Hen Breathing Very Heavily - Advice?? - *VIDEO INCLUDED*

[Yazzo]

One of my hens, seemingly out of nowhere, has developed very labored breathing. She is a quiet hen, but she wasn't really showing any symptoms before this afternoon, when she started breathing very heavily. I took her inside and gave her a bit of warm horehound tea (horehound is an expectorant - I hoped it may make her cough up any mucus stuck in her windpipe). Her breathing calmed down a LOT for a while, but right now it's heavier than it was before, possibly because she was outside again for a little while. I feel pretty helpless just sitting here, and I'm not sure if it's something that has to be treated RIGHT away. From what I've been researching, it could be several different things. I looked down her throat with a flashlight but there didn't seem to be any obstructions or gapeworms. However, I can't see too far down the throat without a special camera.

All the vets are closed right now, and I'm still looking around to see if any of them treat individual chickens.


Here's a video I took of her a few minutes ago:

Any thoughts on how I could treat her? Has anyone else experienced this? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

looks pretty serious, i would guess that if you want to keep her and there is a vet open i would be calling but i am no expert on this. hopefully someone will respond

 

[Granny Hatchet]

i showed this to my mother and she said its choking and it may be from her crop area .to not give it anything else to drink because it will go down the windpipe and try to turn the chicken upside down and back a few times. she says she has seen this when she was little and her mother did nothing, it would go down by itself. like i said, we dont know a whole lot about their health, its just a guess

 

[freerange4hens]

This brakes my heart to see this video.. It looks like someone posted something similar back in 2010 and they recommended a pea size amnt of ivermectrin in a small cap, added some water, swirled it and gave it all to her in an eye dropper or tipping her forward and start manipulating her right breast area to see if she can get anything up? Also they say you could flush her with baking soda and water 3 times with a large syringe. I really hope she's ok. I hate to see animals suffer

 

[Yazzo]

i showed this to my mother and she said its choking and it may be from her crop area .to not give it anything else to drink because it will go down the windpipe and try to turn the chicken upside down and back a few times. she says she has seen this when she was little and her mother did nothing, it would go down by itself. like i said, we dont know a whole lot about their health, its just a guess

Thanks for the input.
I actually tried holding her partially upside down earlier today, but no go. Didn't seem to do anything, and the only discharge coming from her mouth is a bit of spit when she sneezes (which is hardly ever). I might try it again later though. I don't really want to disturb her too much now. I'm hoping she needs some rest and her condition will improve.

I just gave her some warm horehound and mint tea, and put a warm, wet towel over her head, and her breathing has been getting better. It's no longer the wheezing gasps like in the video, but still bad. I may give her another herbal solution, and hope she gets some good rest. Still can't figure out what it is though.

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be infectious larygotracheitis or infectious bronchitis. ILT has a lot of the symptoms you describe, and most of the time there is bloody mucus that comes from the nose. Infectious bronchitis is another consideration, and all of these diseases typically get worse in the evening. Here are 2 good sites to read about it click here:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/83/infectious-laryngotracheitis-ilt

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[dawg53]

I believe she has gapeworm. Withhold her feed for 24 hours. Purchase levamisole wormer and add it to water. Provide it to her for 3 days straight to drink. If she's not drinking, you'll have use an eyedropper to give it to her orally. Hopefully she will swallow it on her own and not aspirate. I've never used levamisole, but here's a link to dosage and how to mix it: Post #8.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/794775/levamisole-dosage-and-gapeworm

Here's another link regarding gapeworms by Covey Rise Plantation, he is the expert when it comes to gapes:
Read posts 13 & 14:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/602699/worming-chickens/10#post_7931055

 

[dawg53]

It could be infectious larygotracheitis or infectious bronchitis. ILT has a lot of the symptoms you describe, and most of the time there is bloody mucus that comes from the nose. Infectious bronchitis is another consideration, and all of these diseases typically get worse in the evening. Here are 2 good sites to read about it click here:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/83/infectious-laryngotracheitis-ilt

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

A bird with ILT usually slings blood all over place. Definitely not IB.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

dawg, i used to live in macon, i still have a 6 pack of battling bulldog beer. course its about 30 yrs old

 

[Eggcessive]

Dawg, good job catching the gapeworm. That was in the back of my mind, but got a little distracted reading links. I did mention that ILT is bloody. The OP's video is very good at capturing what gapeworm looks like when most of us have never seen it. Thanks for being a good teacher.