7 year old Silkie Hen with Lethargy and heavy breathing

[DTSilkie]

It’s only been two days but she’s lost lots of weight and is plumed up a lot and I’m wondering if there’s a medication I could give or a way to know she’s not fatally sick, she doesn’t have any inflammation or any sort of discharge just the rales and lethargy

 

[azygous]

Is there any bubbles in her eyes? Is she dripping from her beak nares? Is she sneezing or coughing?

Does it sound like someone crinkling cellophane when she breathes?

We need your location in order to help you find the meds you may need.

 

[DTSilkie]

Is there any bubbles in her eyes? Is she dripping from her beak nares? Is she sneezing or coughing?

Does it sound like someone crinkling cellophane when she breathes?

We need your location in order to help you find the meds you may need.

There’s no bubbles just sneezing and it’s sparse and the breathing just sounds loud and kinda Like an old smoker, I’ve been using vetRX to treat and it’s helped a bit

 

[azygous]

It sounds like a respiratory infection. These can often clear up on their own. Treat her like you would a child with a bad cold. Try to get her to drink water. You can put a little sugar in it to encourage her. The sugar will also boost her blood glucose and make her more interested in eating. Try to get her to eat soft boiled egg with boiled rice if she has no appetite. I sprinkle sugar on that, as well. It's a sure fire way to get a chicken to eat it.

The VetRX will help soothe her inflamed respiratory tissues. Keep that up. If you can, try to find Tylosin powder. It's an antibiotic for respiratory illness. I can't guarantee you'll be able to get it since I don't know if they sell it in the country you live in since you haven't given us that info.

 

[DTSilkie]

It sounds like a respiratory infection. These can often clear up on their own. Treat her like you would a child with a bad cold. Try to get her to drink water. You can put a little sugar in it to encourage her. The sugar will also boost her blood glucose and make her more interested in eating. Try to get her to eat soft boiled egg with boiled rice if she has no appetite. I sprinkle sugar on that, as well. It's a sure fire way to get a chicken to eat it.

The VetRX will help soothe her inflamed respiratory tissues. Keep that up. If you can, try to find Tylosin powder. It's an antibiotic for respiratory illness. I can't guarantee you'll be able to get it since I don't know if they sell it in the country you live in since you haven't given us that info.

It’s not easily available but I’ll do what I can I live in Canada btw, I’ve been giving her some honey soaked potato instead of bread and she’s been eating that up, thanks very much for the help

 

[DTSilkie]

It’s not easily available but I’ll do what I can I live in Canada btw, I’ve been giving her some honey soaked potato instead of bread and she’s been eating that up

It sounds like a respiratory infection. These can often clear up on their own. Treat her like you would a child with a bad cold. Try to get her to drink water. You can put a little sugar in it to encourage her. The sugar will also boost her blood glucose and make her more interested in eating. Try to get her to eat soft boiled egg with boiled rice if she has no appetite. I sprinkle sugar on that, as well. It's a sure fire way to get a chicken to eat it.

The VetRX will help soothe her inflamed respiratory tissues. Keep that up. If you can, try to find Tylosin powder. It's an antibiotic for respiratory illness. I can't guarantee you'll be able to get it since I don't know if they sell it in the country you live in since you haven't given us that info.

How long does it normally take for these kinds of infections to clear up?

 

[azygous]

Can't say. An antibiotic works, not as a cure, but as a partner with the chicken's immune system to fight the bacteria. If the chicken's immune system has lost its abilities to make the necessary germ fighting cells, the antibiotic will fail. If the immune system is strong and functioning, you can see noticeable improvement in just one day.

I have an aging hen right now with an infection. She's been on amoxicillin for four days now, and is still teetering on the edge of going either way between dying and recovery. She's seven so her immune system is not in top fighting condition. There isn't much left of it that can assist the fight the antibiotic is trying to fight.

You can assist in a slow recovery by supplying extra high protein feedings of egg and vitamins and tasty carbs such as rice to try to fuel the immune system. But in the end, if the chicken has no functioning immune system left, the battle will be lost in spite of the antibiotic.