Hey guys,
I'm at a loss here and was wondering if I may call on your help again. My top hen Coronette, a barred rock, has fairly recently started to gasp for breath. She does not appear depressed, nor sick. Looks as if there is absolutely nothing wrong with her, but after just a little running around or if I catch and grab her, she starts stretching her neck a bit and then sticks her tongue out as she gasps for breath. My first thought is that it is gapeworm, so I put diatomaceous earth into their feed, tylan into their water, and got Ivermectin, dripping 5 drops of it at the base of her neck.
Today, I decided to see if it may be a sour crop. We just had one of our original flock's hens die a week ago, during which she convulsed in front of me and as she died, a ton of fluid spilled out of her mouth. We noticed her acting a little depressed recently, and thought it was because one of our other chickens died a few weeks back (we cremated). I took Coronette and flipped her upside down and she started really stretching her neck out and sticking her tongue out so far, it was as if she was trying to vomit. Her crop felt empty, and a bit squishy but it did not feel full to me at all.
I have no idea what to do. I have looked at a lot of gasping chicken threads, done some research online (which is how I got to Ivermectin) but all I see is that the chickens exhibit other symptoms, none of which Coronette has. Like I said, looks totally fine. Participates in scratching and eating and drinking like all other chickens, minus the throat gasping as if she ran a marathon.
I don't want to sound cheap, but the vet around me charges $65 for an appointment, and while I know that a lot of you would spend that, I'm not sure how I feel about spending so much on a chicken. I feel terrible for that, but I wanted to be honest. How often should Ivermectin be given? Is this a week long treatment? I DID try and look down her throat, but she's very twitchy if you try to hold her beak. I have a really powerful flashlight, but I can't see too far down her throat. The only thing I noticed, and not sure if it's a chicken's uvula, but there a weird little tab on the bottom round part of her esophagus at the top. Kind of looks like the little tail of the inside of the letter Q. I did also try to stick a swab down, but she twitched away from me and I felt that if I kept going, I could punch through her throat accidentally.
Any thoughts? I don't know what else I can do, except take her to a vet.
I'm at a loss here and was wondering if I may call on your help again. My top hen Coronette, a barred rock, has fairly recently started to gasp for breath. She does not appear depressed, nor sick. Looks as if there is absolutely nothing wrong with her, but after just a little running around or if I catch and grab her, she starts stretching her neck a bit and then sticks her tongue out as she gasps for breath. My first thought is that it is gapeworm, so I put diatomaceous earth into their feed, tylan into their water, and got Ivermectin, dripping 5 drops of it at the base of her neck.
Today, I decided to see if it may be a sour crop. We just had one of our original flock's hens die a week ago, during which she convulsed in front of me and as she died, a ton of fluid spilled out of her mouth. We noticed her acting a little depressed recently, and thought it was because one of our other chickens died a few weeks back (we cremated). I took Coronette and flipped her upside down and she started really stretching her neck out and sticking her tongue out so far, it was as if she was trying to vomit. Her crop felt empty, and a bit squishy but it did not feel full to me at all.
I have no idea what to do. I have looked at a lot of gasping chicken threads, done some research online (which is how I got to Ivermectin) but all I see is that the chickens exhibit other symptoms, none of which Coronette has. Like I said, looks totally fine. Participates in scratching and eating and drinking like all other chickens, minus the throat gasping as if she ran a marathon.
I don't want to sound cheap, but the vet around me charges $65 for an appointment, and while I know that a lot of you would spend that, I'm not sure how I feel about spending so much on a chicken. I feel terrible for that, but I wanted to be honest. How often should Ivermectin be given? Is this a week long treatment? I DID try and look down her throat, but she's very twitchy if you try to hold her beak. I have a really powerful flashlight, but I can't see too far down her throat. The only thing I noticed, and not sure if it's a chicken's uvula, but there a weird little tab on the bottom round part of her esophagus at the top. Kind of looks like the little tail of the inside of the letter Q. I did also try to stick a swab down, but she twitched away from me and I felt that if I kept going, I could punch through her throat accidentally.
Any thoughts? I don't know what else I can do, except take her to a vet.
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