Cold Like Symptoms - Trouble Breathing

[ika]

Hello,

Our RIR started showing symptoms of a "cold" 3 days ago. She was making wheezing noises when breathing and occasionally sneezing with a clear discharge.
We separated her from the flock and have her living inside under our supervision.

She seemed pretty stable but this morning she is struggling more to breath, I attached a video for reference.

She is not eating her feed but eats bananas. She is still laying (laid 2 eggs the last 2 days) and is not lethargic)

The other chickens are fine, no symptoms.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Check to see that her crop is emptying overnight and look inside her beak for lesions or canker. Feel her abdomen below the vent between her legs - any bloat or feeling of fluid?

Does she breath better when you are not holding her?

Where is she being kept? Plenty of ventilation/fresh air?

I'd offer her some wet mushy feed to see if she'd be interested in eating that.
Hard to know what's causing her symptoms if it's respiratory disease or something else.
You can try giving an antibiotic like Tylan to see it that makes a difference.

 

[ika]

No abnormalities on her abdomen. Her crop seems to be full of liquid. I’m not sure if she had water or it’s not completely emptying.

I found this on her some white plaques on her throat though (see picture below). Any ideas? How to do I get Tylan since is Rx based? Should I try dewormers? We have her equimax about a month and half ago.

She's on our living room. In a fenced area, not a cage. It even has a roosting bar where she slept.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you tell if that's mucous or is the plaques attached to the tissue in her throat?

If you are in the US, you can usually find Tylan50 at stores like TSC or you can order it online.

Is there a bad smell? Sour or rotten?

Crop not emptying and full of liquid, she may have a blockage, is she pooping at all.
I'd try offering her some chunks of coconut oil, see if she will eat them.
With having a full crop and in respiratory distress, I would not massage the crop for fear the contents will come up and she aspirate.

 

[ika]

Seems like a plaque. No bad smell.

I was about to find Tylan at TSC but it's injectable. I don't know how to inject in her nor the dosage. Any suggestions?

I'm also suspecting Canker.

She's pooping. I'd say normally. It's mostly liquid with some green poop.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

With Canker, there would be a rotten/foul odor.

Injectable Tylan50 can be given orally instead of by injection. Dose is 0.25ml per pound of weight given orally 3 times a day for 5 days in a row. If you gave that by injection, that would be a lot of needle sticks and you risk injection site necrosis.

The plaque may be thrush or yeast if her crop is filled with fluid and not emptying. You can use an anti-fungal medication to treat. Nystatin, Clotrimazole or Miconazole are common treatment for sour crop/yeast/fungal infections.

You mention you had dewormed with Equimax about a month or so ago, did she have Tapeworms?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[ika]

I'm sorry for the huge delay in getting back to you. That morning we decided to take our chicken to the vet as her situation was getting very concerning.

Getting there, they were not sure about what was going on. The vet did clarify though that the plaque was actually just regurgitation.

Their best guesses was a bacterial infection or fungal infection. They offered X-Rays and testing but those were too expensive to us. We decided to try the bacterial route and she stayed through the rest of day and night going under nebulization and got 2 shots of oxytetracycline.

They were concerned that she was not going to make it as her breathing was difficult.

The next morning we picked her up and got instructed to continue to give shots every day for another 5 days.

Over the days she got better and slowly started eating again. While she mostly refused her feed, she did eat it when we made it wet.

Unfortunately, yesterday she started declining again and today was a bit worse. Not as bad as that day but having a bit of trouble breathing and making wheezing noises again.

We took her back and she stayed for another nebulization session and we'll continue with the antibiotics for another week a believe.

It's very unfortunate that testing and X-Rays are so expensive.

I'll try to keep things here up to date as I know from experience that is helpful to future users.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry to hear she's not improving, but glad you are able to seek vet care.

Thank you for the update, please do keep us posted on how it goes.

 

[ika]

Another update. She still not eating, however, her breathing improved a lot compared to Monday when we had to take her back in. I can only hear wheezing noises when she's a bit agitated.

As for her lack of eating, she refuses everything. From bananas, feed (dry and wet), and corn. She'll eat a bit of dried mealworms if I hand feed her. She does drink a bit of water here and there

I talked to the vet and they recommended taking her to another vet specialized in birds and exotics. Seems to me that that was their way of saying that they can't really help at this point.

So seems like we're back on our own since we can't afford to take her again and much less go over X-Rays and all of that.

Any suggestions on how to help her eat more? Seems to me that that's the most pressing issue right now.

Thanks!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You can try tube feeding her or even Torpedo feeding, see if one of these methods help.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/crop-feeding.75454/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...eeding-what-is-it-and-when-to-use-it.1532744/