My 2 year old RIR hen is breathing with her mouth wide open, wheezing. She seems to have difficulty drawing in enough air. Her comb is drooping and looks dull and darker. ( that can be lack of oxygen though, right?) I noticed it last night and removed her from the flock. I started her on an antibiotic in her food and gave her fresh water with some gatorade. Her crop is completelly empty. She was the same this morning. I checked all of the other chickens last night and again this morning, listening for wheezing and looking for darker combs and everyone else seems ok. So far. Any idea? I don't know what else to do for her. I feel so bad. You can tell how bad she feels.
I'm having a similar problem with my 1 1/2 yr old white leghorn. She stopped laying 2 wks ago but otherwise was acting normally. Now today she is quiet, seems short of breath , isn't clucking but making a wheezy kind of sound with each breath. I've never felt a full crop, but I don't feel and swollen areas on her breast,chest, or abdominal area. I tried massaging her crop thinking that might be the problem, but nothing came out. I don't know what to do. I put her in a pen in the house so I could watch her while I did some research. She frequently sneezes and almost seems like she's choking (girgly noise in her throat). She had a water stool with soft formed stool. Her comb looks normal. Maybe this is a respiratory infection.
