Hen struggling to breathe

[Crazyabouthens]

Hi everyone. For the last couple of days I've had a hen who is having difficulty breathing, but when I hold her upside down it seems to regulate her breathing and she will be okay for 20 minutes or so and then start gasping for air again. I'm not sure what to do or if there is anything I can give to help her?

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Hi everyone. For the last couple of days I've had a hen who is having difficulty breathing, but when I hold her upside down it seems to regulate her breathing and she will be okay for 20 minutes or so and then start gasping for air again. I'm not sure what to do or if there is anything I can give to help her?

How old is your hen? Do you have any known respiratory diseases within your flock, and/or have you recently introduced new birds into your flock?

Scratch my second question. I skimmed through other threads you have made, and it appears you do have a respiratory illness in your flock, possibly Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) based on the symptoms you reported. If the issue is MG, you can treat the symptoms with either tylosin or tiamulin (Denagard). But I also see you live in the UK. Can you get either of the meds I llsted there?

In your other thread, I saw one of your other birds died. If this hen succumbs, are you able to have an official necropsy done? If so, it would be well worth it to know what she died from. Because even though birds exposed to respiratory illnesses remain carriers for life and will infect future birds you add to your flock, there are various meds that can treat symptoms. Tylosin and tiamulin are only effective against mycoplasma, and of course no antibiotics will help viral infections, so it would be extremely useful to know what lurks within your flock.

 

[Kiki]

Hi everyone. For the last couple of days I've had a hen who is having difficulty breathing, but when I hold her upside down it seems to regulate her breathing and she will be okay for 20 minutes or so and then start gasping for air again. I'm not sure what to do or if there is anything I can give to help her?

Oh Lord... I'm pretty sure you're making things much worse by hanging her upside down, so please don't do that again.

 

[Sad Chick]

I would suggest you brought her to the vet. Good luck, hope she recovers soon! <3

 

[Crazyabouthens]

Hi everyone, just an update on Summer! She has been doing a lot better the past few weeks, even wanting to come out and join in with the other chickens! She is eating great, her comb is nice and red and she is now perching with the others at night time. She sneezes the odd time, bit nothing compared to what she was like just a few weeks back. Hopefully it stays this was and she is now feeling a lot better/fully recovered? Thanks everyone for your advice

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Hi everyone. For the last couple of days I've had a hen who is having difficulty breathing, but when I hold her upside down it seems to regulate her breathing and she will be okay for 20 minutes or so and then start gasping for air again. I'm not sure what to do or if there is anything I can give to help her?

I’m so sorry about your poor hen! I hope someone can help her

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Does she have any fluid in her abdomen below the vent between her legs or a feeling of air pockets under the skin around any of the 9 air sacs throughout the body?

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Ps. I should have said tiamulin only treats mycoplasma. Tylosin can also be effective against other bacterial respiratory disease symptoms. But I always mention tiamulin/Denagard if the suspected/confirmed culprit is mycoplasma. Because from my personal past experience, I found tiamulin to be effective against MG after tylosin had no effect. And found studies confirming that is true, especially when a bird has suffered mycoplasma symptoms over a period of time where the infection is considered chronic, and not acute.

 

[Eggcessive]

You can worm your flock with Flubenvet in the feed there in the UK. You also probably can find Panacur 10% horse paste 1/4 ml per pound for 5 consecutive days, and that can treat most all worms including gapeworm and capillary worms that might cause breathing issues. If you use Panacur for dogs, then we would need to know the strength to refigure dosage. Sorry about your chicken.

 

[Crazyabouthens]

I won't tell you to absolutely not do that since only you are there with her, and you believe it helps her breathe better. If you followed advice to not hold her upside down and she dies, you will be left wondering if she would have lived longer if you had continued to do so. Since her comb has grown more purple, she's clearly not doing well anyway. (I'm sorry.) But here is info that explains why holding a chicken upside down is not a good idea.
https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/holding-a-chicken-upside-down

I haven't ever used VetRx so have no input there. Maybe someone who has used it and had success will reply.

Ok thanks for your advice. However I don't quite understand how holding her upside down means 'she can't breathe' if what I'm actually doing seems to be relieving whatever is stopping her from not being able to breathe in the first place? I just don't understand how that works? Why is it making her breathe better?