Favorite hen having hard time breathing

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wildheartdb

Songster
6 Years
May 10, 2016
39
43
104
Hi! I hope someone can help my girl Margie. She is a I young cochin hen (about 1 1/2 yr old) that is having a hard time breathing and has to open her mouth to do so. Periodically she sneezes as if trying to clear her sinuses but it is a dry sneeze. Eyes are clear, nares are clean, clear and dry. No smell. No discharge anywhere. Reasonably normal acting, a little lethargic but still eating and drinking. Mostly just struggling to breathe which makes a raspy nasal sound.

I first noticed a week or so ago when her voice sounded very nasally, like a person with a sinus infection. But now she is breathing loudly like a wheeze and has her beak slightly open. Again nares clean and clear. So assuming respiratory infection, I started her on Tylan 50 injections, .05 ml per day in the breast muscle. By day 4 she was very objectionable to the shot from soreness so I gave 2 days of an oral dose. No change in symptoms. So I started Baytril .50 ml and am 3 days in still with no change.

My flock was wormed 6 weeks ago with Valbazen, and I gave two doses 14 days apart so I cant imagine it being gape worm.

The weather here has been erratic, warm and then very cold and although free ranged during the day this girl is quite the pet and stays on the porch or by the house most of the day. She was in fact broody when this began. She keeps to herself always independent of the other birds as she prefers the company of people rather than the other chickens. None of my other birds are showing any symptoms of anything at this time.

A few of my younger birds did have some pox last month but it was uneventful and all have recovered without any problems. Out if a flock of 30 maybe 4 had it. Only the young girls.

Could this one have wet pox? I am afraid she is going to suffocate! I have her in the house which she prefers anyway but I honestly cant sleep at night listening to her struggle to breathe. Margie is like one of my kids!

I have Gail Damerows book on chicken health but cannot seem to figure out what Im dealing with given that I have no dramatic signs of anything, no discharges or bad smells, nothing other than the breathing issue and nasal sounding noise she makes when she breathes. Can anybody help me with Margie? PLEASE
 
If it has not responded to Tylan or Baytril, you are probably dealing with a virus or possibly a fungus. Is she able to drink water? Have you looked inside her beak with a flashlight for any yellow or whitish-grey patches? There also might be mucus near her tracheal (airway opening.) It sounds like she may be gasping, but sometimes they make a noise called stridor if something is partially blocking the airway (mucus, swollen tissue, piece of feed.) Below is a peafowl, but note the open tracheal (airway) at the base of the tongue. It may be closed when you look inside the throat. Here is a video in post one of a chicken with stridor:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/silkie-w-possible-stridor.1218528/

upload_2019-12-4_14-3-54.jpeg
 
Vet RX is like Vicks. It helps soothe a sick chicken. It's not a medicine, though, and has no healing value.

Here's how to handle your hen to look inside her mouth. Grab a big bath towel and gently but firmly wrap her securely in it so she can't flap, squirm or kick. Sometimes I wrap an ACE bandage around the towel to keep the chicken from working it loose.

Then bring one hand behind her head and work your finger into the side of her beak. This is the hardest part. Getting the beak open. You won't hurt her, and she'll wiggle her head like mad to get your hand off her head. But once you get a finger into her beak, then you can use the other hand to open her mouth all the way. Once you get it open, she won't snap it shut like an alligator. It should stay open with minimal pressure.

Have a flashlight handy to see well. If there isn't a nice hole at the center of her throat, but the tissue looks swollen closed, that's her problem. Or she could have crusty lesions in there. Or she could have a hair wrapped around her tongue and it's swelling her throat closed.

It absolute essential to look in her mouth.
 
No need to be afraid of the copper sulfate. The solution is pretty weak, and the copper sulfate is only deadly to the protozoa.

Mix daily and provide as the only source of water for four days.
  • 2 ½ liters of water
  • 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
  • 1 gram of copper sulfate
It's too difficult to treat 38 chickens twice a day with the tablets. I'd go with the copper sulfate since you have it. Use a plastic waterer since it's acidic.

You have the dose of the 'zole correct for our single patient. She's going to be just fine.

Yes, safe for pea cocks.
 
The video was good, but too quick for me to really understand what I was seeing. I think I caught a glimpse of yellow plaque. That would indicate an infection in her throat, possibly closing down her airway. The infection may be canker, a protoza that won't respond to an antibiotic. You need an anti-protozoa med like this. https://www.revivalanimal.com/product/fish-zole?sku=22166-698 You can order it and have it shipped right away. Or ask for it at your local Petsmart.
 

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