Battery hen trouble breathing

[Darlingoo]

So I got 10 battery hens last Sunday. We had a little cold snap and Two (one morning after another) had surcome to what I assume was hypothermia. I have now put a heat lamp in there coop to help prevent this from happening again till there feathers grow back.
First thing I did was isolate and bring inside to warm up. One unfortunately passed yesterday and the other has done really well eating, drinking and preening normally.

I have noticed now that she is having trouble breathing, wheezing a lot but more like a whistling wheeze in the nose then the chest, closing eyes, opening beak to help breath sometimes and tilting head back. Also the very very occasional of what I think is a sneeze. There is no eye of nasal discharge.
Her poop when first bringing her in smelled foul and darker in colour. Now with proper eating and drinking is normal again, no diarrhoea or watery poop, no blood.

I have a good 50g of tylan soluble antibiotic which I have left over from when one of my geese got sick. Since it's saterday I doubt I'll get seen by the vet till next week. So my main question is should I give her some tylan soluble? As I've read it's used for respitory problems in chickens and although I dislike self diagnosing since Im not a vet seems to be pointing towards mycoplasma just without the eye and nose discharge. I have thought of a possible blockage but she kind of goes through phases of being fine and present then starting to close her eyes and huddling up.

I think I've included all the details I can think of, if I've left any other details out that's needed to know I apologise. I'll try and get a photo when she's got her eyes closed and mouth open so you guys can see what I see.

Thank you to anyone who replies in advance

 

[ChickNanny13]

Sounds like you're doing all the right things, hopefully others will peep in soon to give any other sound advice.

@casportpony @Ravynscroft @Eggcessive

 

[Darlingoo]

Also she scratches her head a lot

 

[Darlingoo]

Thanks chicknanny13

 

[ChickNanny13]

What are you feeding? Is she molting? Would you have some NutriDrench to give her? I'm clueless with Emergencies, Illness & Diseases so I'm hoping the others will reply but due to time differences it may be awhile

Welcome, hang in there

 

[Darlingoo]

Honestly thank you for just replying. She's straight out from the battery farm so practically "oven ready" as I've heard people discribe. There all on layers crumble and ouster shell grit with a tiny amount of corn for heat and a tiny amount of sunflower seed for feather condition. Actually I'm not 100% if we get nutri drench over here but I've been putting ACV in her water.

 

[micstrachan]

Poor little sweetie, but lucky to be saved by you! She does look ill. Has she had that body language (hunched with open beak breathing) the whole time? I agree vitamins and electrolytes will help. And lots of freah air in the daytime. Unfortunately, I can’t help with the meds. I need to start committing some of this to memory.A littke extra protein to assist her in regrowing her feathers might be good, too. I think the most pressing issue is tbe breathing. If you have the time to search the forums, all your questions regarding antibiotics have likely already been answered here somewhere. Thank you for taking in the battery hens. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Darlingoo]

She's deffinitly been hunched over since I got her from the charity. I just put it down to the stress of moving and being in a new environment. Within the past 12 hours though she's been switching between stretching and stood up a bit straighter and paying attention to everything then she'll have moments of going back to be all hunched, droopy eyed and withdrawn. Unfortunately I don't have a car Atm, the only thing I have is ACV, oregano oil and that tylan soluble. I'll crush up some dry cat food into her crumble aswell.

thank you both for the advice I really appreciate it, seems a shame if she passed away aswell within the first of being free.

 

[Snoozeys]

Might need new batteries

 

[elaineinspain]

you can give her oregano oil. Mix her food with water over night, (or better 3 days so as to start fermenting) to make it a porridge consistancy then add 1 - 2 drops of oregano oil in her food and mix well. Keep her warm. Problem with ex bats is that their life and conditions were so terrible before coming to you, that the stress from the transport and having a new home can lower her (already depleted) immune system and any illnesses that she was harbouring come out. If you can't get nutri drench, any good quality avian vitamins are good. You can easily and safely give her a double dose of vitamins for the first couple of days. Also fermenting her food automatically makes the nutrients more bio available and more easily digestible for her. The cat food is also a good idea to raise her protein intake while she's growing new feathers. Or if you can get dried mealy worms or gamarus (in pet food shops in the tortoise/lizard food section) that will also give her extra protein. Good luck!