Disabled 8 month old Brahma Hen gasping for air.

[rochelliepat]

Here is a link to the video I just took.

My disabled 8 month old Brahma Hen started gasping for air late Friday but has been eating, drinking and pooping normally until today. I made her an appointment at our Avian Vet but that is not until next Monday and I am officially worried now. Today she is not eating or drinking much at all.

She doesn't seem to be sneezing, wheezing or have any drainage out of her nose. My other 3 girls are not showing any symptoms at all.

She injured her leg a few months ago so badly that it was not treatable at all but has been a very bright, happy chicken until now. We feel as long as she wants to live, we'll do whatever we can for her. She really is our favorite.

If anyone has any suggestions for me to try and keep her stable until the vet appointment, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Rochelle

 

[Eggcessive]

She really is gasping a lot. Can you look into her throat for any yellow material or plaques? Look for any mucus as well. Let us know what you find. Does she have access to the ground where she might have a worm load? It is possible that she is having a heart issue or air sacculitis. The avian vet would know a lot more.

 

[rochelliepat]

Thank you! I will try and see down her throat and let you know. And yes, I put her in a chicken run out in the yard so she can eat grass and peck at bugs and whatever else they do. She has eaten worms in the past few weeks. Maybe 3 or 4 small ones.

 

[Eggcessive]

You might consider worming her with Valbazen or SafeGuard liquid goat wormer.

 

[rochelliepat]

From what I could see, there wasn't anything in her throat but I couldn't hold her beak open so the dozen times I looked were very quick. (with a bright flashlight) Since my post, she has eaten a little bit and drank some water with electrolytes and probiotic. Maybe a tablespoon of food and 6-8 sips of water. But no where near normal. And she is still struggling with her breaths.

 

[rochelliepat]

I will try to find the wormer and dose the whole flock. That was my concern, since they go after worms.

 

[rochelliepat]

I bought the safe guard de wormer in 10% suspension. I've read to give 1/4ml per pound of weight. She only weights 2.2 lbs. Just wanted to make sure that is by dropper down her throat?

 

[Melleding]

I bought the safe guard de wormer in 10% suspension. I've read to give 1/4ml per pound of weight. She only weights 2.2 lbs. Just wanted to make sure that is by dropper down her throat?

I used Safers goat wormer on my chicken. She weighed about that weight then. I was worried about her aspirating if I used a syringe, so just put it on a few tiny pieces of bread and she ate them out of my hand.

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad that you got the wormer down safely. Is she doing any better?

 

[rochelliepat]

Glad that you got the wormer down safely. Is she doing any better?

Thank you for following up. Sadly the avian vet determined she had a neurological problem and was declining fast. We gave her a week of pain meds and said goodbye before letting her go. So hard after all the work we put into trying to give her the best life. She was so special. This was tough.