Chicken struggling to breath!

[Blue_Myst]

I'd really hope I'd never be posting here again. Guess I was wrong

I just put my hens to bed tonight, and one of them is having what appears to be breathing and swallowing trouble. Her age is about 3 years, and she's a Buff Orpington. She had no symptoms prior to this point. This morning she had a little gasping, but later on in the day it got worse, and now she stretches out her neck every few seconds when she takes a breath. I hear a heaving noise (like her breath is obstructed . . .?). She's eating. Not sure about drinking but it's night time when they usually don't drink.

Now she's started coughing, too. I see no discharge.

I tried messaging her throat and crop gently for a few minutes. Didn't seem to help much. Since she can still eat I'm guessing it's a problem with her trachea but I honestly don't know!

Any advice or experience would be appreciated! I love this hen to bits and I'm scared she won't make it through the night!

 

[Miss Lydia]

have you ever heard of gape worm? could be that is what your seeing in you BO, heres a link that gives information, but instead of using the wormer they are reccomending I'd go with Epernix pour-on because there is no egg withdrawl.. and hope she gets well https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=224991

 

[Blue_Myst]

Quote:
Thank you so much! I had thought of gapeworm, but I wasn't sure how to cure it.

I'm alarmed at how fast it set in! It only took a day for her to go from beak slightly open to gasping for breath

If she makes it through the night, I'll be able to pick something up in the morning.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'd go ahead and worm all of your flock at the same time and this is a good wormer for external parasites too. I'll be thinking about you and her and please let us know how she is..

 

[Blue_Myst]

I'll try to at least deworm her. I guess I kind of always thought of gapeworm as one of those rare, impossible things, but I probably shouldn't be surprised, especially with all the worms and wild birds popping up this time of year.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Miss Lydia]

your very welcome and your right this time of year it seems alot of issues are popping up. worms/ mites/ lice all seem to be going on right now. so your not alone..

 

[wren]

Is her comb bright red or a little bluish? If it gets worse in the evening she could have a respiratory problem. No harm in worming with eprinex. Um with gapeworm you might see a weird strand of mucus that the hen will swallow after coughing it up.

 

[Blue_Myst]

Quote:
It's still the normal red color. I'm not ruling out a respiratory problem, but as far as I can tell there hasn't been any nasal discharge, any mucus or loose stools. Maybe it's the early stages. What antibiotic would you suggest for treating a respiratory infection?

 

[wren]

Gosh I like injectible Tylan the best. Worm everyone and watch her close. Don't let her lose weight.

 

[Blue_Myst]

Quote:
Thanks for the info, I'll look into Tylan!

No chance of her loosing weight quickly . . . thankfully she's one of the plumpest in the flock.