EMERGENCY

[sagealbright]

my d'uccle hen was fine this morning. Now suddenly she starting stretching her neck out with her mouth open like she is gasping for air. She sounds like something is rumbling in her. She's always making a squeeking noise when her mouth is open.

 

[sagealbright]

Bump

 

[sagealbright]

Anybody?!

She's getting worse by the minute. Tried the feather and q-tip trick online. Came back with nothing so I'm not thinking gape worm.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Take her to the vet if you can

 

[LeafBlade12345]

If not, look down her throat to check for blockages. If you see anything, please post with a pic.

 

[sagealbright]

Looked down her throat with a flash light and could not see anything. It looks completely normal. Called every vet in the area and none of them are in. Except the emergency vet and they don't do chickens.

Called my breeder who is also a family friend. He said it could be IB because this birds sister has had a stuffy nose and runny eyes for the past week. She's been separated and on antibiotics but I guess this hen may have caught it before the other one was moved.

To me it just doesn't seem like IB. Her eyes are clear, her nose isn't runny, and this morning she was perfectly fine. It seems odd that IB would cause her to have such a massive symptom in a matter of hours.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Is she breathing normally?

 

[LeafBlade12345]

What do you feed her? Maybe she is choking on a big piece of food stuck way deep in her throat...

 

[sagealbright]

What do you feed her? Maybe she is choking on a big piece of food stuck way deep in her throat...

She is gaping every time she takes a breath. We feed her layer crumbles and pellets mixed. Today they also had scratch, romaine lettuce, cut up cantaloupe, corn on the cob, blue berries, and watermelon. They get a mixture of fruits and veggies everyday. Plus they free range. So she could have gotten a hold of something in the woods behind their coop. The way she is acting looks like there is something stuck but when we stuck the q-tip down her throat to check for gape worms it when down nice and smooth.

 

[enola]

Gape worms are not in her throat. They are in her trachea.