Chicken possibly injured, breathing heavily. Injury or possible gape worm? Please help, any ideas welcome.

[Moricha]

Hello all,

One of my girls has either gotten injured or come down with something- or both.
EDIT: Video link of panting:

Penny is (I believe) a 3 month old hen and her breed is… to be honest, I’m not sure. I was only told she is an olive egger and I have had for for a month now. She is not laying yet. Her diet is Purina chick feed. She was fine until today.

Penny was likely attacked by one of our larger chickens as they recently merged and now cannot move or stand on her left leg, and has been panting heavily and quickly every 30ish seconds then stops. Her leg is almost lame as it is limp when I hold it.

She has been eating and drinking fine since I found her injured and I have her separated and in a dark place to recover. Her tail feather also looks a bit pecked over (I think the other chickens decided to kick her while she was down, so to speak…)

Now I am not sure if she was injured to begin with, or if she has gapeworm, or both. She doesn’t cry out when I touch her leg or back, and doesn’t seem to be in intense pain. I can move her tail feathers around and she also has no reaction. Her voice did start cracking yesterday, but I chalked it up to her growing into her “adult” voice.

Any suggestions welcome as I’ve grown very fond of little Penny. She’s very sweet and I want to make her feel better asap.

 

[nuthatched]

Just give her some water and electrolytes, maybe some nutridrench. Just heat and stress.

 

[Moricha]

Just give her some water and electrolytes, maybe some nutridrench. Just heat and stress.

I’ll give it a shot. It’s only been getting hotter (and more humid) here lately. Will try this and update later.

 

[nuthatched]

I’ll give it a shot. It’s only been getting hotter (and more humid) here lately. Will try this and update later.

She's likely fine, maybe some minor issues but gapeworm is only an issue in wet places, say Washington or Florida.
Same here, thunder is rolling in right now, hopefully rain!

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

Is her left leg still lame? I would keep her isolated for a day and see if that improves. If you feel extra heat or swelling you might give her aspirin to keep the swelling down, the dosage depends on her weight.

After a day or two if her leg hasn’t improved you need to make a decision about taking her to the vet. In my experience a leg injury will show some improvement within that time if it will heal without help. If it has not improved in a few days and you can’t take her to the vet you need to think about her quality of life.

I agree that the panting may be due to the heat if you have her in a warm place. Easter eggers like her can’t lose heat through their comb and wattles very well so they pant more.

 

[Moricha]

Is her left leg still lame? I would keep her isolated for a day and see if that improves. If you feel extra heat or swelling you might give her aspirin to keep the swelling down, the dosage depends on her weight.

After a day or two if her leg hasn’t improved you need to make a decision about taking her to the vet. In my experience a leg injury will show some improvement within that time if it will heal without help. If it has not improved in a few days and you can’t take her to the vet you need to think about her quality of life.

I agree that the panting may be due to the heat if you have her in a warm place. Easter eggers like her can’t lose heat through their comb and wattles very well so they pant more.

Thank you for your reply! I’m about to head out to get electrolyte solution for her. She is still lame/limp, but has made a few attempts to stand for short periods of time. I found her like this maybe 5 hours ago and I am keeping her inside to monitor her condition until I can see improvement. I’ll be sure to update on her condition/treatment- hoping she is on the mend.

And thank you for the info on Easter Eggers retaining heat! That is new info to me and good to know.

 

[Moricha]

Fed her a half a baby aspirin, tiny dose of nutridrench, and some electrolyte powder mixed with water. She is eating and drinking and seems pretty content, just not standing. If anything I think she is enjoying the luxury of being in a place with AC lol.

Tomorrow I’m going to clean out her little makeshift coop and re-examine her for progress, check for any glaring pain points or (hopefully) signs of improvement. Thank you for tips and ideas- praying tomorrow will be better news.