Gurgling hen - please help!

[gypsyroselee]

I need your help!

I was away this weekend (neighbours were looking after the girls) and returned home to find one of my hens very lethargic. Before I left on Friday she was her usual self - very confident, definately the boss and always liked to eat. Today however, i haven't seen her eat at all and only drink a very small amount. Normally she follows me everywhere but today she is hardly moving. I've checked her croup and there is nothing in there, her breath does not smell, she is not egg bound. I found some lice on her and have de-loused her. But I can't think what could be wrong with her. The other hens are fine. She is making a gurgling noise when she breathes and after de-lousing her she had some clear liquid at her nostrils. Her vent is clean, though maybe slightly wet.
When she breathes it sounds very like gurgling.

Vet has given me Baytril to give to her for 24-48hours to see if she perks up, if not I have to take her back in to the vets. She has accepted some of this in a syringe but refuses all food.

It has been very wet and cold here - not sure if that helps to know?

Do you have any other ideas? I have tried to temp her to eat with her favourite treats but nothing.

Please help. She is about 6 years old.

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

Quote:
Sure wish I could help but I'm pretty new at this, would like to say I wish all the best for your little hen. Someone I'm sure can give you some helpful info! How can you check the croup? Healing

 

[gypsyroselee]

Thanks for your reply.

Meant to say crop not croup. I felt it and gently pressed it but it didn't feel like there was anything inside at all.

Have just spoken to neighbours who were looking after the girls and they said it was Monday morning that they first noticed anything was up with her.

 

[MoodyChicken]

It's a respiratory disease. Baytril will knock it out, but not in a day's time. Within a week of treatment you should see improvement. Ask the vet if you can continue the Baytril, I'm pretty dang sure that will do the trick. How much has he told you to give her? I give .4 cc for a 22 ounce bird. Also, give her VetRx, both orally and externally. Rub a few drops on her nostrils to open her airways and give her about .4 cc per 22 ounces orally. I swear by Baytril, best stuff for sniffles and infections. Also, get some oxine and "fog" her with it. Oxine is wonderful and will help kill bacteria and clear her lungs.

 

[Darin115]

I have no clue what it is called but I have had hens die with the same symptoms in the past. She will not last long unless the meds work.

I treated with antibiotics and they would get better only to have it come back later and the antibiotics not work.

I now cull if these symptoms occur. If I hear the gurgling it is over. I cull immediately and disinfect with bleach.

I lost several hens the first time. The 2nd time I lost 1 because I culled it immediately. I have had no more since.

I am sorry because I know that is not what you want to hear.

Darin

 

[MoodyChicken]

Forgot to mention, the lack of appetite is expected. Just continue to offer her favorite foods and make her water easily available. She will nibble throughout the day. I give my sick birds cheese, seeds, bread, and corn. I put it all in front of them so they can choose when to eat.

 

[MoodyChicken]

Quote:
There are many diseases that cause gurgling, so you two might not be experiencing the same disease. Respiratory illnesses are usually hard to identify but fortunately can be treated the same (for the most part).

Is it possible that you did not treat long enough with the antibiotics? Stopping treatment before the infection is completely destroyed usually results in a relapse that's much worse and harder to get rid of (immunity to drug).

 

[gypsyroselee]

Thanks for both or your replies.

I felt really positive reading Moodychicken's reply - Darin I so hope I don't have to cull her. We had a horrific dog attack two weeks ago and she was the only survivor. For her to die so soon after that is just unthinkable.

The vet has recommended 1mil per litre of water.
I'll look into getting the other things you suggest Moodychicken. I can't face culling her without trying to do something. Just hope it doesn't spread to the others because of this.

Thanks again.

 

[rockranchchickens]

In addition to respiratory infection, I would treat her for gape worm. It is a parasite that attaches to the throat lining and stays there, shedding eggs into the chicken's GI tract. Symptoms come on very suddenly.

We use topical Ivermectin, which is forumalated for cattle. I'm not a vet, however. We get Ivermectin from our vet, though. Chickens get gape worm from eating earthworms. We treat our chickens for scaly leg mite with the topical Ivermectin, as well. I think topical Ivermectin is called Iprinex (sp?). they never show gape worm for at least a couple of months after we treat them for scaly leg mite. We treat at least 2 chickens per year for gape worm. Apparently the male is red and the female is green, both brightly colored. The entwine and live, attached to the throat.

The smaller the chicken the more of a problem, although we just treated Buffy, our buff orp, for this. She was making a cooing sound--sounded just like a dove. Within a few hours after treatment, the cooing sound was gone. She was flying up for treats as usual.

We don't eat any eggs for 2 weeks after treating a chicken. Since Buffy lays brown eggs, we won't eat any brown eggs. The white, pink, and green eggs we will still eat.

Wishing the best for your fine feathered friend,
Frances

 

[MoodyChicken]

Quote:
The problem with respiratory diseases is that pretty much all of them leave the bird as a carrier. So it's likely that your other birds already have it. Now that doesn't mean they'll get sick, but they will continue to spread it to any new birds you bring onto your property or should you sell them they will spread it to their new flock.

You say she was attacked? It's possible that she her lungs were injured and have now become infected. Did she have any deep puncture wounds? Was she stressed and reserved during recovery? The other possibility is that she was a carrier and the stress of the attack weakened her immune system enough for the disease to cause symptoms.

With a lot of TLC and some good meds you'll get her under control. Respiratory diseases a nasty and gross, but they're easy to fix.

Are you using liquid baytril or pill? I don't think he's dosing it right. What's the concentration?