3 week barred rock open mouth breathing heavily

[Sheri460]

I have a three week old barred rock who has been breathing very heavy for 3 days but has still been eating and drinking and walking around acting like the other chicks mostly. Today she is a little less active and is breathing through her mouth heavily. She has some red in her poop for the first time today. I just isolated her to her own box with food and water but she seems less comfortable in there than she was in brooder with the other 5. She has no other symptoms except a hoarse chirp. What could this be and how can I help her?

 

[Myrshine]

Are you sure she’s not too hot? Are you able to record a video? Are you in the US?

 

[Eggcessive]

Where did you get the chick? Do you have pictures of the poop? Hopefully, it is not a respiratory disease. If you see more poop like thise, I would start Corid or amprollium in the water, at 2 tsp of the liquid per gallon of water for 5-7 daya.

 

[Sheri460]

Are you sure she’s not too hot? Are you able to record a video? Are you in the US?

Yes, I'm in the US. I'm positive she's not too hot. My house is 70 degrees and the thermometer in the brooder says 70 as well. I have a Brinsea Ecoglow in the there that remains on and they go underneath it when they want to get warm, but at this point they aren't in it too frequently and they all see happy. I'll try to record a video.

 

[Sheri460]

Where did you get the chick? Do you have pictures of the poop? Hopefully, it is not a respiratory disease. If you see more poop like thise, I would start Corid or amprollium in the water, at 2 tsp of the liquid per gallon of water for 5-7 daya.

I got the chick at Rural King the day they arrived in the mail, she is not vaccinated for anything and they're not on medicated feed. Was planning to go the natural organic route with them. Can Coccidiosis cause respiratory issues? Isn't that what Corid is used to treat? If this is respiratory, is there anything I can do to treat it?

 

[Sheri460]

Yes, I'm in the US. I'm positive she's not too hot. My house is 70 degrees and the thermometer in the brooder says 70 as well. I have a Brinsea Ecoglow in the there that remains on and they go underneath it when they want to get warm, but at this point they aren't in it too frequently and they all see happy. I'll try to record a video.

Here's a video of her-
https://photos.app.goo.gl/x6XdnyfTyrArvB6o8


She's very alert and ate some and drank this morning. But she's not hanging out and playing with the rest of the chicks. She's mostly been standing under the Ecoglow while the others are all out playing.

 

[Sheri460]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/x6XdnyfTyrArvB6o8

That's a video of her breathing. She doesn't seem to be keeping both eyes open at the same time, it seems to be one or the other. Maybe her eyes are a bit swollen, but no mucous around the nose. She has sneezed a few times today. It seems like she may have a cold/respiratory thing going on. All the rest of the chicks seem fine and active. I wish I knew how to help her? Do I just keep an eye on her and hope she is able to kick it on her own? Or is there some way I can help? Would appreciate any advise. Thank you!

 

[Sheri460]

I took her to a vet on 3/27 because all her symptoms were still the same with no improvement or changes. The vet said it was most likely respiratory and prescribed her an oral antibiotic sulfamethoxazole. She's been on it for 6 days with almost no change. She's been eating, drinking and pooping normal up until the last 24 hours. She's not been eating as much and she just had an abnormal looking poop that has some red stringy stuff in it. Does anyone know what this could be? I asked the vet about gapeworm when I was there but she said they never see that here (Central Kentucky) so she wasn't concerned about that. Can you see gapeworm in poop?

 

[Myrshine]

Did the vet give you an actual diagnosis of which disease it is? It’s critical in poultry to know which disease your flock has in regards to treating it throughly. It sounds like it could be MG, but again, I’d need a list of her symptoms.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

If the vet didn't perform any actual test, I would take his advice and diagnosis with a grain of salt.

Coccidiosis is an intestinal disease caused by parasites. Most of the time the disease progresses extremely rapidly, often resulting in death, and is highly contagious. Common symptoms do include blood in the poop. Personally, I feel it is highly unlikely at this point that your chick has coccidiosis since it has been nine days since your original post and your chick is still alive and the other chicks aren't sick. Medicated chick feed, when used, is used from the day you acquire your chicks until about eight weeks old and is used as a preventative measure to avoid coccidiosis. That is the only reason medicated chick feed is used. It is not a sure-fire way to prevent the parasite, and it not recommended that you switch to that feed at this point. Corrid is a treatment against coccidiosis. There typically not any side effects in using Corrid, so it's generally a good idea to treat for coccidiosis with Corrid when there is doubt regarding the diagnosis.

Gapeworm can be diagnosed with a fecal exam, but the adult worms live in the respiratory tract, not the digestive tract, so it is unusual if not impossible to ID the worms in the poop. What is found in the poop are the eggs, which are passed through the digestive system into the earth, waiting to be eaten by another chicken so they can hatch. Given that the vet said it is not common in Kentucky, and given the age of the chick, it is also highly unlikely if not impossible that your chick has gapeworm.

Respiratory disease is very common in chickens, but can be in a viral, bacterial, or even fungal. All forms are contagious, but obviously only the bacterial and fungal forms are treatable (in the form of antibiotics for the bacteria). There are different viral strains with different expressions and symptoms, and most of which will reside permanently in the chicken, and some chickens will live with life-long symptoms, some will succumb to the virus and die, while others may be briefly ill and suppress the virus. Sometimes steroids can help the chicken, and sometimes the viral infection can cause a secondary bacterial infection. Fungal infections are usually caused by moldy feed and/or bedding and removing the mold source is usually effective in this case.

My recommendation at this point is to contact your state's Department of Agriculture. They will be able to offer better regional advise. If you're form KY, here's a link to their site: https://www.kyagr.com/statevet/poultry.html