My hen is about 7 months old. She was given to me back in November. I believe she is probably a Cornish X. Let me say up front that I have no intention of eating her and I don't believe her problem is related to the typical problems of the Cornish X breeds. She has been laying eggs for a month and is very active. Two days ago I noticed that she was breathing heavily so I kept an eye on her. Yesterday she was breathing with her mouth open and was only half-heartedly scratching. I brought her in and put her in a dog crate. She's ****** - wants to be out with her posse. Last night she was gasping for air everytime she took a breath. She didn't seem to be gasping as much this morning until I gave her some water and a little food (layer pellets mashed up with olive oil and water in case it's impacted crop). Her wattels and comb are their normal red color. She doesn't seem to act like she feels bad at all. Her appetite is normal and she's drinking. She laid an egg in the dog crate after I got her inside. Yesterday her poop was normal but smaller than usual but today it was mostly water. I had thought it might be impacted crop - the crop felt squishy but wasn't sticking out like a golf ball, as I've heard it described. No sour smell to her breath. I gave her Duramyacin10 yesterday and this morning just in case it was a respiratory issue but haven't seen any change. She's never been wormed. I was going to wait until February to worm when it's warmer but now I'm wondering if I should worm her now just to be safe. I have wazine and valbazin. If I worm her should I start with wazine or go straight to valbazin.
