5week old gasping/retching.

[chevgrl]

This spring about 6weeks- 2mos ago i had several older chicks (13-¹6 weeks) have symptoms i believe from a vit deficiency. Limping progression into what looked like one heck of a leg cramp that progressed into not walking at all . Only 1 rooster survived but it took him 3 weeks to recover with the vitamins in his water. Some of them just became too weak, to helpless i was feeding and watering them by hand (im a single mother... w fulltime job) i just couldnt keep up with feeding and watering them more than 4 times a day. Except on weekends which is probably the only reason they were able to stay alive @ all. Finally after i had. Culled most of them.. and changed their feed i found out my bulk feed had come. Into contact with moisture. I hadn't. Really thought about it because my grain bin is inside my barn and it was air tight. But the feed store guy say said it could have been due to the humidity having been up so high for so long. It caused the water soluble vits to disolve. Almost instantly after starting. To freerange the rest of these dual purpose roosters the ones just starting to show symptoms went back to normal. But its been 2 weeks since that 1 rooster recovered. I have two 5week old chicks that just developed the same problems... 1 died, i think this other one is going to make it, he has regained. Some head, neck, and shoulder. Stability. But has begun a new symptom inwhich he looks like he is gasping for air. But seems to be breathing fine. He looks like he is rtching. He has been doing this for about 4days... he has been on polyvisol for about a 3days.he has been hand fed eggs,yogurt and a groul. Any.ideas on what the retching is about. I gave him a dawn soap bath today... cause he cant stand up to poop so it gets crusty.
could the gasping be a respiratory infection? His eyes are clear and there is no mucus. Can i put an antibiotic in his water? I feel bad for him.

He is currently in my house.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://msucares.com/poultry/diseases/disfungi.htm
please look at aspergillosis

http://msucares.com/poultry/diseases/diseases.html
botulism (scroll down) mentions paralysis

Mold in coop and/or feed could be a possibility, although there are other problems that also cause lameness:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
diagnosis charts at bottom

Moldy feed can definitely kill chickens or make them sick. I am not sure of what happened but just wanted to give you these links to look at if you wish.

There is a condition called gapeworm where they open and close their mouths, but I have seen that symptom with moldy feed ingestion myself and it wasn't gapeworm in my flock. (I now bleach my metal shed coop carefully and no longer throw feed out on the ground to turn moldy.)