Hen with exaggerated breathing!?

[tryxichicks]

Jedds is a good place to get the Baytril.

Your rooster sounds nice. Sometimes a nail or spur can cut the side or under the wing of a hen. Not intentionally, it just happens.

Keep me posted on how she's doing. If you are noticing a couple of other hens with puffiness, it may be something going around. Do check your ventilation in your coop too, often we tend to want to close up air flow when the temperatures are so cold, but that can contribute to extra ammonia in the coop and dust, etc. Ventilation in winter is important.

I will keep you updated, thank you!

You know that is a great point. We just had a major cold flash & snow. We closed up the vent flaps on the hen house (though it’s certainly not air tight). This flock dislikes the snow and tend to stay inside their house with exception of a snack & sip. It was right before I noticed her symptoms. We did get a few days behind changing their bedding due to the storm.
They’re so large and fluffy I’m sure I could have just kept the flaps open. Shoot :/
Thanks again for your input! This all kind of makes sense now.

 

[tryxichicks]

Update:
She’s doing well overall. Still has the ‘heavier’ breathing, particularly when she lays down. Otherwise she looks really good. Her little bump on her face did get kind of a white head but it’s gone now. Didn’t seem to rupture or anything.

Question:
I received the baytril/ Enrofloxacin. They finished the dose of Denegard in their water on Saturday, so today is 5 days post Denegard. Shall I go ahead and do the baytril, or wait a certain amount of time?
Or wait altogether if she seems to be stable??
Obviously I don’t want her to get worse as she’s more of a pet at this point than an egg producer (she’s my little boy’s favorite hen lol).

Thanks for your opinion & help!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Update:
She’s doing well overall. Still has the ‘heavier’ breathing, particularly when she lays down. Otherwise she looks really good. Her little bump on her face did get kind of a white head but it’s gone now. Didn’t seem to rupture or anything.

Question:
I received the baytril/ Enrofloxacin. They finished the dose of Denegard in their water on Saturday, so today is 5 days post Denegard. Shall I go ahead and do the baytril, or wait a certain amount of time?
Or wait altogether if she seems to be stable??
Obviously I don’t want her to get worse as she’s more of a pet at this point than an egg producer (she’s my little boy’s favorite hen lol).

Thanks for your opinion & help!

I'm glad she's still hanging in there.

Hard to know whether to give her to Baytril or not if she's doing better. If you feel she may benefit from it, then treat her. If there's no improvement after 3 days, then the Baytril will not help either, if there is improvement finish to 5 days.

Does that make sense? And, only treat her with the Baytril. If she does lay any eggs, toss them for 14 days after the last treatment of Baytril.

 

[A Swede in France]

Hey, my hen has exactly the same breathing while seeming otherwise healthy! I literally just posted about it. We have had her on antibiotics for 5 days with no improvement. I'm following here and will also let you know if I figure anything out. I was wondering about gapeworm since antibiotics haven't made a difference.

 

[tryxichicks]

I'm glad she's still hanging in there.

Hard to know whether to give her to Baytril or not if she's doing better. If you feel she may benefit from it, then treat her. If there's no improvement after 3 days, then the Baytril will not help either, if there is improvement finish to 5 days.

Does that make sense? And, only treat her with the Baytril. If she does lay any eggs, toss them for 14 days after the last treatment of Baytril.

Yes, makes sense. Thank you very much. I may wait, as isolating her would be very difficult currently & she seems to be doing quite well overall. I’ll keep a close eye on her, and if it’s just not improving, or changes at all I will certainly figure something out.
Much appreciated!

 

[tryxichicks]

Hey, my hen has exactly the same breathing while seeming otherwise healthy! I literally just posted about it. We have had her on antibiotics for 5 days with no improvement. I'm following here and will also let you know if I figure anything out. I was wondering about gapeworm since antibiotics haven't made a difference.

Aww sorry to hear that, it’s stressful!
I believe with gapeworm you tend to see them opening their beak and struggling to swallow.
That’s what is so hard though, it’s difficult to say when they can’t talk.
Hopefully we both get it figured out & can help our hens!!

 

[A Swede in France]

Hey, how is your hen doing? Mine is the same, although I realised that she's also slowly and unseasonally molting. Not sure if that has anything to do with it but they can be weird while going through it.

You probably already know this but I did some research on chicken anatomy and found out the locations and function of air sacs - I was totally oblivious. At least now I understand why she is pulsating where she is - base of neck and bum, and why she's moving more when she's lying down - although I still don't know why she is breathing more heavily than normal.

 

[LaFleche]

5 year old Jersey that started to have very exaggerated breathing about 4 days ago.

At her age she might be struggling with some kind of internal issue.
I watched the video and noticed her stance and tail position which hint to abdominal pain.
When did she last lay an egg and has she ever had problems forming a proper egg shell?

Trying to push out a soft shelled or no shell egg is very difficult and they often breathe heavily and can appear to almost be reaching the end of their life.

Do you provide crushed oyster shells and granite grit free choice?

 

[tryxichicks]

Hey, how is your hen doing? Mine is the same, although I realised that she's also slowly and unseasonally molting. Not sure if that has anything to do with it but they can be weird while going through it.

You probably already know this but I did some research on chicken anatomy and found out the locations and function of air sacs - I was totally oblivious. At least now I understand why she is pulsating where she is - base of neck and bum, and why she's moving more when she's lying down - although I still don't know why she is breathing more heavily than normal.

She’s doing the same. Looks great, acts basically like her normal self, other than the heavy breathing. I did notice what I thought was a small pustule on her face but it’s completely gone & didn’t turn into anything. I’m adding herbs and vetrx to their “treats”. I’m carefully watching for any changes to indicate using the baytril. I honestly have a bit of a hard time believing it’s an infection due to how well she seems otherwise.
I hope your hen continues to do well & improves!

 

[tryxichicks]

At her age she might be struggling with some kind of internal issue.
I watched the video and noticed her stance and tail position which hint to abdominal pain.
When did she last lay an egg and has she ever had problems forming a proper egg shell?

Trying to push out a soft shelled or no shell egg is very difficult and they often breathe heavily and can appear to almost be reaching the end of their life.

Do you provide crushed oyster shells and granite grit free choice?

Hi, thanks for watching it!
I did wonder at first if she had an egg issue, due to her age. I’ve had hens with this issue in years passed. She isn’t struggling to push by any means. I think by now she’d be very poorly if it was egg binding though. I don’t rule out her struggling with coming back into laying season however.
Her stance/gait is still at times awkward, but what I’ve noticed is that she almost walks like when she’s broody, I think she’s doing it to keep the roo away a bit. Seems to be working too.
I have continued to check her abdomen for anything feeling hot or swollen. All feels good.
She does get oyster, grit, free range, and high quality feed options.