Chronic breathing issue sexlink hen 1.6 years old

[TxJenHen]

Hello all! This is my first post. I have a sexlink hen who has a chronic wheezing issue. It comes and goes. If she is agitated or she moves too quickly(runs, gets mounted) her comb and wattles turn purple and she starts wheezing with her beak open. I used to give her 1/2 ml of la 300 noro (oxytetracycline)once a day and it would clear up for a day then it is right back. Now she is laying soft eggs but I have layer crumbles, scratch and poultry vitamins in the water. How do I solve her issue which has been ongoing since I bought her as a pullet? We free range them during the day and no other members of the flock have the same problem.

 

[rebrascora]

The photos look to be of a brown leghorn rather than a sex link.... I assume they are the correct photos.
If you are seeing soft shelled eggs, the first thing to do would be to stop feeding scratch and just make layer feed available as the only source of food and ensure she has access to extra calcium in the form of crushed oyster shells or crushed egg shells provided free choice in a separate pot (not mixed with feed). Too much scratch can cause a number of very serious health issues including Fatty Liver Haemorrhagic Syndrome which can cause ascites (water belly) which can in turn cause respiratory distress. If this is the case she would have abdominal swelling between her legs.
It may also be that she is carrying a viral respiratory disease which can also impact on shell quality.

 

[TxJenHen]

Yes, the photos are correct. Thank you for the proper species. I was told she was a sexlink. Ok I will get rid of the scratch. How do I identify her respiratory disease? Just remove scratch and give added sources of calcium and see what happens? Like I stated before...no other members of the flock seem affected

The photos look to be of a brown leghorn rather than a sex link.... I assume they are the correct photos.
If you are seeing soft shelled eggs, the first thing to do would be to stop feeding scratch and just make layer feed available as the only source of food and ensure she has access to extra calcium in the form of crushed oyster shells or crushed egg shells provided free choice in a separate pot (not mixed with feed). Too much scratch can cause a number of very serious health issues including Fatty Liver Haemorrhagic Syndrome which can cause ascites (water belly) which can in turn cause respiratory distress. If this is the case she would have abdominal swelling between her legs.
It may also be that she is carrying a viral respiratory disease which can also impact on shell quality.

 

[TxJenHen]

Yes, the photos are correct. Thank you for the proper species. I was told she was a sexlink. Ok I will get rid of the scratch. How do I identify her respiratory disease? Just remove scratch and give added sources of calcium and see what happens? Like I stated before...no other members of the flock seem affected

 

[TxJenHen]

Does it look like she is swollen to you?