Chicken is very weak with laboured breathing

[addylanich]

I have a hen that I noticed was acting a little sick yesterday so I gave her some NutriDrench and she did not want to get on a perch so she slept in a nesting box last night. I checked on her this morning and she was still exactly where I set her. I gave her another dose of NutriDrench and put her in a crate so the other birds cannot bother her. She won't drink any water and I tried to feed her a bit of yogurt and she won't take that either. Yesterday when I noticed she was lethargic I cracked open an egg and she ate a few bites of the yolk. Today she won't eat her feed or anything else. She just lays down with her eyes closed and she likes to rest her beak on the ground. She seems to be having a hard time breathing and when I gave her the Nutridrench I was careful to only put a little bit in her mouth at a time so she could swallow it instead of just squirting it down her throat. I do not think she has sour crop, not is her crop impacted. Does anyone have ideas of what could be wrong with her? Or any suggestions on how to treat her?

 

[LaFleche]

Does she look pale?

If so, her weakness might be caused by poultry mites sucking the chickens' blood at night leaving them anaemic.
You can check her and the coop including nest boxes, roosts and all kinds of crevices closely for mites.

Something else to consider:

When did she last lay an egg and did she have problems forming proper eggshells lately?
When hens try to expel shell-less eggs they can appear very ill showing laboured breathing etc. as it is very difficult for them.

 

[addylanich]

Does she look pale?

If so, her weakness might be caused by poultry mites sucking the chickens' blood at night leaving them anaemic.
You can check her and the coop including nest boxes, roosts and all kinds of crevices closely for mites.

Something else to consider:

When did she last lay an egg and did she have problems forming proper eggshells lately?
When hens try to expel shell-less eggs they can appear very ill showing laboured breathing etc. as it is very difficult for them.

She does not look pale but I will check for mites anyways and I am not sure the last time she laid an egg. I did feel her stomach and she did not feel egg bound though. And I do feed them crushed egg shells and I have not noticed any issues forming shells with any of the eggs I have collected. She definitely did not lay an egg today though.