Asthma? Bronchitis?

[EdgeofAsheville]

I've noticed for a couple months that my 3 yr old Brahma rooster has a rattling, wheezy sound coming from his chest. It's like he has to cough. He looks healthy otherwise. My broody hen laid on a large clutch of eggs that he'd fertilized this past month and only one of them hatched. Today I noticed that her breathing (She's a Silkie) was noisy too. I was doing research on why eggs might not hatch and I read chickens can get infectious bronchitis which can affect fertility? Has anybody had this with their chickens before? Anything else that might be causing this? I don't really have a farm vet so can you just get antibiotics from feed stores? I did some reading on the subject and saw some people give antibiotic injections. That seems extreme and more than I can manage without Vet support. Whatever he has does not appear to be life threatening, just a nuisance. I bought VetRX because I saw it mentioned in a bunch of posts but have no idea how to apply it.
Sorry, I'm relatively new to chicken life and so far they've been healthy. I want to make sure I get them all back to healthy especially because now I have 3 6 week old pullets and a week old chick around. Last year this same broody hen hatched the eggs (not her eggs but larger breed hen's eggs, btw) with great success!

 

[Eggcessive]

What are all of the symptoms you have seen? Has there been any bubbles or foam in a eye, crusty eye drainage, swelling around the eye, nasal mucus, coughing, sneezing, crackles or wheezes?

Vet Rx is made up of several herbal oils—oregano, rosemary, balsam, and camphor. It could be compared to Vicks. Nothing there that can cure a respiratory disease, but many seem to use it. There are a number of different respiratory diseases. Infectious bronchitis and other viruses will not be cured by antibiotics. Most respiratory are lifelong and will make each one capable of spreading it to others in the flock. MG and bacterial diseases may respond to certain antibiotics. Molds can also affect chicks in a brooder or older birds with a disease called aspergillosis.

Most antibiotics now have been removed from feed stores by the FDA, and will need to be prescribed by a vet. You might be able to find Tylosin powder, an antibiotic for the water approved for poultry from Jedds.com or other online stores. Testing or a necropsy done on a sick bird is the only way to know exactly what is affecting your chickens.

 

[EdgeofAsheville]

I guess you could call the sound crackling. I haven’t noticed any drainage or eye issues at all.