Chicken keeps "coughing", breathing heavy, sleepy?

[joebwe25]

Good morning,

We have a 9 year old SLW hen. For the past 5 or so days, she's been making this sound that sounds somewhat like a couch or a hiccup. She hasn't been extremely active, and hasn't been pooping very often. When she does, they're very small.

She eats and drinks fine, and still pecks the other chickens.. but she's been just sitting around puffy, then making that sound on occasion.

When she first started doing this, she was doing it every 45 seconds or so, wasn't moving and wasn't eating.. I cut her toenails (which were too long), and she started moving around more.. she finally started eating and drinking, and now is eating fine again.

She still is really puffy and sleepy, and still makes this sound on occasion.. maybe every 10 minutes or so. I can hear her breathing heavily, too.

Any idea what could be wrong? All of the other chickens are fine.

Thanks

 

[GoldenChicks16]

Is she doing anything else? Shaking her head a lot or itching at her head would be some other symptoms I would look for. It could be a minor respiratory infection and in that case I would rub the top of her moth and her sinuses such as her nose with a Q-tip covered in VetRX. Of course it kind of makes me think thats not the case since respiratory infections/diseases are contagious... Have you wormed her?

 

[joebwe25]

She's not shaking or itching.. her breathing is somewhat loud.. wheezing. We have not wormed her, or any of the other chickens.

 

[GoldenChicks16]

I'm leaning towards respiratory infection.. Is there any drainage coming from her nose? It will be kind of thin and feel sticky to the touch. If it is a respiratory infection, which I'm thinking it is, I would give her some VetRX since it seems extremely minor. This wont cure it but it will help the symptoms. @Eggcessive seems to have a lot of experience in the field of what to give her when it comes to medication. She can probably help more than I can! But starting on the VetRX couldn't hurt and will help with the sneezing/hiccuping that she's doing now.

 

[joebwe25]

There is no drainage from her nose, and her eyes look clear.

 

[GoldenChicks16]

This is really stumping me

.. is there any chance that she has lice or mites? These are some of the symptoms they can experience when infected. Its really easy to tell by just lifting up her wing and blowing on the skin underneath it. I'm also doing some research and asking others but have not found a deffinate answer. Anyway, check to see if she has lice or mites. You'll see little red mites or brown / yellow lice.

 

[joebwe25]

Doesn't look like she has mites.. I didn't see anything. She is molting too, btw.

 

[GoldenChicks16]

Honestly, I have no idea what this could be. She is pretty old so maybe its just from old age. I would go ahead and start her on Duramycin 10 if you can in order to treat anything that she might have. I would start by putting her on a 400mg dose and see how she responds to it if she responds to it at all, if not I would bump it up to the 800mg. This is the only thing that i can think to do for her. Here's some more information on dosing the antibiotics: http://www.durvet.com/dl/Durvet-Poultry-Brochure.pdf
I might even give her some extra vitamins in the water to see if she perks up. Sorry i couldn't do any better.

 

[joebwe25]

Pea green poop and white.. solid, not watery. She moves her head every time she breathes now, but is not wheezing. She is walking around and preening at present.. She seems normal, but sick at the same time. I'm assuming it's just old age.. but I'd still like to know what is the matter.