Chicken coughing/gurgling

[rebrascora]

I am no expert but you are looking to inject into the muscle and the breast is the best place, so you don't want to go deeper than half an inch and a fine needle would be my choice, maybe inserted slightly on an angle into the deepest part of the breast.

 

[Renee Bailey]

If she is responding to Vet Rx treatment then I would continue to use that and save the antibiotic (Tylan) for when she doesn't respond to it. The odd cough or sneeze is not a huge issue. If she is constantly wheezing and struggling for breath and has a nasal discharge or bubbly eyes, that is another matter. As @Arya28 says, this may be viral and chronic and an antibiotic will not help that. Keep the "big guns" medicine for when it is really necessary and use the appropriate lower grade stuff like Vet Rx for the more minor situations like this.

She's good right now. It's happened before and like I said, it's come and gone really fast and it was like nothing was wrong. I think I will let her free range in the tractor and watch it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Margy had this weird cough/gurgle that she's had 3 times now. The first two times I caught her with it, I would bring her in, put some Vet RX on her nostrils, combs and wattles and feed her some people food and she'd get over it right away. Tonite it doesn't seem to be working as good.

Should I put the Vet RX under her wings too? Also, I have some Tylan ...not sure if it's Tylan 50 or what it is

She seems to have stopped for a bit. Hopefully she'll be over it and go to sleep. I got on another site on FB and they said to give her Tylan shots for 5 days.

heard her sneeze a couple times and it woke me up. I put some more Vet RX around her nostrils and under her wings. I might try to give the Tylan orally tomorrow. Someone said you can just give it via a syringe and let her swallow on her own.

she's had this a couple times already

I agree, if she is improving without antibiotics, I would hold off on those.

She may have a respiratory illness, but it would be hard to know which one. Some chickens become symptomatic when under stress or if they have an underlying condition, so give her a good going over for lice/mites, see that she is not being picked on and check her crop to make sure it's emptying completely overnight. If you can get a fecal float, that will help rule out internal parasites as well.

To answer some of the other questions on this thread about administering Injectable Tylan50. It can be given orally or by injection into the breast muscle 1/4" deep alternating sides each injection. You do risk injection site necrosis with Tylan since it is administered 2-3X a day, so orally is best.
Dosage is 10-40mg/kg given 2-3 times per day for 5 days in a row. The "mid-range" dose would be .20ml per 1 pound of weight (that is 1.00ml for a 5 pound chicken).
Here's how to administer oral medications:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...er-construction-check-back-for-updates.73335/

 

[Renee Bailey]

I agree, if she is improving without antibiotics, I would hold off on those.

She may have a respiratory illness, but it would be hard to know which one. Some chickens become symptomatic when under stress or if they have an underlying condition, so give her a good going over for lice/mites, see that she is not being picked on and check her crop to make sure it's emptying completely overnight. If you can get a fecal float, that will help rule out internal parasites as well.

To answer some of the other questions on this thread about administering Injectable Tylan50. It can be given orally or by injection into the breast muscle 1/4" deep alternating sides each injection. You do risk injection site necrosis with Tylan since it is administered 2-3X a day, so orally is best.
Dosage is 10-40mg/kg given 2-3 times per day for 5 days in a row. The "mid-range" dose would be .20ml per 1 pound of weight (that is 1.00ml for a 5 pound chicken).
Here's how to administer oral medications:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...er-construction-check-back-for-updates.73335/

I'm so leary of giving shots for that reason. I can get her to drink the stuff probably but then I read it could hurt their throat and that scares me too! I have the Tylan 200 now. The Tylan 50 at the store was beyond expired! I think I'll do the "watch and see" approach for now. She's eating and drinking good and seems fine again. She's such a sweet girl. I just lost her "sissy" Vera to an internal laying issue and that's why this freaked me out last night. I don't want to lose another one.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm so leary of giving shots for that reason. I can get her to drink the stuff probably but then I read it could hurt their throat and that scares me too! I have the Tylan 200 now. The Tylan 50 at the store was beyond expired! I think I'll do the "watch and see" approach for now. She's eating and drinking good and seems fine again. She's such a sweet girl. I just lost her "sissy" Vera to an internal laying issue and that's why this freaked me out last night. I don't want to lose another one.

I have not heard anything about the Tylan hurting the throat. I have heard that it is bitter, so once you get it into them offer a little treat to make that better

Tylan200 can be used, it is just 4 times stronger than Tylan50 (200mg/ml vs. 50mg/ml) so you would just need to adjust your dosage. The mid range dosage of Tylan200 would be .05ml per 1 pound of weight, so for a 5lb chicken that would be .25ml given 2-3times per day for 5days. It's best to weigh your hen in order to give the correct dosage.