Ahhh! My banty hen suddenly having trouble breathing, pls help!

[CherylR]

My 2 year old banty hen was fine earlier today (I think...didn't notice any problem when I fed them this afternoon) ...this evening I went to close the coop door for the night and found her up on the roost but looking droopy and her eyes were closed. Picked her off the roost and noticed her sounding raspy/gurgling and struggling a to breathe. Some liquid came out of her mouth when I bent over while holding her to pick up something I dropped. She has no nasal nor occular discharge and her comb is still its normal red in color. It seems as if she has something caught somewhere along her esophagus somewhere although when I looked down into her mouth/throat, I didn't see anything, nor could I feel anything. I tried to gently massage her throat and crop in case there was something caught but it didn't seem to make any difference. I recently switched over to pellets from crumbles which is why I'm worried that she has food caught in her throat. She was wormed with Panacur/Safeguard last month according to proper protocol, so it most likely is not parasites. None of the other birds appear to be affected. I have separated her from the others and have her in a clean, dry and warm location. What else can I do for now? Any ideas? Going back out now to check on her...thanks for any help anyone can offer...

 

[andrea98]

It's very possible .. I had an oegb that would gobble his food & twice I had to use a qtip to get a clump out .. Darn hog.. I tried pellets with my bantys & they kinda acted like they had a hard time swallowing them so I went back to crumble.. Hope she is ok

 

[CherylR]

Went back out to check on her and first of all, she busted out of the cage I had her in (it was a flimsy little thing)...and was wandering around the garage like she hadn't a care in the world. She is no longer gurgling and rasping, but seems slightly unstable. She was eager to eat and drink some water and seemed pretty much back to normal and was making some of her inquisitive little hen sounds, so I put her back out with her friends. I placed her on the floor of the coop so I could watch her climb back up on the roost to make sure she seemed well enough to be out there. She was a little wobbly and seemed a bit disoriented at first but managed to get up on the roosst and even displaced one of the other girls, so I think she will be okay for tonight. I will definitely keep a closer eye on her for a few days as it is obvious that something was definitely wrong, and I will probably go back to crumbles...they just seem so dusty lately and I feel like there is a lot of waste with them. Thanks for your input, Andrea98, it's nice to know there's someone out there when life's little "emergencies" arise! Thanks again!