Chicken wheezing

[Jen73]

Hi, this is my first post.

I'm new with chickens and have a 1yr old hen that has labored breathing (she wheezes). She also sneezes. Her eyes and nose are clear and have no mucous problems. In addition, she eats, drinks, and poops normally. She has been quarantined for about a little over a month now.

When we first brought her in she was gasping for air with her neck stretched out. This seemed to happen right after we had a few really cold days one of which was very windy.

We tried VetRx and putting electrolytes in water, but she didn't get any better. In addition, she started to sneeze and cough. We took her to the vet and he put her on an antibiotic for 2wks which seemed to work - she stopped wheezing and sneezing. She was also tested for gape worm which came back negative.

When we went for a follow up visit the vet said that we could start reintroducing her to the flock. Within a couple of days we noticed that her breathing started to be labored again. And just yesterday she and another girl got into a little tiff; she ran away and started gasping for air just like the first day we brought her in. It took approximately 10mins for her breathing to calm down. It's almost as if she had an asthma attack.

I don't know if this helps but it is around 40 degrees outside. In addition, none of our other birds are showing signs of sickness or stress.

Can she have asthma that is brought on by cold and stress?
If anyone has experienced something similar to this or has any suggestions on what we should/could do, I'd greatly appreciate your input.

Thanks and sorry for the long post.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. I think your hen may have been exposed to a chronic respiratory disease. Her symptoms sound a little like ILT or infectious laryngotracheitis, except that they sometimes cough up bloody mucus through the beak. MG and coryza are other common respiratory diseases. Most of these can make carriers of a flock for life. The safest thing would be to cull this hen, but if you chose to treat her with antibiotics such as Tylan or oxytetracycline, then close your flock to any birds ever coming into or going out of your flock. Then you should get her tested to see what disease you are dealing with. If she is new and you were planning to introduce her to your flock, then don't do it, since she will infect them. Your state vet can do a necropsy on her and verify the disease. Here is a link to read about the common diseases mentioned above: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
Here is a link to contact your state vet:http://www.usaha.org/Portals/6/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf

 

[Jen73]

Thanks for your input and the CRD list. I read through the list but am still unsure if she has any of them. While as you mentioned her symptoms seem a little like ILT, she is still quite talkative and her eyes aren't watery. In addition, even though she had been with the flock while she was sick (when we 1st noticed her and then when we tried to reintroduce her), the other birds are health and show no sign of similar symptoms.
After going through other threads on this site, I'm now wondering whether it could possibly be a fungal infection. However, besides the slight wheezing which gets worse when stressed and sneezing, she's gaining weight and just started to lay againing a week after finishing her antibotic.
I'm thinking about trying an oxine treatment for her. It seemed to work for others. Just wondering if you have tried it or have any thoughts on using oxine.
Thanks again for your help.

 

[MelaniRenee]

I just signed up for this site with a similar problem. I've had my sick lady on tetroxy for 10 days, two times. Both times the wheezing cleared, and came back. The second time I took her to the vet and they gave me Orbax for 30 days. She's been off for a week and starting to wheeze again. I'm trying a lot of garlic and thyme right now to see if I can give her enough support to get over it on her own.

 

[Jen73]

We just started using oxine to try to treat our hen. This stuff seemed to work for others. We diluted it with water and put it in a humidifier so will see if it works for her. Please let me know, if the garlic and thyme help.

 

[MelaniRenee]

I'm happy with the garlic and thyme so far. She sounds better than she did with either of the mainstream treatments we tried. She started wheezing again just before I put her on the garlic and has since been sounding normal.

 

[Jen73]

How much garlic and thyme do you give her? Also how do you give it to her- straight or mixed with other foods etc.?
Thanks

 

[MelaniRenee]

I'm mixing it with food, and giving her 1 large clove of garlic and ... 1/2 tsp of thyme. She doesn't really like it, so t she has to eat that food before we offer her any other food. But she is still doing much better.