slukeplass22

Songster
9 Years
Nov 20, 2014
208
94
176
Northern Piedmont, USA
I noticed a bit over a week ago that my almost 7 year old Sussex hen (she will be 7 on 3/14) is breathing fast when she sleeps. I've been trying to diagnose the problem and provide treatment but I've had no avail. Read carefully as this isn't the normal "hen has labored breathing" case.

Her Symptoms
  • She breathes fast and heavy when she sleeps, as if she had just ran around a bunch.​
  • She sometimes sneezes a little bit. No mucus comes out. It sounds like something is deep in her and she can't get it out.​
  • Sometimes I hear low pitched crackle when she breathes. It sounds a bit like when their beaks hit their feathers, but I don't think it's that.​
From what I've seen of her while she's awake, she only does this when she sleeps. While she's awake she seems to be exactly the same as before this started.

A few other things I'd point out about this hen.
  1. Sometimes when I hold her, she starts breathing heavily and her comb, wattles, the whole face turns more blue. This has happened on and off for around two years, maybe longer. She isn't scared of me, she shows no other signs of anxiety. But she usually doesn't want to be picked up the times this happens. She sometimes will let out a surprised/frustrated sound. I don't think I hold her in her favorite position (under my shoulder with both hands supporting her) either when this happens. If I put her down, her face returns to normal within a few seconds. I have no idea what causes this or why.​
  2. For some reason, she does not know how to consistently drink water without getting a bit in her nose. It's not every time she drinks, but it happens fairly often. She shakes the water out of her nose. I don't know how long this has been going on, but I noticed this around six months ago. Maybe she was always like this and I just didn't realize?​
Other than that she has no other symptoms. She is active, eats, drinks, runs around outside, recognizes her name and talks to me, speaks loudly as she normally does, calls the others to the roost at night (she is boss chicken). She doesn't have odd poops, or abdominal bloat, or increased or decreased weight anywhere. I'll check for abdominal bloat and her daytime breathing tomorrow just to be sure.

For treatment, since I thought this was respiratory at first, I had her breathe in peppermint oil and VetRX, and these haven't relieved her of any symptoms. I can try other respiratory aids, but I'm skeptical if those will work either. She eats layer pellets, the grass (which is just getting new growth now), and the treats given every 2-3 days. These treats mostly consist of leafy greens. Sometimes I've given corn cobs and clover I grew inside also.

Another one of my Sussex hens, who will be 5 in May, also breathes heavy and sometimes fast, but that may just be part of her. Sometimes chickens bob up and down in their sleep and are totally fine. No crackles and she is totally fine otherwise. No weird things either with her.

Anyone have input here?

Thanks
 
I noticed a bit over a week ago that my almost 7 year old Sussex hen (she will be 7 on 3/14) is breathing fast when she sleeps. I've been trying to diagnose the problem and provide treatment but I've had no avail. Read carefully as this isn't the normal "hen has labored breathing" case.

Her Symptoms
  • She breathes fast and heavy when she sleeps, as if she had just ran around a bunch.​
  • She sometimes sneezes a little bit. No mucus comes out. It sounds like something is deep in her and she can't get it out.​
  • Sometimes I hear low pitched crackle when she breathes. It sounds a bit like when their beaks hit their feathers, but I don't think it's that.​
From what I've seen of her while she's awake, she only does this when she sleeps. While she's awake she seems to be exactly the same as before this started.

A few other things I'd point out about this hen.
  1. Sometimes when I hold her, she starts breathing heavily and her comb, wattles, the whole face turns more blue. This has happened on and off for around two years, maybe longer. She isn't scared of me, she shows no other signs of anxiety. But she usually doesn't want to be picked up the times this happens. She sometimes will let out a surprised/frustrated sound. I don't think I hold her in her favorite position (under my shoulder with both hands supporting her) either when this happens. If I put her down, her face returns to normal within a few seconds. I have no idea what causes this or why.​
  2. For some reason, she does not know how to consistently drink water without getting a bit in her nose. It's not every time she drinks, but it happens fairly often. She shakes the water out of her nose. I don't know how long this has been going on, but I noticed this around six months ago. Maybe she was always like this and I just didn't realize?​
Other than that she has no other symptoms. She is active, eats, drinks, runs around outside, recognizes her name and talks to me, speaks loudly as she normally does, calls the others to the roost at night (she is boss chicken). She doesn't have odd poops, or abdominal bloat, or increased or decreased weight anywhere. I'll check for abdominal bloat and her daytime breathing tomorrow just to be sure.

For treatment, since I thought this was respiratory at first, I had her breathe in peppermint oil and VetRX, and these haven't relieved her of any symptoms. I can try other respiratory aids, but I'm skeptical if those will work either. She eats layer pellets, the grass (which is just getting new growth now), and the treats given every 2-3 days. These treats mostly consist of leafy greens. Sometimes I've given corn cobs and clover I grew inside also.

Another one of my Sussex hens, who will be 5 in May, also breathes heavy and sometimes fast, but that may just be part of her. Sometimes chickens bob up and down in their sleep and are totally fine. No crackles and she is totally fine otherwise. No weird things either with her.

Anyone have input here?

Thanks
UPDATE

I checked on her this morning. She breathes a bit heavier than the other chickens, but it is not as hard or as fast as her breathing at night.

I also checked her weight. She seems to be a bit heavier in the back, however there is no swelling of any kind in her abdomen. Perhaps this is just the beginning of such a thing, I'm not sure. I'll have to keep an eye on it.

Otherwise she is completely fine. I accidentally left an egg outside and she and the others ate it. She acts normal.

I also picked her up to check on her (as I normally do), and within 10-15 seconds she started to turn blue. I put her down, and she returned to normal within maybe 30 seconds or so. Very strange.
 
I don't know. I would guess either a bad heart or a respiratory disease of some kind, but I don't really know much about this type of thing.
Sorry, I really hope she feels better.
 
Does she have any enlargement in her lower belly between her legs, which could be a symptom of ascites (water belly?)
She seems to be a bit heavier in the back, however there is no swelling of any kind in her abdomen. Perhaps this is just the beginning of her swelling. I'm not sure. I'll keep an eye on it to make sure. She could just have an egg inside her, like maybe she will lay an egg today (I considered if she was egg bound, but she has no desire to lay an egg, so I doubt that's it).
 
If ahe is turning blue, something either with her heart or pressure on her abdomen affecting breathing is happening. Does she normally lay eggs? I have had a few hens with ascites (water belly.) Some have had obvious swelling in the lower belly, one even looked blue, but some were not apparent until I did a necropsy opening the abdominal wall, when yellow fluid escaped. In post 42 in the thread below, it shows an extreme swollen abdomen with ascites being drained:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/laying-hens-with-water-belly-or-ascites.68731/page-5
 
If ahe is turning blue, something either with her heart or pressure on her abdomen affecting breathing is happening. Does she normally lay eggs? I have had a few hens with ascites (water belly.) Some have had obvious swelling in the lower belly, one even looked blue, but some were not apparent until I did a necropsy opening the abdominal wall, when yellow fluid escaped. In post 42 in the thread below, it shows an extreme swollen abdomen with ascites being drained:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/laying-hens-with-water-belly-or-ascites.68731/page-5
No, she doesn't lay eggs usually, and she's never been a heavy layer. However, she does lay an egg once in a while, so I listed it as a possibility. Last time she laid an egg was a few weeks ago, and with the increasing light I've been getting more eggs from different hens.

Her abdomen is more like the end picture than the start picture in that thread. As I said, no bloating, however I'll keep an eye on her and see if some things change.

If ahe is turning blue, something either with her heart or pressure on her abdomen affecting breathing is happening.

I'll keep this in mind.
 
UPDATE

I checked on her this morning. She breathes a bit heavier than the other chickens, but it is not as hard or as fast as her breathing at night.

I also checked her weight. She seems to be a bit heavier in the back, however there is no swelling of any kind in her abdomen. Perhaps this is just the beginning of such a thing, I'm not sure. I'll have to keep an eye on it.

Otherwise she is completely fine. I accidentally left an egg outside and she and the others ate it. She acts normal.

I also picked her up to check on her (as I normally do), and within 10-15 seconds she started to turn blue. I put her down, and she returned to normal within maybe 30 seconds or so. Very strange.
UPDATE

Today she has gained more weight in the abdomen, so I think she has some bloat. She may very well have a heart condition that causes the rest of the signs. A heart condition seems to explain everything, but I'm not totally sure. I'll monitor how things progress.

I'll resume with the garlic cloves + oil of oregano in their water, as that seems to help a lot with abdominal bloat in general (I don't know why). I've had these in their water a lot in the past month, so I decided to take a break now that the temperatures have risen some, and they can be outside more.

One thing that probably hurt her was the lack of yard grass in February. We had 28 straight days of snowpack that month (unusual here), which dramatically cut their ability to access the yard. This disrupted everyone's diet, so there was less grass and more feed eaten. That's probably not a good switch, esp. for the heart. They were less active also, and many days there was a cold arctic wind (our property has no windbreak and we can't put one in :().
 

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