Hen suddenly wheezing, sneezing and blood "leaking" from wattle - need advice ASAP

[Freia]

My big cochin was fine a few hours ago She was happily sunning herself and scratching and pecking around. Even aid an egg and made a dramatic announcement about it. I went hiking for 2 hours. When I came home, she was standing in the middle of the yard making a moaning/wheezing/squeaky-toy sound with every breath and sometimes sneezing. She has some light blood on her cape from her wattle. Her comb and wattle look very red and kind of "sweaty" - almost like she pressurized herself so much that she's making herself bleed from the tissues.

I can't see anything obstructing anything. If it's respiratory infection, it sure did hit fast. I only have Sulmet on hand. There is no discharge (no snot).
I put new wheat straw in their coop yesterday. There's a lot of seed in it. This hen has been very enthusiastic about scratching in it, kicking up a lot of dust. It's not moldy. I also put DE in with the straw when I replace their bedding. I suspect she's inhaled both straw dust and DE. Could thatr be the cause, and what can I do about it?

She's inside with food and water right now.

 

[willowbranchfarm]

It sounds like it might be a respiratory infection. Treat with Tylan 50 1/2 cc orally for 5 days.

 

[Freia]

Thanks! The feed store is closed for the evening now, but I'll go pick some up tomorrow. I'm hopeful she'll hang on through the night. She's very feisty right now. She does NOT want to be in a box in the house and is going through quite the Houdini-moves. I just gave her about 1/2-cup mixture of IKEA fruit/mueslix mixed with yoghurt, garlic, and tomatoes. She downed that in 5 minutes flat. She's no longer sneezing, and her wattle doesn't look quite as - I don't know... - stressed-out? She seems strong for now, so hopefully I've caught whatever it is early enough.

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

It sounds like she was chased and lightly attacked, based on your description. If something did chase and try to attack her, that's probably why shes so timid.

I'm glad you took action quickly, good job. It's always good to practice good bio-security, right when you might expect it.

If these symptoms keep up, report back to the thread.

 

[Freia]

After another big, lovely spa-meal prepared by your truly, Goldie has settled for the night. When she calms down, her breathing sounds normal. Still no discharge from eyes or nose. Her behavior is completly normal. Her appearance is completely normal, aside from her very red wattles and comb. Morning will tell a lot. Worse and I'll assume respiratory infection. Better and I'll assume dust, attack, who-knows-what...

She has to live. Goldie is our favorite. She sits on my lap in the morning and coos to me as I drink my coffee. If I'd let her, she'd sleep in the kids' beds at night. Even the other chickens know she's special. Nobody ever pecks her, and she pecks nobody. When the chicks moved to the hen-house, they roosted snuggled up next to Goldie, and no one messed with them. Oh, why couldn't it have been one of the mean ones...

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

I would recommend using pine shavings instead of straw for your birds pen. Straw mats up pretty quickly and it can be a mite breeding ground. Pine shavings are low dust (depending on manufacturer), and they don't mat up as fast.

I hope she is doing well.

 

[Freia]

I would recommend using pine shavings instead of straw for your birds pen. Straw mats up pretty quickly and it can be a mite breeding ground. Pine shavings are low dust (depending on manufacturer), and they don't mat up as fast.

I hope she is doing well.

I'm on it! I removed that straw first thing this morning. Picking up pine shavings this afternoon. I've always used rye straw, which is very soft, short, hi-loft, and virtually dust-free. The hens love it. Last week, they ran out of the rye straw, and I had to get whatever looked good. It's not good!

Goldie looked and sounded completely normal this morning (oh thank you thank you thank you!), and couldn't wait to get out in the sun after a good breakfast. She must have inhaled so much dust that her lungs either clogged up or got so irritated that they swelled up.

Anybody want a 60# bale of wheat straw? You can have it real cheap. Free even. It's not even good for composting or mulching, because it's so full of wheat-seed. I'm thinking bonfire and weenie-roast.