Gasping for air

[rbum]

My RIR died yesterday evening. She looked healthy comb was red and normal looking. She went into coop Wednesday evening earlier than normal then Thursday when I got home I let them out and noticed she ran up to me but looked like she was gasping for air. She died about 5 minutes later. I have 2 other hens now and I am not sure what happened. We give them snacks of dried worms and rice with cayenne pepper to purge any intestinal worms. Possible she had respiratory problem? Any advice? I gave them some vet rx this evening hopefully to save the others.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sorry about your hen.

Are any of your other birds acting sick?

Without necropsy, there's no way to know what happened. Sending the body to your state lab would give you some answers. There's so many things that can suddenly go wrong with laying hens.

If you suspect that they have worms, then getting a fecal float for confirmation would be good. If that's not possible and you wish to de-worm them, use an anthelmintic like Safeguard (Fenbendazole) or Valbazen - this way you know you are de-worming them. Unfortunately, dried worms, rice and cayenned pepper are not effective against worm infestations.

 

[rbum]

Thanks and cayenne pepper I thought was a good natural deworming method. Anything spicy.