Dear all,
2 weeks ago one of my chickens started heavily breathing - it stretched out its neck to exhale and pulled its neck close to its body to inhale. It became quite sluggish and didn't really want to eat or drink (I had to feed her). We got antibiotics from the vet who wasn't really sure what is wrong with it, but said that we can try treating it with antibiotics (2x per day, used a needle to insert it in its mouth). For a couple of days my parents treated it (one held the chicken and another one gave the med) while I was gone and it got a lot better - after 3 days it was difficult to recognize without staring at the chicken for a while who's sick. My parents had to leave however and I was left continuing the treatment alone, holding the chicken and giving it medicine.
So, the first time I tried to give her medicine - I held her and put the needle between its beak and inserted the medicine. I let go of her and she immediately started sneezing. Sneezing so hard that she was jumping. Within 1-2 minutes she became lethargic and couldn't stand up. I tried to give her water, shook it, held it backwards to make sure nothing was stuck in her mouth. She revived for seconds while putting her beak in the water, but immediately closed her eyes afterwards and was heavily breathing, gasping for air. She was completely loose, eyes closed, gasping for air quietly, just lying - looked like she was minutes away from death. I put her away from the other chickens and went to call my mom. I was so upset, crying and thinking I had killed her. I was searching online and consulting with my mom about what had happened. I returned in 2 hours (sorry, but I just couldn't bear to watch her die) to check on her and I was prepared to find her dead and bury her body. To my surprise, she had woken up! She was just standing there and looking for food. I put her back among the other chickens and she immediately started eating and drinking. I was shocked.
Now she's fine, eating and drinking, still breathing a bit heavily, but not stretching her neck anymore. We stopped giving her medication immediately after this happened. None of us wants to try it again.
What happened? Did I give her the medicine wrong and she almost suffocated? Or did she faint because of stress? Anything else?
Thank you for reading this long, but (so far) happy story!
2 weeks ago one of my chickens started heavily breathing - it stretched out its neck to exhale and pulled its neck close to its body to inhale. It became quite sluggish and didn't really want to eat or drink (I had to feed her). We got antibiotics from the vet who wasn't really sure what is wrong with it, but said that we can try treating it with antibiotics (2x per day, used a needle to insert it in its mouth). For a couple of days my parents treated it (one held the chicken and another one gave the med) while I was gone and it got a lot better - after 3 days it was difficult to recognize without staring at the chicken for a while who's sick. My parents had to leave however and I was left continuing the treatment alone, holding the chicken and giving it medicine.
So, the first time I tried to give her medicine - I held her and put the needle between its beak and inserted the medicine. I let go of her and she immediately started sneezing. Sneezing so hard that she was jumping. Within 1-2 minutes she became lethargic and couldn't stand up. I tried to give her water, shook it, held it backwards to make sure nothing was stuck in her mouth. She revived for seconds while putting her beak in the water, but immediately closed her eyes afterwards and was heavily breathing, gasping for air. She was completely loose, eyes closed, gasping for air quietly, just lying - looked like she was minutes away from death. I put her away from the other chickens and went to call my mom. I was so upset, crying and thinking I had killed her. I was searching online and consulting with my mom about what had happened. I returned in 2 hours (sorry, but I just couldn't bear to watch her die) to check on her and I was prepared to find her dead and bury her body. To my surprise, she had woken up! She was just standing there and looking for food. I put her back among the other chickens and she immediately started eating and drinking. I was shocked.
Now she's fine, eating and drinking, still breathing a bit heavily, but not stretching her neck anymore. We stopped giving her medication immediately after this happened. None of us wants to try it again.
What happened? Did I give her the medicine wrong and she almost suffocated? Or did she faint because of stress? Anything else?
Thank you for reading this long, but (so far) happy story!
