Help - is my chicken sick?

[kqs]

Hi, thanks for reading. We are on day 8 totally new to chickens. We have pullets who are now about 16 weeks old. First one, now two, are acting very weird. Not really eating/drinking, laying in shade, lethargic. I took a video of one of our girls but I can't get it to load here. Basically noisy mouth breathing and then a large squawk about every 20 seconds. Any suggestions as to what is going on here? Thanks so much for the help in advance.

 

[kqs]

Here's a link to the video on youtube this repeats over and over

 

[Stipenvlerk]

Hi @kqs ’

how are your chickens today?
did you separate them from the rest of your flock?

- are they eating and drinking at all?
- how does their poop look?
- how do their eyes look?
- are they able to walk?
- what temperature is it where you live?

 

[kqs]

Hi @kqs ’

how are your chickens today?
did you separate them from the rest of your flock?

- are they eating and drinking at all?
- how does their poop look?
- how do their eyes look?
- are they able to walk?
- what temperature is it where you live?

Thank you so much for responding. The chickens are the same. Maybe one of them is 10% better. We have had a vertical learning curve, so we did not know we needed to have anything prepared to separate sick chickens. But I am working on building something today. But it really is only big enough for one chicken. We're having to use scrap materials. We'll have to build a second one later. I know a dog crate would work, but we were over-budget building our main coop & run as it was. So they are all still together. I have been watching them to make sure no one is getting picked on.

To answer your questions, one of them is definitely drinking on her own. I have not seen the other one drink by herself. They aren't really eating much, or at least not that I can tell. They are about 16 weeks old. But we have 3 young kids & we both work, so can't be out there every moment. We have been spoon feeding the sick ones a little water. Their poop had been gross but it has been a lot better -- we called the feed store where we got them and they suggested treating the flock (we have six) with corid because I had seen blood in one of their poops. But now their poop looks better than it has since they came here. Their eyes are ok except as my one son says "they look sad." They are walking but mostly are sleeping standing up or laying down, so eyes are also closed a lot. It is really hot here, high 80s/90s today. The whole area the chickens are in is in the shade.

The other thing was a friend who has chickens suggested treating for gapeworm because we have seen them eating earthworms, etc., but I read this is rare and can mimic respiratory illness. We did give a treatment with Safe-Guard last night which we were told was to be repeated for 4 more days and supposedly it wouldn't hurt to treat them. They aren't laying yet.

I wish I had known so much more before getting chickens. We really felt like we did our homework, but we are feeling completely unprepared especially with ill chickens right away & during summer. Somehow we thought most of the respiratory illnesses would pop up in winter. This has been so tough, we were expecting to enjoy having them but have not been so far.

 

[Stipenvlerk]

Thank you so much for responding. The chickens are the same. Maybe one of them is 10% better. We have had a vertical learning curve, so we did not know we needed to have anything prepared to separate sick chickens. But I am working on building something today. But it really is only big enough for one chicken. We're having to use scrap materials. We'll have to build a second one later. I know a dog crate would work, but we were over-budget building our main coop & run as it was. So they are all still together. I have been watching them to make sure no one is getting picked on.

To answer your questions, one of them is definitely drinking on her own. I have not seen the other one drink by herself. They aren't really eating much, or at least not that I can tell. They are about 16 weeks old. But we have 3 young kids & we both work, so can't be out there every moment. We have been spoon feeding the sick ones a little water. Their poop had been gross but it has been a lot better -- we called the feed store where we got them and they suggested treating the flock (we have six) with corid because I had seen blood in one of their poops. But now their poop looks better than it has since they came here. Their eyes are ok except as my one son says "they look sad." They are walking but mostly are sleeping standing up or laying down, so eyes are also closed a lot. It is really hot here, high 80s/90s today. The whole area the chickens are in is in the shade.

The other thing was a friend who has chickens suggested treating for gapeworm because we have seen them eating earthworms, etc., but I read this is rare and can mimic respiratory illness. We did give a treatment with Safe-Guard last night which we were told was to be repeated for 4 more days and supposedly it wouldn't hurt to treat them. They aren't laying yet.

I wish I had known so much more before getting chickens. We really felt like we did our homework, but we are feeling completely unprepared especially with ill chickens right away & during summer. Somehow we thought most of the respiratory illnesses would pop up in winter. This has been so tough, we were expecting to enjoy having them but have not been so far.

I’m going to tagg someone who might know what’s going on... @coach723 @Wyorp Rock have you any idea what’s going on?

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

Just from personal experience with a respiratory illness that I’m dealing with now... I had a rooster that was gasping for air just like your pullet in the video. Almost like the airway is swollen. In a desperate attempt to save him I gave him oxyteracycline (sp?) antibiotic from Durvet. Administered 1cc subcutaneously on the lower neck. Within 24 hours he improved greatly. Now he’s back to normal after a couple doses.

Whatever is going through my flock is hitting one bird after another. Some of them just sneeze and act lethargic, some gasp for air after a few days. When that happens we administer the antibiotic for two days. So far it’s working. The other birds that aren’t so badly affected seem to get over it in two weeks without antibiotics.

But the chicken professionals here might have some better ideas. I’m just mentioning something that worked for me in my situation that saved my birds.

A veterinarian would be the ideal place to bring one to figure out what it has. If at all possible.

 

[coach723]

I'm glad you treated for coccidiosis, I would complete that if you haven't already. Worming also not a bad idea. But it looks respiratory to me, with the labored breathing, wheezing, coughing/sneezing. If vet care is an option for you then I would do that so that hopefully they can specifically ID which one it is. Some of them are bacterial and can be successfully treated, some of them are viral and some will stay with the bird for life and symptoms will come and go, often showing up during times of stress. The birds become carriers. The symptoms can be treated, but will continue to recur. I'm not an expert on the various respiratory diseases, others are better than I.
https://www.evolutionfarmvets.co.uk/respiratory-disease-chickens
https://extension.psu.edu/respiratory-diseases-of-small-poultry-flocks

 

[kqs]

Just from personal experience with a respiratory illness that I’m dealing with now... I had a rooster that was gasping for air just like your pullet in the video. Almost like the airway is swollen. In a desperate attempt to save him I gave him oxyteracycline (sp?) antibiotic from Durvet. Administered 1cc subcutaneously on the lower neck. Within 24 hours he improved greatly. Now he’s back to normal after a couple doses.

Whatever is going through my flock is hitting one bird after another. Some of them just sneeze and act lethargic, some gasp for air after a few days. When that happens we administer the antibiotic for two days. So far it’s working. The other birds that aren’t so badly affected seem to get over it in two weeks without antibiotics.

But the chicken professionals here might have some better ideas. I’m just mentioning something that worked for me in my situation that saved my birds.

A veterinarian would be the ideal place to bring one to figure out what it has. If at all possible.

We can't really do a vet...pretty sure we don't have anyone in our area that would do chickens either. Where do you get this medicine? Do you have to go to a vet?

 

[kqs]

I'm glad you treated for coccidiosis, I would complete that if you haven't already. Worming also not a bad idea. But it looks respiratory to me, with the labored breathing, wheezing, coughing/sneezing. If vet care is an option for you then I would do that so that hopefully they can specifically ID which one it is. Some of them are bacterial and can be successfully treated, some of them are viral and some will stay with the bird for life and symptoms will come and go, often showing up during times of stress. The birds become carriers. The symptoms can be treated, but will continue to recur. I'm not an expert on the various respiratory diseases, others are better than I.
https://www.evolutionfarmvets.co.uk/respiratory-disease-chickens
https://extension.psu.edu/respiratory-diseases-of-small-poultry-flocks

Thank you for this insight!

 

[nimrah]

I've had chickens before none have ever done this before but you said it was not eating or drinking. does it shake its head a lot? has it been with another chicken that has recently been lost or harmed?