Heavy breathing Rhode Island Red

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CrystalClear

CrystalClear

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My RIR hen "Rita" is 4 or 5 years old. I almost lost her about 2 years ago to an unknown sickness. She went from about 5 lbs to less than 2 lbs. I was able to nurse her back to health and now she is one of the heaviest hens I have. Her molt at the end of 2015 went perfectly and she has nice shiny feathers, healthy looking bright red comb, and lively eyes. Rita is very active, she can and will run, she bosses most of the other hens around, and she eats well. I've noticed for a few weeks now she is breathing loudly/heavily compared with the other hens. I have a feeling it could be age related. She stopped laying about 8 months to a year ago, and some of the hens that she came with as a chick have already passed away from natural causes. I clean the coop every 1.5 to 2 weeks with a full change out of nest hay and shavings for bedding. None of the other hens show any signs of illness (there are 7 total). Anyone have any thoughts of what Rita might be suffering from?
 
Hi :welcome

Glad you could join us here! It's sounds like you have taken great care of Rita. I too am thinking her breathing is an age rated problem and possibly something to with her heart and lungs. Please do post in the emergency/disease section of the forum. Here is the link ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/10/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures
I'm sure members there will be able to offer you more advice on Rita and her breathing.

Wishing you the very best of luck and enjoy BYC :frow
 
welcome-byc.gif
Yorkshire coop gave you the link for emergencies already.
 
In giving her situation more thought, do you think she is heavy enough to cause shortness of breath etc? I'm thinking of my own health and I have finally lost some lbs,.(not nearly enough) and am breathing better. Maybe she just needs to eat fewer treats and stick to her chicken feed. Also if she has stopped laying, she should NOT be getting layer feed or crushed oyster shell. Without egg production - excess calcium can bring on kidney problems.
 
[Glad you could join us here! It's sounds like you have taken great care of Rita. I too am thinking her breathing is an age rated problem and possibly something to with her heart and lungs. Please do post in the emergency/disease section of the forum. Here is the link ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/10/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures
I'm sure members there will be able to offer you more advice on Rita and her breathing.]

Thank you Yorkshire coop for the link. I will post my question on there as well. I appreciate your input!


[In giving her situation more thought, do you think she is heavy enough to cause shortness of breath etc? I'm thinking of my own health and I have finally lost some lbs,.(not nearly enough) and am breathing better. Maybe she just needs to eat fewer treats and stick to her chicken feed. Also if she has stopped laying, she should NOT be getting layer feed or crushed oyster shell. Without egg production - excess calcium can bring on kidney problems.]

Thank you drumstick diva for your thoughts. I will take my scale out to the coop and see exactly how much she weighs now. I have a nice small animal digital scale that works great for the chickens and cats. I didn't know about the layer feed and crushed oyster shell! That is very enlightening. Three out of seven of my hens no longer lay so they shouldn't be getting those feeds. Great to know!
 

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