"Barking" pullet....please help!

[gabby3535]

One of my 20 week old pullets seems to be having trouble breathing..............
Each "inhale" is with her mouth open..........and she extends her neck to do this.
She's shaking her head every few minutes......
And she has almost a one-tone, "bark" sounding noise every now and then.......
Eyes and nose seem fine......no discharge/drainage, etc.
I see nothing strange when I look down her throat.........
When I put her chest to my ear, I hear her breathing.........not wheezing, or gurgling.......just air moving in and
out........but her's are much more noticable breath sounds then when I hold any of the others to my ear.

I put a glob of Vicks vaporub under each wing and on the top of her beak.......thinking that might help her(?)
She is eating/drinking/free-ranging with the rest.........but she is slightly lethargic. Easy to catch (unusual)
Gets ACV in drinking water, and gets layer pellets as her feed........

Nothing has changed in her life.......
No one else seem affected.......

I am bringing her to my vet tomorrow, but she admits to not knowing a whole lot about chicken illnesses......but
is willing to try and help.............
But 'you guys' are the real experts....................can anyone help me out here?
Thoughts? Advice please? Anyone?

 

[gabby3535]

Bump, please help..........

 

[flakey chick]

Perhaps it could be gape worm? Lack of discharge or other problems sounds encouraging. Good luck at the vets.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Check her thoroughly for mites/lice. What does her poop look like? When was the last time she was wormed, and with what?

 

[dlhunicorn]

gapeworm will not show up in a faecal ... here is info on that you might want to print out for your vet.
http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/merial/Strongls/strong_4.htm

treatment is with fenbendazol or albendazol (see helminthiasis in the MERCK vet manual)

 

[gabby3535]

Well, when I got her to the vet, we noticed some yellow lesions at each corner of her mouth, and on the roof of her mouth.
Also, one small yellow lesion down her throat.....attached to tracheal wall.
Vet called Dept. of Ag. vet.......and he said it 'could' be foul pox......but that usually the lesions are external, not internal.
From description over phone, he thought possibly an respiratory infection.........and that 'no matter what course is taken, the
chicken usually winds of dying anyway'......................:-(
She was having such a hard time breathing, and I couldn't stand to watch her continue to suffer............
So I decided to euthanize her and have her necropsied..............hopefully to save the rest of my little flock, as well!
When the vet was injecting the phenobarb..........her veins kept collapsing.........
She tried 4 times, and each time her veins blew........
Vet says this can be a sign of sepsis, and that my little chickie was probably sicker than we thought.
After she passed, we looked deep into her trachea, and there was pus-like fluid in her airway. Though
no congestion could be heard when we auscultated her /w a stethoscope. It kind of dripped from her mouth after
she died........................
Poor little pullet.............................................

She 'did' have a great, though short, life here.........while she was healthy.
Hopefully the necropsy will give me some answers.

 

[dlhunicorn]

the placques/lesions you describe are also a sign of vitA deficiency or trichomoniasis (often called "canker" or "frounce" > it is a protozoan parasite)
so sad to loose one (((hugs)))