Chicken cough or wheeze?

encorepistol

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10 Years
Mar 25, 2009
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OK I've got quite a few chickens with several housed together but others in different pens all being on the ground or at least access to it. Several of them have developed a sneeze or wheeze or cough. I gave them all Wazine in their water last weekend on Saturday I believe and bought ivomec pour on to put on them in another week or so. I figure it is upper respiratory but not sure if it is worms causing it or not. Will this be enough to fix the problem or is there an antibiotic I should be giving them. Could inadequate ventilation be a cause of this? I think I have it ventilated enough since there is no moisture build up and no wet droppings under the perches in the coops. There are so many different ailments that I cant tell one from the other..
 
I wouldnt be running for antibotics at the moment. Like us if exposed to to many antibotics they/we become imune to them just when we really need them.
Is there any mucus or discharge from facial area?
does there nose have an odour?
Have you changed their bedding lately?
Are they gaping or shaking there heads?
How long have they been sneezing
 
My flock also has this, on Sunday I noticed some of the older girls had this cough-weez-sneez thing going on, I was not to worried about it, but gave them yogurt and ACV water, this morning when I went out more of the girls showed the same thing and this evening the babies now have the weezing. Oh and they want to sleep and lay in the sun it was 85 + today.
older girls 1.5 to 2 yrs old w.leghorns and a GLW
babies 15 -20 weeks old BLRW, GLW, SLW, EE
Only my Black copper marans seem to be holding their own, so far.
Thinking on tracking down Vet RX and give that to them
 
Well I need to clean the coop as a matter of fact. I've also noticed runny droppings. I'll have to catch them up tonight to get a wiff of their beaks but I haven't noticed any discharge from eyes or nasal passage. Haven't noticed any head shaking either and just recently noticed the problem maybe a week..
 
Well i caught up the ones that I've heard and no smells or discharges. It seems to be more of a rattle in my standard blue wyandotte rooster and more of a sneeze in my bantam barred rock roo. They are house sepperate also but do allow them all to run together in the evenings after work till dark.
 
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Dragonfeathers, if you're asking for help could you possibly start a separate thread (and monitor this one), then PM me and PurpleCHicken and let us know the thread link? We'll help you separately so that we don't confuse the information for two different flocks.
smile.png
Our posts will also "bump" you to the first page again so you don't lose your place.

Thanks, hon! I look forward to being part of the team that helps you.
 
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Worms (roundworm larva) can cause a respiratory symptoms, but not sneezing. That's caused by an upper respiratory irritation and/or infection with some sort of organism (viral, bacterial, fungal - not known yet).

First things first - please tell us all the ages in which you're seeing symptoms. Tell us please what each age group is eating, and whether or not they're housed with another age group.

have you had any new birds come in within the last 30 days? A lot of rain?

Certain inadequate ventilation is a big deal with birds. Even with a clean coop. Especially in the summer, and particularly with humidity. since we're discussing this, what type of grounds and bedding and housing are you using?

First, rather than resorting to antibiotics yet (because we don't know the cause quite yet) I would start by boosting their immune systems.

Vitamin A is very important to respiratory health. Chickens of all ages can be given cod liver oil or fortified wheat germ oil sprayed on the feed twice weekly, three times weekly during illness. If you choose wheat germ oil, you can find it in the horse section of feedstores. Make sure to read the labels for "Fortified with A, D, and E". Use a hand-held sprayer and spray on top of the feed in the feeder.

Second, since there are sneezes, give all birds yogurt daily during illness and treatment for its live beneficial bacteria. The eyes and nares drain into the digestive tract, upsetting the healthy and essential live flora (bacteria) of the gut. If you use a cycline or mycin antibiotic (not recommended) then you'd have to stop yogurt or any milk products but instead you still have to give probiotics; in that case you will use Probios brand powder from the cattle section of the feedstore, or acidophilis capsules from the drug store. For now, yogurt is recommended to prevent secondary diarrhea.

Third, disinfect all waterers and feeders as the droplets are over them. Handle all sick flocks last, wearing a pair of coveralls or a man's shirt over your clothes for those sick birds. Use antibacterial gel as you leave the sick birds for the house to prevent putting their bacteria on the door knobs before you wash your hands. Make sure the entire family knows that the sick bird areas are off limits.

Fourth, smell your birds' heads daily. If the sinuses or faces get a certain smell (sour, or alternately fetid and nasty) update *this* thread and let us know - those can be pointers to specific disease. So can eye bubbles, cheesy nodules on the roof of the mouth, wry-neck. Every symptom you see, please report here.

Fifth, for the worst birds, I highly recommend using VetRx mixed in the same amount of water on q-tips and swabbing the nares, roof of the mouth, and under the eyes with it. That facilitates breathing, reduces sneezing (which can reduce infectious droplets), reduces irritation, reduces mucus, increase air (which bacteria hate - they hate oxygen), increases comfort. Buy the small 2 ounce bottle, any species (poultry, rabbits, cats, etc).

If you DO choose to use an antibiotic be sure you get a really good one. I'm a big fan of Tylan as it's not a 'mycin or 'cycline, it's very strong, it has few resistances, and can be either soluble (water dosed) or injected (3-day dosage - great stuff). I do NOT recommend an antibiotic yet. I do recommend the support treatments above in hopes that they themselves can overcome.
 
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ok thought I'd update and now seen the last post which will help me also. Wormed the birds as mentioned before and only one of the birds that had an issue seems to have cleared up and has been fine since, however there are still a few doing the same thing plus 2 turkeys of which one has puffed up cheeks (really wattery feeling). It doesnt seem to be bothering appetites and have noticed any change in their behaviors at all from before it started. I was just begining to think about using Tylan but hate to use something that is not needed . Still to this day and constam\
tly checking I have never noticed any fowl smells or any discharges of any sort, even the turkey has no discharge just puffed up but pretty bad. I did give All my birds another round of wazine in their water just 2 days ago also..
 

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