Hen Congested & Struggling to Breath Normally

[Sandistorm]

Hi everyone, I’m fairly new to this forum and hoping I can get some advice from my fellow chicken keepers. I have a female Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock who is 9 months old. She is dealing with some health issues and I’m not sure how to help her. About a week ago she started to make a high-pitched squeak that to me sounds like a sneeze. It only lasted a few minutes and wasn’t too concerning at the time, but just to be safe we conducted a health exam. She seemed to appear healthy and we saw no signs of injury, illness, infestations, etc. Her nostrils and throat were clear. She appeared to be fine all week but yesterday morning 5/29 when I let her out of the coop I observed her not eating or drinking and distancing herself from the flock. She had a clear liquid running from her nostrils and was breathing through her mouth. LOTS of sneezing and some head-shaking like she was struggling to breath. I brought her inside the house to calm her down which did seem to help (she is a momma’s girl so just me holding her and snuggling helped a lot). Once she calmed down she was breathing normal but I could still hear the congestion in her lungs. Her eyes and throat all look fine, with no sign of discharge, blockage etc. I gave her water with apple cider vinegar and set up a diffuser with Eucalyptus oil. Also treated her topically with VetRx. She ate blueberries, a little cucumber (no skin), some cooked egg and a few live crickets. We gave her another thorough exam and all seemed fine except for the congestion. By the end of the day she was breathing much better and was eating her regular crumble diet and drinking normally. This morning however is a repeat of yesterday. No appetite for food or water on her own. She had another really bad sneezing spell and was having a hard time breathing normally. I am currently giving her some more essential oil therapy and made her a scrambled egg. She ate about half along with a few blueberries and some crumble. She still sounds VERY congested and there is still a clear discharge from her nostrils. Both eyes and her throat appear to be normal. I’ve spent HOURS researching via the internet and books as to what may be causing this but haven’t been able to determine what is wrong. Perhaps she has an allergy or infection? If anyone has suggestions on what is the problem OR if you can recommend any treatments I would really appreciate it. Thank you for your help!!

PS: I should note that yesterday she did not lay an egg – her last one was laid on Monday 5/26. She was broody about a month ago for just a few days but has been laying normally since and she currently does not appear to be egg bound or having any other reproductive issues.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

What type of bedding are you using? I don't know much about using essential oils, but I know birds are sensitive to stuff like that so be careful. Here's another thread discussing their use.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/essential-oils-and-chickens.1301502/

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree that some oils and fumes can irritate the eyes and respiratory system. Can you ever see any bubbles or foam in either eye? Any swelling of an eyelid or her face? Do you have any pictures of her face? Infectious bronchitis virus and mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) are a couple of common diseases seen in chickens. MG usually causes the bubbles in one eye and swollen eyelids. Infectious bronchitis usually causes sneezing and mild congestion for several weeks. Have you added any new birds recently or had any visitors to your flock with their own chickens? Make sure that your coop has good air circulation, and limit any mold or ammonia odor from droppings.

 

[Sandistorm]

What type of bedding are you using? I don't know much about using essential oils, but I know birds are sensitive to stuff like that so be careful. Here's another thread discussing their use.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/essential-oils-and-chickens.1301502/

Thanks so much for linking the other thread! I'm very careful with essential oils but will definitely check out that link. I use hemp bedding on the coop floor which is changed out every 3-4 weeks, even though they rarely leave any dropping there. At night the flock roosts over a shelf that collects most of their droppings, but it's covered in vinyl sheets which are cleaned daily. During the day they have access to a covered run (with sand flooring) as well as a large fenced-in area (with all grass). I do live in Florida with all sorts of pollen, seasonal weeds, etc. pretty much year round. I'm fairly certain whatever is going on is specific to this one hen, so that's why I wonder if it could be an allergy or something? Thanks again for your response - I appreciate it =)

 

[Sandistorm]

I agree that some oils and fumes can irritate the eyes and respiratory system. Can you ever see any bubbles or foam in either eye? Any swelling of an eyelid or her face? Do you have any pictures of her face? Infectious bronchitis virus and mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) are a couple of common diseases seen in chickens. MG usually causes the bubbles in one eye and swollen eyelids. Infectious bronchitis usually causes sneezing and mild congestion for several weeks. Have you added any new birds recently or had any visitors to your flock with their own chickens? Make sure that your coop has good air circulation, and limit any mold or ammonia odor from droppings.

Thanks so much for responding! She has absolutely no swelling at all and her eyes/face look completely normal. She seems to be fine for several hours and then has (what I call a spell) where she is struggling to breath and is sneezing a lot. She had some clear discharge from her nostrils yesterday but today it seems to have cleared up a bit. It's been nearly a year since any new members have been added to the flock and we never have any visitors. The coop has very good ventilation and is cleaned daily. I do live in Florida so we have lots of pollen, seasonal weeds, etc. so I wonder if could be an allergy of some sort? I'm just not sure what's wrong and unfortunately, we don't have a vet anywhere nearby so really hoping I can help her through this. Thanks again for your response!