Crackle in breathing and sneezing

[NovaChooks]

I rescued a hen today because I felt sooo sorry for her. The owner had good intensions but the poor hen is in really bad shape. She had her living in her house cage free (gross) and her beak is overgrown as well as her nails. Her feathers are all twisted and look not well groomed at all. And worst of all she has a crackle when she breaths that is very pronounced. Sneezes every now and then as well. No runny nose or eye discharge/swelling. But quite obviously sick.
The previous owner said she didn't know anything was wrong with her and thought that's just how she breathed as she's been this way since she got her about 4 months ago.

Anyway, my question is. Could this be from poor living conditions? Where it's been such a long time I feel like If it were 100% respiratory illness it would have worsened long ago. Or am I wrong?

Side note.
She is not with my flock. I set her up far away in my garage in a temp sicken cage.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I rescued a hen today because I felt sooo sorry for her. The owner had good intensions but the poor hen is in really bad shape. She had her living in her house cage free (gross) and her beak is overgrown as well as her nails. Her feathers are all twisted and look not well groomed at all. And worst of all she has a crackle when she breaths that is very pronounced. Sneezes every now and then as well. No runny nose or eye discharge/swelling. But quite obviously sick.
The previous owner said she didn't know anything was wrong with her and thought that's just how she breathed as she's been this way since she got her about 4 months ago.

Anyway, my question is. Could this be from poor living conditions? Where it's been such a long time I feel like If it were 100% respiratory illness it would have worsened long ago. Or am I wrong?

Side note.
She is not with my flock. I set her up far away in my garage in a temp sicken cage. View attachment 1944810

Can you get some better photos of her face? Looks like she has a sunken eye. Also is the joint swollen on her leg? (could be the angle of the photo too)

She was living inside a house? Was it dirty/a lot of ammonia?

It would be good to get some testing to find out what or if the symptoms are respiratory disease or not. This is something to think about, most respiratory diseases are lifelong, birds remain carriers and pass it on to other chickens - depending on what's going on with this girl, you may introduce illness to your existing flock.
Possible it's environment but knowing more is always best. If you have vet care ask about testing, you can also go through your state lab or an independent lab like Zoologix.

Check her for lice/mites, check the crop to make sure it's empty in the morning.
Trim the beak slowly to get that back in shape as well as the nails.

Whether to treat or not, that's hard to know - depends on your plans and whether you keep her or not. If it's disease like Mycoplasma, antibiotics will treat symptoms, but there is no cure (she will remain a carrier).

I'm sorry I don't sound that positive, sometimes we do feel very sorry for an animal and want to help. Sometimes things work out just fine, but at times there is risk of bringing in disease as well.

 

[ChickNanny13]

2x Wyorp Rock
You may want to moisten her food with water, consistency of mush ... Maybe easier for her to eat with her beak. I would check to see if it's possible to file her beak down & get her nails too. Maybe some Nutri Drench or Poutry Cell would help?

 

[Eggcessive]

Overgrown beaks can be slightly trimmed or filed down to help them eat normally. Placing a large boulder or rock in her ranging area would be helpful, so that she could clean her beak and keep it filed down. As @Wyorp Rock said a sunken eye can sometimes be a sign of MG a chronic respiratory disease. Crackles is rales, which is a sound of respiratory infection, when there is mucus in the airways. I would look at her skin closely for any lice or mites. She would probably benefit from an area to dust bathe. She might be molting which could explain the weird feathers, but hard to know. She might be a good hen for someone without other chickens, since she might be a carrier of MG. You are really nice for rescuing her, but be careful about using good biosecurity with your other chickens.

 

[NovaChooks]

Can you get some better photos of her face? Looks like she has a sunken eye. Also is the joint swollen on her leg? (could be the angle of the photo too)

She was living inside a house? Was it dirty/a lot of ammonia?

It would be good to get some testing to find out what or if the symptoms are respiratory disease or not. This is something to think about, most respiratory diseases are lifelong, birds remain carriers and pass it on to other chickens - depending on what's going on with this girl, you may introduce illness to your existing flock.
Possible it's environment but knowing more is always best. If you have vet care ask about testing, you can also go through your state lab or an independent lab like Zoologix.

Check her for lice/mites, check the crop to make sure it's empty in the morning.
Trim the beak slowly to get that back in shape as well as the nails.

Whether to treat or not, that's hard to know - depends on your plans and whether you keep her or not. If it's disease like Mycoplasma, antibiotics will treat symptoms, but there is no cure (she will remain a carrier).

I'm sorry I don't sound that positive, sometimes we do feel very sorry for an animal and want to help. Sometimes things work out just fine, but at times there is risk of bringing in disease as well.



View attachment 1944874

I don't plan on introducing her to my flock if she does have an illness. Sad but I can't risk the rest of my chickens. If she does have something and it's not just from poor living conditions I'll be rehoming her.

I didn't actually go inside the house, but from what her owner told me it must haven been pretty bad. She said she let her sleep on her bed and she has other birds (parrot and pigeon) who do the same. I know I wouldn't be able to keep up to even just a chicken pooping in my house so I can only imagine. I met her at the doorstep and from the outside it was a very rundown and rough home.

Ill check her joints tomorrow as I didnt think to do that tonight

I got a video of her breathing
And after I stopped filming it she had a couple coughs.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I don't plan on introducing her to my flock if she does have an illness. Sad but I can't risk the rest of my chickens. If she does have something and it's not just from poor living conditions I'll be rehoming her.

She sure is crackly. Inside of her beak clear of canker and lesions?
Still hard to know the cause.

If you feel she would be a risk to your chickens, then I'm sorry, I have to disagree about re-homing her - that just puts another flock or chicken owner at the same risk. If she's not worth keeping for yourself, then culling would be the thing to do.

 

[NovaChooks]

She sure is crackly. Inside of her beak clear of canker and lesions?
Still hard to know the cause.

If you feel she would be a risk to your chickens, then I'm sorry, I have to disagree about re-homing her - that just puts another flock or chicken owner at the same risk. If she's not worth keeping for yourself, then culling would be the thing to do.

I understand that. I wouldn't rehome her to someone with a flock. I meant I would try to find someone in the right circumstances to take her. Maybe a Sanctuary? And I would make sure they knew beforehand of her condition.
I feel bad because the woman that gave her to me really was attached to her and cried giving her up but knew it was the best thing. I would feel terrible if I killed her

 

[NovaChooks]

Some pics of her legs feet and face
It was hard to get a Pic of her skin but it looks pale to me. Thoughts?

 

[NovaChooks]

How long can respiratory infection slast without turning into something more serious?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I understand that. I wouldn't rehome her to someone with a flock. I meant I would try to find someone in the right circumstances to take her. Maybe a Sanctuary? And I would make sure they knew beforehand of her condition.
I feel bad because the woman that gave her to me really was attached to her and cried giving her up but knew it was the best thing. I would feel terrible if I killed her

Some pics of her legs feet and face
It was hard to get a Pic of her skin but it looks pale to me. Thoughts?

How long can respiratory infection slast without turning into something more serious?

Aww... I'm sure that was heartbreaking Sounds like she was just unable to care for her anymore.

Hard to say how long it would last, if she's been like that for 4+ months, then it's chronic, imho. Possibly it could be from the environment she was kept in, but without testing, so, so hard to know. She's quite bright eyed.

I'm going to take a guess and say some of the feather condition, paleness, etc., is from nutritional deficiency (plus whatever respiratory is going on). Did the lady say how old she is? I would actually feed her chick starter or all flock/flock raiser and give her a direct dose of poultry vitamins (I like Poultry Cell) 2 times a week. A nice treat is fine too, provide poultry grit since she's caged - egg, a little fresh greens, etc. may be good.

What breed is she supposed to be?

What state do you live in? Some states are very reasonable with testing, while others it's just outrageous.