Chicken silently gasping, lethargic...what can I do?

[JasperDonkey]

I found one of my young hens with her head and upper body hiding under the coop this morning. She must have crawled there. I picked her up, she has no external injury, but can't stand or walk, sort of flops and flutters a bit but mstly wants to lay still. She seems to be having a hard time breathing, her beaks opens and closes with each breath. Nothing seems broken, but her abdomin seems tender when we press on it, she resists us. Her comb was grayish blueish when I found her, it is now returning touts red color, but no improvement other than that. She pooped diahrea on the way up to the house. Her crop seems empty. I'm pretty sure she is a goner, but wanted to know if there is anything I can do, or whether I should be concerned for the rest of my flock (they all seem fine). We got a pretty good frost last night, maybe she has pneumonia or something if she was outside all night?
She is a free range hen who just started laying last month. They get mostly whole grain feed and acv sometimes in their water. No antibiotics or meds.
I have gave her water and acv, and some herbal tinctures. She can swallow fine, I even got some scrambled eggs down.
Any advice???

 

[soler]

could it be gapeworm?
http://everything-poultry.com/gape-worm-in-poultry/


and for treatment
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/602699/worming-chickens/10#post_7931055
post # 14
Probably where ever you read this Gapes were misdiagnosed, as it is 99% of the time, Chicken yawns or coughs for whatever reason and automaticaly has gapes, Chicken is givin whatever and cured, Levamisole.Albendazole.Fenbendazole and Ivermectin will control gapes if caught in time. Levamisole is in the bloodstream quicker than the others, With either of these four it has to be in the bloodstream long and high enough to be effective..See post above

 

[JasperDonkey]

Thanks for your heplful post!
It might be gapeworm, but Im not sure if it is...I swabbed her thoat and found nothing but a little slime, couldn't see anything when I looked either. I'm not sure which came first, if the lethargy is because of lack of oxygen or the gasping is because of not being able to move/getting pneumonia outside/internal injury. She was fine yesterday...no gasping that I saw. None of the other chickens are gasping either. Should I try diatomaceous earth perhaps? I don't really have any other medications available right now, and I'm hesitant to try something unless I have a clear sign that it is indeed worms. Hmmm...
She does seem to get more lively when I give her the water/acv and her colour and energy levels seem to slowly be improving.

 

[soler]

DE is not going to help with worms...

You'll need one of the wormers listed above. For diagnosis you'd have to take her poop to a vet (it only costs $20-30 to test, and if she has worms, they probably all do), i doubt you would see them in her throat. if there are no other respiratory signs like sneezing, coughing, discharge, mucous etc, i don't think it's a respiratory issue.

Apergillosis could be another one?
http://msucares.com/poultry/diseases/disfungi.htm
it has no treatment, but check for moldy feed etc.

If you are not going to get the poop tested, you may want to consider buying a wormer and treat. If they free-range, they need to be wormed twice a year anyways, so you may as well go ahead. Fenbendazole is a good one. Don't get Wazine, it only treats roundworms, and you don't know what (or if) they have.

Meanwhile i would keep her hydrated and try to get her to eat.

 

[JasperDonkey]

Ok, I don't have her poop, she hasnt pooped since the liquid stuff on the way to the house (somewhere in the grass now) but if I keep feeding her, she might poop again, then I could get it tested...not sure how much longer she will last though. She has started vomiting/drooling a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if she has neurological issues...they way she cant really move right.
As for moldy feed, they eat tons of stuff, and some of their feed might get moldy if it has been on the ground for some time I suppose.
Might get the meds then just to be safe...

 

[seminolewind]

The gasp like that on a listless hen most likely means that she will be gone.

 

[JasperDonkey]

Well, she has passed...
Upon plucking her, we found quite a bit of bruising and some scrapes that we couldnt see before. She must have been injured by something...might have been a dog. But I found no signs of disease so I suppose that's good news for the rest of my flock. I'll still look into deworming though. Thanks again for your help

 

[soler]

so sorry

 

[mebuff daisy]

I am so sorry