Help! Young Reba sounds pitiful!

[KToddy]

Today our 4 month/16week Easter egger named Reba was getting bullied by our little saramas… she was moaning and panting with a loud chirp every few Seconds. We think she is in pain. Worried about trauma, long Straw she ate, ants in coop… possible respiratory distress. Her crop seems fine/not full/hard, her poo is pretty normal, comb is very pale, her tail is crooked to her right.

We brought her inside and gave her electrolytes, olive oil with neck massage, some scrambled eggs & Vitamin E, some polyvisol…. she won’t stop moaning.

ANY IDEAS? PLEASE HELP!

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hello! This sounds like a respiratory issue, it looks like she has good energy, do you have vetricyn?

I would keep her well fed, give her whatever she wants.

If you have a warm air humidifier I would place her close to it so she can breathe in the warm and moist air. If you don't have that, put her in a hot shower so she can get some warm moist air. I used eucalyptus, peppermint and rosemary essential oils for my hens when they sounded like that.

 

[azygous]

She probably isn't in pain, but it does sound like stridor, a condition where something is lodged in the trachea. She may have inhaled a feather or piece of bedding. Get someone to help you look into her throat with a flashlight. If this is what it sounds like, the obstruction usually resolves on its own in under 24 hours.

If this is a respiratory illness, the symptoms would become more pronounced with weeping eyes and nares and sneezing and coughing. If this persists and symptoms develop, @SmiYa0126 provided a good treatment plan. Tylan 50 would also be of help to treat worsening symptoms.

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree that is stridor. It occurs when the airway becomes narrowed by a small piece of feed, mucus plug, or swelling of the airway. Usually it goes away in a few hours if it is a piece of feed stuck. If not, and she continues
this tomorrow, and sneezes, or has other signs of a respiratory infection, then antibiotics such as Tylan or Tylosin may be needed.

 

[KToddy]

She probably isn't in pain, but it does sound like stridor, a condition where something is lodged in the trachea. She may have inhaled a feather or piece of bedding. Get someone to help you look into her throat with a flashlight. If this is what it sounds like, the obstruction usually resolves on its own in under 24 hours.

If this is a respiratory illness, the symptoms would become more pronounced with weeping eyes and nares and sneezing and coughing. If this persists and symptoms develop, @SmiYa0126 provided a good treatment plan. Tylan 50 would also be of help to treat worsening symptoms.

Thank you!

 

[KToddy]

After a few hours she tapered off and stopped making the moaning sounds… might have been the hay/straw.. maybe I should stop giving this to the chickens! i will keep an eye out for respiratory problems- we also did some dominating exercises on the little bullies who were pulling out her feathers- they seem to have been humbled a bit.

 

[Eggcessive]

I had a hen who would get stridor during eating her feed. It always went away after a few hours.

 

[KToddy]

All my chicken have kinda pale combs.. but especially Reba, hers is flesh colored… are they in need of a supplement?

 

[azygous]

A very pale washed out comb, a color I liken to processed lunch meat, can indicate a number of things from benign to serious. On the end where benign resides, hormone levels affect color or lack of it. On the serious end, a pale comb can signify chronic reproductive infection or tumors from an avian virus.

A pale comb going into fall, absent symptoms of lethargy, usually means molt in chickens old enough. If your chickens have pale combs and molt is not a likelihood, and your chickens are behaving sickly, then you have an issue needing tracking down.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

You said she is only 4 months old, so she probably isn’t laying yet. Any that haven’t started to reach sexual maturity/POL will have pale combs.