4 month old chickens coughing, sneezing, open mouth breathing. Help!!

[Erica1215]

I have a batch of chickens that range from 4 to 6 months old. There are 7. The last 2 that hatched are 4months a rooster and a hen. I noticed yesterday that they were open mouth breathing. I immediately brought them inside to warm them up thinking the single digit weather weve been having has paid a toll on them. This was yesterday morning. This morning the rooster is raspy and now drooping hes wings. The hen was drooping her wings last night but not this morning. I started save a chick last night in the water. Hen seems to be doing better but the rooster is coughing alotttt.. should i separate them? They kinda freak out when they are alone.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would leave them together. Make sure they are drinking well. You can take some of the chick feed and put a lot of water into it to get more water into them. What do poops look like? In the past, have you had any respiratory issues they could have picked up from a carrier? If you can find some Tylan 50 injectable at your feed store in the cattle medicines, you can get that and a few 3 ml syringes with either 18 or 20 gauge needles, usually come together.

Dosage is 0.25 ml or 1/4 ml per pound given orally into the beak 3 times a day for 3-5 days. Remove the needle to give the medicine slowly a drop at a time, so as not to choke them. Can you guess their weights? A 4 pound bird would get 1 ml.

 

[Erica1215]

Thank you thank you!! They have access to food and water. I see some more liquidy poop and then regular. Honestly i think the heat is helping cuz the hen is no longer open mouth breathing at all. The rooster is still and coughing alot less than he was. Ill run out to tractor supply shortly and pick some of the tylan up. The rooster prob weighs 4 lbs the hen is alot small but i have a scale ill weigh them and get the dose as accurate as i could. Thank you so much again! Im very new to chickens and any suggestions help.. i did just find out that 4 chickens i got from a lady about a month or 2 ago had mites but no respiratory issues. The one had crusty feed. Thought it was from the cold weather. Ends up being mites. Could that have caused this?

 

[Eggcessive]

No leg mites would not cause the respiratory disease, but one of those chickens may have been an unsymptomatic carrier of something like infectious bronchitis virus, or possibly MG. Those can be common in many backyard flocks and also in wild birds.

Scaly leg mites are treated over several weeks with applying castor oil, vaseline, coconut oil, or oil of choice to the legs rubbing it uder and into the scales on the legs and feet. If they are especially bad, bring them inside to soak the legs in warm soapy water for 20 minutes, and use a toothbrush to gently scrub the legs to loosen the scales. Do that first, then dry thoroughly, and apply the oil once a week for several weeks.

 

[Erica1215]

Thank you so much for your advice!! All of the 7 birds are showing the same signs so they are all now inside and warm and hopefully will be better within the next few days.. going to find a better heat source for my enclosed porch for the winter. Question.. do i treat all of the birds legs if they arent showing signs?

 

[Cragg Klefor]

If a bird isn't showing signs of leg mites but is with chickens who have it, it would be good to apply the vaseline (or oil of choice) just once - just in case the mites are only beginning to live under the scales. That should do the trick.

 

[Erica1215]

Thank you!! I should have a fun day chasing chickens. Lol

 

[Cragg Klefor]

Thank you!! I should have a fun day chasing chickens. Lol

Good luck!!