"Foam" in eyes, also cough/wheezing? Swollen waddle?

[Sunshyne276]

I noticed one of my chickens (she was VERY ill, and presumably "egg bound", a couple weeks ago - but recovered after several days) is wheezing, and I heard a cough. Then, another chicken had what looked to be "foam" on her eye. Then, another hen has one swollen waddle, and it feels hard, almost as though there were something (round like a "BB") inside it. And, another hen seems to be having a difficult time passing an egg! Could these be symptoms of something in particular?

Thanks in advance!

 

[RM44]

Good grief! It sounds to me like a few different things going on. I am no expert on all the chicken illnesses, but the foam in the eye and the coughing/sneezing are signs of respiratory diseases. The hard waddle; well, ya got me on that one?

Do some google searches for chicken diseases, read up on the respiratory ones and see if you can pinpoint some common symptoms. If they're all sick (or many of them) with respiratory symptoms, they've probably got some common ones to help you pinpoint the problem.

 

[MotherJean]

Probably Infectious Bronchitis (IB) - here's a link to info on it in the Merck Vet Manual: http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/206500.htm You should know, however, that similar symptoms can be found in mild cases of: Newcastle disease, laryngotracheitis, and infectious coryza.

You might want to take notice that this respiratory disease damages the reproductive system in hens. Many will return to normal egg production after recovery, but some may not. There is no treatment for the disease, however, secondary bacterial infections (particularly sinus infections) can occur and these are treated with antibiotics. Normal course of the "cold" symptoms is 10-14 days. If your birds don't look better after that, you might suspect secondary infection. I believe IB can be prevented through vaccine.

If you search "infectious bronchitis," I'm sure you'll find some informative posts on the subject.

 

[Sunshyne276]

Thank you both for the replies! I will look into the infectious bronchitis.

Thanks again!

 

[austradork]

I have a hen with a swollen wattle too! I posted here about it. My boyfriend and I have invested much time (and expense!) trying to get to the bottom of it. I'll spare you our saga, but it seems to be caused by a bacterial infection. We finally found a vet that actually knows about chickens (easier said than done in Seattle!). Dr. Dan prescribed Baytril twice a day for 10 days. By the end of the the ten days, the swelling was about 90% improved. But as soon as we stopped the daily meds, the swelling returned with a vengeance. So, we took her back to the vet and this time she was prescribed Clavamox twice a day for three weeks. We just started this course of meds yesterday so the results are to-be-determined. However, the vet said that Clavamox treats a wider range of bacterial infections, and is a stronger med in general. So, we're optimistic.