Chicken with hacking cough & rattles when she breathes.

[CathyB59]

Hello. I have a 6 month old pullet that started coughing yesterday. It's a prolonged hacking type cough that sounds like she trying to expel something from her throat. Today she rattles when she breathes. I looked down her throat and can't see anything. Her crop seems fine. She doesn't have any discharge from her eyes, nose or throat. I'm thinking she has something stuck in her throat. She's acting okay and eating and drinking just fine. Any suggestions?

 

[Rachy]

One of my hens had a cough when I bought her. She sounded a bit asthmatic when she was breathing while asleep aswell. No other symptoms, she was acting normally, eating & drinking. I took her to the vet and he diagnosed the start of an upper respiratory infection. She had a couple of long acting antibiotic injections and she's fine now. Hope this helps x

 

[Uniontown Poultry]

If she sounds like an old coffee maker, it's probably a respiratory infection (often bacterial pneumonia). A et can diagnose for certain and prescribe antibiotics, but if that's not possible, there are several meds out there for chickens with respiratory infections (such as CRD infections), and there are good old fashioned antibiotics like agromycin, oxytetracycline, and penicillin. I'd bring your girl in and put her in a warm dry spot & give her the medicine and make sure she's eating.

 

[Rachy]

Oh yes, bringing them in and spoiling them rotten goes a long way in making them feel better

 

[cravenchx]

Quote:
I'm wondering how you looked down her throat?

 

[CathyB59]

Actually, my husband looked down her throat. I held her and he held her neck with one hand and opened her mouth with the other hand. You had to look quick because she would jerk her head away. And you couldn't see very far down. I was mostly looking for gapeworms or mucus. Didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

 

[Shaelink05]

okay so my chicken is doing the same thing and we dont really have a poultry vet very near, so i read about the penicillin and i was wondering how many cc would you give her and for how long? Thanks