Help! 12 week Chick can’t breath well...

[Lacey Gardner]

Help! I’m all out of ideas and you guys are so knowledgeable. my girl has been on tylan antibiotics for about 3 days now and no improvement. It’s been about 3 weeks she has been so lethargic stopped growing like the rest of the birds and now she is open mouth breathing gapping with every breath... I have a video but it won’t let me upload so her are pics of the video...

all the time and always has her eyes closed. No weezing or sneezing, no runny nose and eyes are clear. She has been with all 24 of my other chicks for the past month and no one else is showing any symptoms. She is now separated drinking her antibiotic water. Could it be worms??? Like gape worm. I’m afraid she won’t make it through the night at this point.

 

[aart]

I have a video but it won’t let me upload so her are pics of the video...

Vids need to be uploaded to youtube then linked here.
How did you decide on tylan, what is the dosage, and how is it being administered?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Tell us the size (square footage of floor space) of your building and how much ventilation they have (square footage of 24 hour a day openings)

 

[Eggcessive]

It is strange that none of the other 24 chickens is showing signs. It could be something like fungus from mold (aspergillosis) since you haven’t seen any improvement from Tylan. Has there ever been a respiratory disease in any older chickens before? Could you see a vet? If you should lose her, I would try to get a necropsy through your state poultry vet to look for a cause. She could have a heart issue or some other internal issue that is causing this. Gapeworm is fairly rare, but SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer can treat it with a 5 day treatment of 0.25 ml per pound given orally. Make sure they have plenty of fresh air and ventilation. Prevent any water spills that might promote mold. Here is a list of most state vets and info about necropsies:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[Lacey Gardner]

It is strange that none of the other 24 chickens is showing signs. It could be something like fungus from mold (aspergillosis) since you haven’t seen any improvement from Tylan. Has there ever been a respiratory disease in any older chickens before? Could you see a vet? If you should lose her, I would try to get a necropsy through your state poultry vet to look for a cause. She could have a heart issue or some other internal issue that is causing this. Gapeworm is fairly rare, but SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer can treat it with a 5 day treatment of 0.25 ml per pound given orally. Make sure they have plenty of fresh air and ventilation. Prevent any water spills that might promote mold. Here is a list of most state vets and info about necropsies:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Thanks so much for the info this is very helpful! Very strange That no one else has any Symptoms other than one silkie who has conjunctivitis in one eye that I treated with terramycin but can back again.
I did have one very young bird about three months ago that looked like she was on her death bed and had this sticky goo in her beak that when she opened it it strung from top to bottom. Around that same time I had a few others sneezing I treated all theones that were sneezing with vetrx, ACV in water fresh herbs like oregano, thyme, bee balm. Etc and they all got better fast And haven’t had any issues since then. The one they was on her breath bed with sticky beak I treated with tylan antibiotics and she made a quick recover even after just one dose. She is full grown now and hasn’t had an issue again.
It could be the mold??? I did find some from where some food spilled and got wet I cleaned it up as soon as I saw it. I’m out there daily but I guess it’s possible she tried to eat too much of that before I cleaned it up?

 

[Lacey Gardner]

Tell us the size (square footage of floor space) of your building and how much ventilation they have (square footage of 24 hour a day openings)

They free range all day and in the evening are in their secure area that is 9 x 25 open air.. Hen house that is inside the secure area is 9x7 with big drop down vents on the front side and open air roof breeze way also has a small fan pushing outside air through.

 

[Lacey Gardner]

Vids need to be uploaded to youtube then linked here.
How did you decide on tylan, what is the dosage, and how is it being administered?

Here is the video:

I had a chick about 3 months ago that was sick with a goopy beak all sticky and when she opened it it strung from top to bottom and was very lethargic not moving around I treated her with tylan dosage given by vet mixed in her water and she was better the next day. I have tried every natural remedy for this chicken so was using the tylan as a last resort.

 

[Lacey Gardner]

Thanks so much for the info this is very helpful! Very strange That no one else has any Symptoms other than one silkie who has conjunctivitis in one eye that I treated with terramycin but can back again.
I did have one very young bird about three months ago that looked like she was on her death bed and had this sticky goo in her beak that when she opened it it strung from top to bottom. Around that same time I had a few others sneezing I treated all theones that were sneezing with vetrx, ACV in water fresh herbs like oregano, thyme, bee balm. Etc and they all got better fast And haven’t had any issues since then. The one they was on her breath bed with sticky beak I treated with tylan antibiotics and she made a quick recover even after just one dose. She is full grown now and hasn’t had an issue again.
It could be the mold??? I did find some from where some food spilled and got wet I cleaned it up as soon as I saw it. I’m out there daily but I guess it’s possible she tried to eat too much of that before I cleaned it up?

 

[Eggcessive]

A respiratory illness from mold (aspergillosis) is from breathing the mold spores, not eating it. Eating moldy food is different, they can get a toxic reaction that causes neurological signs. Aspergillosis may cause silent gasping. The mold can cause fungal growth in the air sacs and spread throughout the lungs and body. We can’t really guess what is going on without testing. It sounds like you have had a contagious respiratory disease going through the flock. Infectious bronchitis, mycoplasma gallisepticum or MG, coryza, and ILT are some of the bacterial and viral diseases that are common. Each one may be complicated with a secondary disease. Testing or a necropsy is the best way to know what it is. Most respiratory diseases stay in the flock for life until the last one is bone, since they become carriers. Aspergillosis from mold is different, and cannot be spread to another chicken, but only caused by the mold.

 

[Lacey Gardner]

A respiratory illness from mold (aspergillosis) is from breathing the mold spores, not eating it. Eating moldy food is different, they can get a toxic reaction that causes neurological signs. Aspergillosis may cause silent gasping. The mold can cause fungal growth in the air sacs and spread throughout the lungs and body. We can’t really guess what is going on without testing. It sounds like you have had a contagious respiratory disease going through the flock. Infectious bronchitis, mycoplasma gallisepticum or MG, coryza, and ILT are some of the bacterial and viral diseases that are common. Each one may be complicated with a secondary disease. Testing or a necropsy is the best way to know what it is. Most respiratory diseases stay in the flock for life until the last one is bone, since they become carriers. Aspergillosis from mold is different, and cannot be spread to another chicken, but only caused by the mold.

Great info thank you! I’m thinking some respiratory illness and that the other birds had good immunes and were able to kick it and/or show no signs of it but maybe this girl has bad immunity she is also not growing like the rest of them so maybe a little bit of failure to thrive which I’m sure goes along with bad immunes. I will definitely look into sending her in to be examined if she doesn’t make it to try and see exactly what it is.