Hen inhaled food; wheezing & coughing

[chicknmania]

Gave the flock hot mash this morning and they went crazy over it. I think our Ameracauna hen, Muffin, overdid it. After they ate I noticed her wheezing as she breathes, and sneezing. I've seen this happen once or twice in the past, where a bird will inhale something, and they wheeze for awhile, but eventually can clear the obstruction. In this case though, she's been doing it for a few hours, and she can't drink. She goes to drink and just holds her head there. She's distressed, I can't catch her. And I don't want to stress her out too much, chasing her around, but I'm concerned. She can still breathe, since she's running around, but when I was out there last she was sitting on the ground under the roosts where the others are. I'm sure it was something she inhaled, as she was normal yesterday and has been acting fine, as far as I know.

Anything I can do for her?

 

[chicknmania]

Although, considering the tiny breathing hole they have, how could she have gotten anything lodged in there? Maybe it's dust? Water?

Thoughts anyone?

 

[StarFox7585]

If you're worried about stressing her out to catch her (running around) then wait til dark. Gently lift her off her perch. As far as her aliment, I can't offer any advice. Hope she gets better!

 

[chicknmania]

Thank you. I caught her this evening at dinnertime as she'd already gone to roost. A lot of them roost too high to reach, but she was roosting on a low perch with her friends and she was so distressed she didn't notice me., Anyway, I brought her in the house and we looked in her mouth and throat. She has signs of canker. So that's what we're treating her for. I mixed a canker tablet with yogurt and her food, hopefully she will eat it, because if she doesn't we will have to force feed her food, water, and meds. She's very afraid since she's in the house, she's a very timid hen..I stuck a stuffed chicken in the cage with her that I have used in the past for mom-less chicks. Last I looked, Muffin was huddled up to her new "friend", but staring it in the face as if to try to figure out why it wasn't moving, lol.

 

[StarFox7585]

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/154/trichomoniasis-canker-frounce

 

[StarFox7585]

I'm still learning the ins and outs on this site. Is this what your hen has? I didn't know they could get canker sores. None of mine have had it, thank god. I wish chicken ailments and treatments were as easily accessible and researched as they are for dogs and cats!

 

[chicknmania]

I'm still learning the ins and outs on this site. Is this what your hen has? I didn't know they could get canker sores. None of mine have had it, thank god. I wish chicken ailments and treatments were as easily accessible and researched as they are for dogs and cats!

yes, I think she has Canker. She has white spots on the roof of her mouth, and we think the breathing/ sneezing/ coughing are from the canker spreading into her mouth, throat, and insides. However, we started treating her with Canker tablets last night, and she ate half her dinner with the canker tablet crushed up in it. Her breathing improved hugely overnight, she slept peacefully with no noisy breathing. This morning she was on her feet, didn't start the noisy breathing til she got stressed about me coming in the room. I gave her breakfast (soft moistened bread, moistened crumbles, a little yogurt, Liquid B & K vitamin concentrate, a finely chopped grape) with another Canker tablet crushed up in it. She acted interested in her food and water, and I heard her eating after I left the room. So, at this point, I'd say she's doing well and improving. Canker is nasty. It can kill quickly. We lost one of our lovely GPH hens to canker in 2013, at the time I didn't know what it
was either, and by the time we figured she was sick, it was way too late to do much.

And actually, chicken ailments do become more or less recognizable, over time. They can be affected by zillions of nasty ailments, though.

 

[StarFox7585]

What are you using to treat her for canker? Just curious. I'm starting a "chicken book" for myself. With treatments, dosages and nutritional supplementation to any disease/ailment a chicken can have. I'm tired of noticing something is wrong then spending hours and perhaps days looking for the diagnosis and treatments when I could just look it up and start treatment that day or hour.

 

[chicknmania]

They are "canker tablets" I got from www.firststatevetsupply.com. It's Metronadizole, 250Mg, I believe this is also "fish zole" if you can find in a pet store. Thing is, symptoms are not always identical, and sometimes you can go off on the wrong course of treatment. I never thought about Canker with this hen, because I never noticed anything wrong until her breathing issue. Our other hen that had canker had it longer and it was more advanced, she had yellow lesions all over her mouth, and she was just a little lethargic, but she did not have the breathing issue. Her breath was also awful, which is not the case with Muffin, maybe because we caught it early. However, both hens had poor appetite, lost weight, but not so much that it was really obvious until they were more advanced, you see? . You can also use Copper Sulfate to treat Canker, but it's nasty and dangerous, and I don't know where you can get it. You can't use the kind that garden stores sell. Metronadizole is much safer. Canker is caused by them drinking dirty/ contaminated water, from puddles, etc. I think it talks about that in the link that Starfox posted on here. . It's a protozoa.

 

[rides2far]

Good post. I'm new to chickens, so one more thing to think about! Great idea to start a chicken book! I think I'll do that too!