HELP gasping little hen.

[tpotts1984]

Help breathing like this for two days. Worried she’s egg bound so in Epsom salt soak. Is she sick? Wormed a month ago with safeguard. She is around 3 years old now. Her name is Raven. I don’t feel water belly. No obstruction in throat that I can see. Still free ranges all day and then at night she starts up like this. It’s better in the morning. No nasal discharge.

 

[Eggcessive]

How hot is it where you live? Do you have a fan to pull air through the coop, or good air circulation in the coop? If she got out to free range during the days since she has been doing this, I would not think that she is egg bound. You can insert a finger inside her vent about an inch or two just to check. Has she been laying eggs regularly? Is her lower belly full or enlarged? Has there been a lot of wet or rainy weather or mold? Gasping can be a sign of respiratory infection or fungal infection (aspergillosis,) ascites, or internal laying. Does she hold her wings out when she is gasping? Can you feel her crop both at night and again in the morning to see if it is emptying?

 

[tpotts1984]

She does not hold her wings out when gasping. Our coop is very well ventilated and she is in the shade all day under the trees. The coop is built in the shade so it stays pretty cool. Her belly is soft and I don’t feel an egg. Though I don’t believe she has laid one in a while but my hens are hiding them in the woods right now. It’s been very dry by us. It’s reaching 100 here the last few weeks. She has electrolyte mix in her water and the waterer stays cool. I gave her erythromycin tonight and vetRX on the top of her mouth.

 

[tpotts1984]

Video of her

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

Greetings tpotts1984,

At three years of age, she may be having reproductive changes that are making it hard for her to expel eggs.

If you don't think it is respiratory, or heat related, it may be reproductive.

The epsom soak is good but you need to administer a calcium supplement. A half Tums tablet is enough. The calcium will help her muscles contract and hopefully she can expel the "egg". However, I suspect she has a collapsed soft shell scrunched up in her oviduct and not an egg. When you soaked her did you feel between her legs and vent? You may have noticed the feathers were wet or dried crunchy. She may have expelled the white and yolk already.

When the hen is in distress, and I suspect trouble expelling an egg or soft shell, I like to crush the half Tums tablet into powder, then mix in enough water to make a suspension. Then, I give it to the hen with an oral syringe. The calcium will move into the gut faster if it is liquid. Give her a couple hours to get things going.

If she is eating and drinking you have time to determine what the problem is. The antibiotic may help prevent infection if any internal damage happened, also administer a vitamin with iron, as a hen can become anemic from this.

God Bless