terrified...
 
Sounds like upper respitory disease . Have you introduced any new birds? Make sure the antibiotics you are using are gram positive. I have recently used doxycycline that I had in the medicine cabinet, with great success. Dissolved in water dabbed bits of bread in to make 4 doses. I administered morning and night for 7 days. Hope this is of some help.
 
Sounds like upper respitory disease . Have you introduced any new birds? Make sure the antibiotics you are using are gram positive. I have recently used doxycycline that I had in the medicine cabinet, with great success. Dissolved in water dabbed bits of bread in to make 4 doses. I administered morning and night for 7 days. Hope this is of some help.

We introduced a Barred Rock hen 5 weeks ago. We also have three silkie chicks in the same vicinity that we got a little after... (they're a bit over 5 weeks now so they're not in the flock yet). All of my chickens except for my Golden Comets (four) are from the same farm.
So it's been a while since anyone was introduced. The BR has sounded a bit funny lately too but we suspected it might be an Upper Respiratory Fungal Infection because they kept knocking over their water and getting the wood in their makeshift coop wet over and over again.. in addition to stress because my dominant hen, Lotus, picks on her a lot still. So her symptoms are a lot different than the Australorp's... I have been treating the BR with oxine spray.

What does gram positive mean? I'm using Gallimycin I believe. We got it from the farm we got the chickens from.
What is doxycycline and where do you get it?

Thank you for your help! I'm so scared for my babies :(
 
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Gram pos antibiotics are the most affective against upper resp disease. Gallimycin contains erythromycin , which is gram positive. So you are on the right track.
Could be that your recent additions have brought this in. I learnt this lesson the hard way too.
Quarantine is of the upper most importance. At least 6 weeks. All that being said ,mouldy bedding or rancid food can also trigger these symptoms. I can only tell you what my avian vet told me. " chickens that are subject to stress, be it relocation, bullying, environment , injury etc may demonstrate symptoms of upper respitory disease. So all you can do is treat the symptoms.
Look up the list of gram pos antibiotics , sometimes the drugs are already in your medicine cabinet. I'm sorry you are going through this, makes you feel helpless I know. But on the up side I didn't loose any of mine to this disease .
1f60a.png
 
Infectious Bronchitis? Is that IB?

I don't know. I got her from a local farm, as well as my Easter Egger, Barred Rock, and three Silkies. They should be vaccinated?
Yes. IB = infectious bronchitis. Vaccinating for that depends on the flock size and what illnesses are common in your region. I ask because I did vaccinate my flock and it causes a mild/moderate reaction in response, and my chickens sounded a lot like yours. This is the only cause of respiratory issues, with which I personally have had any experience.

It sounds like the general consensus is it's something respiratory, and my avian vet also prescribed doxycycline and quarantine. (It's also a people antibiotic.) I also used a humidifier but it was winter and air was dry. Plus the other supportive care- electrolytes, etc.

Good luck and keep us posted!
 
Gram pos antibiotics are the most affective against upper resp disease. Gallimycin contains erythromycin , which is gram positive. So you are on the right track.
Could be that your recent additions have brought this in. I learnt this lesson the hard way too.
Quarantine is of the upper most importance. At least 6 weeks. All that being said ,mouldy bedding or rancid food can also trigger these symptoms. I can only tell you what my avian vet told me. " chickens that are subject to stress, be it relocation, bullying, environment , injury etc may demonstrate symptoms of upper respitory disease. So all you can do is treat the symptoms.
Look up the list of gram pos antibiotics , sometimes the drugs are already in your medicine cabinet. I'm sorry you are going through this, makes you feel helpless I know. But on the up side I didn't loose any of mine to this disease .
1f60a.png
Sweet, thanks! I would like to change the antibiotic I am using though because I don't know WHAT Gallimycin it is and I want to give proper dosage individually to each chicken. In their water, I know they aren't getting enough per chicken.. and I need to make sure both Laurel (Australorp) and Berzillia (Barred Rock) get the amount they need. I was looking at Tylan 50.. not so comfortable with injection but I heard it can be given orally? Or Duramycin-10. Because I think you can get both at TSC. But from what both you and CaCO3 are saying, Docycycline sounds better? I wonder if I can get it at a local pharmacy or something..

Hmm, I have been trying to think of what caused it to suddenly show up for Laurel. She sounds better today but not as much before. I am wondering if it is because of the wet food... see it rained the day before yesterday and there was food on the ground that got wet. I didn't think it'd be a problem because it hadn't been there long.. but I might have been wrong. And yeah, Berzi is bullied pretty bad on occasion- no blood but she runs like crazy and gets a bit stressed.

Thank you so much :(

Yes. IB = infectious bronchitis. Vaccinating for that depends on the flock size and what illnesses are common in your region. I ask because I did vaccinate my flock and it causes a mild/moderate reaction in response, and my chickens sounded a lot like yours. This is the only cause of respiratory issues, with which I personally have had any experience.

It sounds like the general consensus is it's something respiratory, and my avian vet also prescribed doxycycline and quarantine. (It's also a people antibiotic.) I also used a humidifier but it was winter and air was dry. Plus the other supportive care- electrolytes, etc.

Good luck and keep us posted!
Hmm... see, I know for sure they get Mareks vaccination, and others aside from that. She said they vaccinate for CRD too I believe but I don't know for sure.. but I mean, they're about 12 weeks now so would they show reactions this late in life?

It's been wet here so it should be humid enough... we have electrolytes we can give them but we were going to give a gallon of water with 2tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar and half a smashed garlic clove... I imagine you can't put electrolytes WITH that?

Thank you so much! I sure will!
 
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