Cochin sneezing and open mouth breathing/gasping

[cheepcheepnash]

Hi everyone!

We have a 2.5 year old cochin. She started sneezing from time to time a few weeks ago and lately it has gotten more severe. Yesterday I noticed her open mouth breathing/gasping. I posted a video link that will hopefully show up. I started to give her tylosin in her water. Does anyone have any advice about what it might be or any other ways I can support her?

I've always wondered if she has CRD. She "honks" when breathing sometimes ever since she was a baby chick. Her eyes look clear and she is eating and drinking normally. I also wonder if maybe temperature changes have been stressing her. It was around 50 here but the temperature jumped and yesterday and today have been near 80. I wonder if this aggravated her possible CRD, especially since she is so fluffy.

I feel rather worried about her and hope she will be okay.

https://imgur.com/a/ZFLYdY6

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She is having trouble isn't she

Is her crop emptying?
When was her last egg?
If you feel her abdomen below the vent between her legs is there any bloat or feeling of fluid?

If she's had this issue since she was young, then she may have CRD, but it would be hard to know without testing.
Weather changes and stress can exacerbate problems or bring about symptoms.

When she's had these symptoms before, did the Tylosin make a difference? She's drinking the mixed water right?

 

[cheepcheepnash]

Thank you so much for your reply! She is so sweet and I feel so bad for her!

Those are great questions. I checked this morning and I think her crop is emptying. I didn't feel it last night before bed, but it felt pretty empty this morning. She had already been up for two hours when I checked it, so it wasn't completely empty. I will check her before bed tonight and then again tomorrow morning so I can better assess how it is emptying.

She stopped laying for winter and don't think she has started up again. 2 of ours have been laying for awhile, and a third just started laying again. I didn't notice any bloat or fluid when I felt in that area, but I will keep an eye on that area and on her egg laying.

Yesterday as it cooled off she free roamed with the other chickens and was breathing normally. It's much cooler today (back to 50s) and her breathing seems normal today so far.

I just started tylosin yesterday. I saw her drink it and I also poured it on some food to make a mash. She loves when I do that and so she ate a lot of the mash. Maybe it was just the heat, or maybe the tylosin is starting to kick in? I will keep an eye out on her laying, her crop, and her abdomen over the next several days.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hopefully the meds will help. It sounds like she's going to have some issue with warm weather, but maybe she can adapt.

I'd definitely check her crop to see that's it's emptying, look for any lice/mites too.

 

[cheepcheepnash]

Thank you! I'll keep a close eye on her and hopefully she keeps improving. Her crop felt empty this morning and she seems to be doing well today. It is cooler again today. I will check her for lice/mites tonight. We did treat with Elector PSP about a month ago when we thought we saw a mite.

I did give them tylosin a few weeks ago when she first started sneezing for five days. (I read some directions that said 5 days and some that said 7). I later realized that for the first two days she was drinking out of a different waterer that had non-medicated water in it. I removed that waterer, but maybe she didn't get a full course of the antibiotic and her symptoms then came back worse. For this round of tylosin, I have just the one waterer and I will do a full seven days.

Thank you so much for all your insight and kindness! She is such a sweet hen and I hope she will be okay when the weather gets warmer again.

 

[The Lazy Farm Girl]

How is your feather baby doing? Is she improving?

I have an LCN who is doing the same thing: labored, open-mouth breathing with some wheezing & honking. I started out using VetRx which didn't help, then moved her indoors and started dosing her orally with Tylan50. On the fourth day she had not improved and refused to let me dose her without really man-handling her, so I took her to the vet. Vet said either bacterial or viral respiratory infection, and prescribed chlortetracycline (sp?) for her water. That was Wednesday, so I don't know yet if it's helping. Kinda wondering if she's going to become a house chicken.

Anyway, just wondered if your treatments have helped.

 

[cheepcheepnash]

Hi! I'm so sorry to hear about your chicken. I gave Tylan in all of our chicken's water rather than orally. I did it for 7 days. I just finished the seventh dose on Tuesday and she seems to be doing better. She is breathing normally, but I've noticed that sometimes after she eats she sneezes after eating, and once I saw her stretching out her neck and breathing funny after one of these post-eating sneeze episodes. For now, we're keeping a close eye on her and hoping she stays healthy as it gets warmer. I hope this new medicine works better for her! Ours didn't improve after only 4 days of Tylan--it took a bit longer. Hopefully yours will get there too!

 

[The Lazy Farm Girl]

Hi! I'm so sorry to hear about your chicken. I gave Tylan in all of our chicken's water rather than orally. I did it for 7 days. I just finished the seventh dose on Tuesday and she seems to be doing better. She is breathing normally, but I've noticed that sometimes after she eats she sneezes after eating, and once I saw her stretching out her neck and breathing funny after one of these post-eating sneeze episodes. For now, we're keeping a close eye on her and hoping she stays healthy as it gets warmer. I hope this new medicine works better for her! Ours didn't improve after only 4 days of Tylan--it took a bit longer. Hopefully yours will get there too!

Glad to hear she's doing better! Jodi seems to be improving, although slowly. She's not breathing through her mouth as much so fingers crossed