Hen sneezing-- hard and often

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My1stChickens

Songster
8 Years
May 16, 2015
235
192
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Texas, USA
Hen is approximately six months old, today is exactly 3 weeks in quarantine.

Yesterday she was eating, drinking, scratching in the dirt and looked fine but maybe a little quiet. By midday today she seemed droopy and put herself in the coop way before bedtime, and started sneezing. Loudly, strongly but just occasionally at first. But then more frequently. Honestly I was worried the noise would attract predators so at dusk I caught her and put her in an isolation cage to observe. The sneezing is loud enough it probably hurts, and it got more frequent.

No discharge, no foamy eyes, no swelling. Holds mouth open to take a breath, and her breathing is audible/like a moan or growl. She is well enough to stand. Passing some yellowish liquid, with tiny bits of green so she did not eat much today.

I figured I'd best get her started on something, because the sneezing is so strong and progressive. Gave her Tylan, and she's warm and safe, with some water laced with sugar and vitamins; some food moistened with yogurt.

I've studied all the symptom charts, and ratting/sneezing does not narrow things down.

There was another hen from the new group that showed rattling and open mouthed breathing (but not the incessant sneezing) on day 3 of quarantine. I gave her away to an experienced chicken person who wanted to treat her. She was on duramycin and has recovered. Yet another just acted cold/puffy/droopy and did not eat or drink for a few days-- 3 days of Tylan fixed her up, but I did the full 5 days. She remains well.

We've just finished a couple of days of cold, rainy, windy weather. I know chickens don't get "colds" but might be a contributing factor.

Any ideas what I'm dealing with here?
 
Can you take a video of her, upload it to youtube, then provide us a link?
Photos of the poop may be helpful as well.

Look inside her beak - any lesions, plaques, canker, etc.?

Where are you located (state/country)?

Try the Tylan50 to see if that makes a difference. It does need to be given several times a day. Dosage is .25ml per pound of weight given orally 3 times a day.
It does sound like she has a respiratory illness, since you saw symptoms in the one your friend took.
Did you treat the ones you have with anything else or is this the first time treating?

Open mouth breathing could be any one of the more common respiratory illnesses, but for some reason I think ILT or Infectious Bronchitis since you are not seeing mucous/eye discharge. Mycoplasma and Infectious Coryza are both common as well.

Do what you can to keep her hydrated. That may be hard with her having respiratory distress. If you have vet care, that is best.
Hopefully you won't lose her, but if you do, then sending the body to your state lab will give you information as to what she has.
 
Where are you from? There are places that give allergies to chickens I live in the southwest where it's actually known to give allergy symptoms like that where rest and some immune boosts vitamins help and no meds are necessary

Sometimes it's serious but at least with my flock it's not, they get dust up their nostrils, they drink too much water, or when our desert gets wet it gives runny noises and sneezes for a couple days

Just wanting to put out there this possibility since you describe no major alarming symptoms :)
 
Can you take a video of her, upload it to youtube, then provide us a link?
Photos of the poop may be helpful as well.

Look inside her beak - any lesions, plaques, canker, etc.?

Where are you located (state/country)?

Try the Tylan50 to see if that makes a difference. It does need to be given several times a day. Dosage is .25ml per pound of weight given orally 3 times a day.
It does sound like she has a respiratory illness, since you saw symptoms in the one your friend took.
Did you treat the ones you have with anything else or is this the first time treating?

Open mouth breathing could be any one of the more common respiratory illnesses, but for some reason I think ILT or Infectious Bronchitis since you are not seeing mucous/eye discharge. Mycoplasma and Infectious Coryza are both common as well.

Do what you can to keep her hydrated. That may be hard with her having respiratory distress. If you have vet care, that is best.
Hopefully you won't lose her, but if you do, then sending the body to your state lab will give you information as to what she has.

Thanks Wyorp. I took a video that shows exactly what you seek, but I am struggling to get it uploaded since I have not used my YouTube account in more than five years. I am able to post a picture, that confirms her eyes are not foamy.
I'm located in the US/Texas.

My Tylan is the 200, not the 50- I gave her less than .2 cc (orally). This hen was part of a group that had a round of duramycin-10 in their water, ending just a couple days ago. (When the 2nd hen seemed sick, I went ahead and treated the rest. Two seemed fine, but this red hen and the EE just seemed a little off. Not sick but not thriving so I treated them) I used the last of the duramycin-10 two or three days ago, so likely the duramycin was holding this at bay?

Once I can sign in to a google account, I can upload the video to youtube. She's settled in for the evening, and is resting quietly now. Breathing quietly, and just very occasional sneezing. Hopefully she can rest.
 

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Hen is approximately six months old, today is exactly 3 weeks in quarantine.

Yesterday she was eating, drinking, scratching in the dirt and looked fine but maybe a little quiet. By midday today she seemed droopy and put herself in the coop way before bedtime, and started sneezing. Loudly, strongly but just occasionally at first. But then more frequently. Honestly I was worried the noise would attract predators so at dusk I caught her and put her in an isolation cage to observe. The sneezing is loud enough it probably hurts, and it got more frequent.

No discharge, no foamy eyes, no swelling. Holds mouth open to take a breath, and her breathing is audible/like a moan or growl. She is well enough to stand. Passing some yellowish liquid, with tiny bits of green so she did not eat much today.

I figured I'd best get her started on something, because the sneezing is so strong and progressive. Gave her Tylan, and she's warm and safe, with some water laced with sugar and vitamins; some food moistened with yogurt.

I've studied all the symptom charts, and ratting/sneezing does not narrow things down.

There was another hen from the new group that showed rattling and open mouthed breathing (but not the incessant sneezing) on day 3 of quarantine. I gave her away to an experienced chicken person who wanted to treat her. She was on duramycin and has recovered. Yet another just acted cold/puffy/droopy and did not eat or drink for a few days-- 3 days of Tylan fixed her up, but I did the full 5 days. She remains well.

We've just finished a couple of days of cold, rainy, windy weather. I know chickens don't get "colds" but might be a contributing factor.

Any ideas what I'm dealing with here?


An Upper Respiratory Infection
Always remember giving yoghurt during the infection makes it more.worse because of the food tendency of yogurt


I will suggest some over the counter quick first aid before any medicine

1 Drop Oregano Oil In 1 Gallon water ( it helps like speed of light)

Or

1 clove (used in kitchen spices) crush it and mix in a spoon of water and give it

These are best as i tested both on my chickens for sneezing issue



Second do u have any first aid medicine available in your chicken.home?
Like Baytril or Sulmet ?
 
An Upper Respiratory Infection
Always remember giving yoghurt during the infection makes it more.worse because of the food tendency of yogurt


I will suggest some over the counter quick first aid before any medicine

1 Drop Oregano Oil In 1 Gallon water ( it helps like speed of light)

Or

1 clove (used in kitchen spices) crush it and mix in a spoon of water and give it

These are best as i tested both on my chickens for sneezing issue



Second do u have any first aid medicine available in your chicken.home?
Like Baytril or Sulmet ?

Her sneezing is accompanied by loud/raspy breathing, and she's not eating or drinking. This is the 3rd of 6 to become ill during quarantine. The first one started with loud, open mouth breathing and just an occasional sneeze. She was treated with Duramycin, and recovered but it took a while. The second one just puffed up, looked cold, stopped eating. I isolated, and when she relaxed and got warm, she had raspy breathing and an occasional sneeze. Treated with Tylan 200, resolved in a few days. When I started treating #2, I also put the rest on Duramycin 10 in their water. Two of those four have been bright and 1005 healthy the whole time, and the other two I was watching closely. Not sick but not thriving. Unfortunately I ran out of duramycin after six days and despite extensive efforts, could not locate more to buy. Within two days of stopping the duramycin, hen #3 was sick. She is sneezing much more than the first two, but now that she's been isolated/warm for a bit, that has ceased.

This morning, the two that have always been healthy still look great, as does #2 that I treated with Tylan. But the other one I was watching is not looking as good. Puffy, cold, did not eat when I let them out. I suspect I should treat her too.

This whole thing certainly did not go as planned. I checked around, got these pullets from a place with a strong reputation. Every bird he had looked healthy and vigorous. I guess sometimes this is just the way it goes. Who knows, maybe these new birds were exposed to something once they got to my place-- in the dirt, from wild birds, or even from their quarantine coop.

Thanks for the tip about oil of oregano. I've used it with great results for my horses, and never thought of it for chickens.
 
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This morning no more sneezing. I can hear her breathing a little, and she hasn't resumed eating/drinking yet, but she's resting and seems much more comfortable. She now has company in the cage, since another hen looked "off" this morning (puffy, did not eat or drink when she came out for the day) She's one I've been watching....
 
For now I am not giving her any vitamins as she is on a 5 day course of Trepin Powder.
And I have put her on a Pearl Millet diet only and since then her panting has almost completely stopped. I think she was having trouble digesting other foods and that might have also been a cause of her panting.

My Tylan is the 200, not the 50- I gave her less than .2 cc (orally). This hen was part of a group that had a round of duramycin-10 in their water, ending just a couple days ago.

used the last of the duramycin-10 two or three days ago, so likely the duramycin was holding this at bay?

sneezing is accompanied by loud/raspy breathing, and she's not eating or drinking. This is the 3rd of 6 to become ill during quarantine.

But the other one I was watching is not looking as good. Puffy, cold, did not eat when I let them out. I suspect I should treat her too.
The one that is Puffy and Cold looking - what's the poop look like?
You've had them for 3 weeks?
I do wonder if you have more than one thing going on.
The Puffy one may have Coccidiosis overload - usually the incubation period is 7-14days, but since this is an older pullet, it could take longer or if they have been sick just weakened her enough for an overload. You got photos of the puffy one?

IF you can get a sample of poop tested, that would be good. If not, then I would also consider treating with Corid, you can find that at Tractor Supply in the cattle section.
Dosage is 1 1/2 teaspoons Corid powder or 2 teaspoons of 9.6% Corid liquid per gallon of water. Give for 5-7 days - make sure this is the ONLY water available during that time period.

I'm very sorry that you are having so many problems. Are you still considering keeping them and adding them to your flock?
 

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