Chicken with a cold?

[GoobertownARnewchickenmom]

We are in our second week of owning chickens. We have 9 hens and 1 rooster. This morning when my husband went to let them out our rooster was not crowing. He chased the hens a little bit. As the day has progressed Craig found him just laying around. We have watched him more this afternoon. He does get up and walk around some. We took him out of the pen and he is wheezing. I touched his face and it is warm. It's hotter than hades here but they are completely shaded. He does have a clear drainage coming from his nose. We have separated him from the girls. Any suggestions?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Drainage from the nose and lethargy usually mean illness. Heat stroke doesn't, to my knowledge, produce drainage, unless it is also very dusty too.

Chickens can get viruses and illnesses from bacterial infections that cause nasal drainage.

If the drainage isn't smelling really bad, it is probably viral, especially since he is wheezing too.

Vet Rx can be applied under the beak to help them breathe. Garlic in feed mash and some elderberry tincture with electrolytes/vitamins in water can help them fight viral infections.

If it is bacterial (MG or Coryza) you can't get any antibiotics off the feed store shelves any more, so if it becomes worse or secondary infection sets in, you may need a vet for any scripts.

I'll link a good site for symptom diagnosis below (don't freak at some of the photos...they always chose the absolute worse case to photograph).

Hopefully some TLC will help him improve and the others don't come down with it. With a good immune system, many birds throw off the viruses. The bacterial diseases though require antibiotic intervention.

LofMc

https://poultrykeeper.com/respiratory-problems/

 

[GoobertownARnewchickenmom]

We seperated him last night and put a fan on him. The wheezing is gone and I didn't see any drainage when I checked on him earlier. He is clucking like crazy but still not crowing.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Good to hear. Hopefully he will mend quickly without further episode.

If it comes and goes, after stressors, likely he was infected with MG at some point and essentially has chicken asthma...or CRD. MG is infectious, so you would want to read up on that.

But hopefully it was heat and dust.

 

[GoobertownARnewchickenmom]

Thank you for you help!!