- Jan 11, 2015
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Hello. This is my first official post, but I come here often looking for advice and information. I went through quite a few pages already searching for info on my problem first, but nothing that quite fit my particular situation.
I have a nearly year old Brahma hen that is definitely my baby. When I got her last year as a chick, she had a prolapsed vent but I managed to nurse her to the big sweet girl she is now.
Anyhow, my first post is about a problem that I have had with her 3 times since summer, and today it has started up again. Each time she has had coughing/sneezing fits with gurgling. There's usually a little bit of mucous, no sour smell from her mouth, no neck stretching. The first time I panicked and contacted my vet immediately, but by the next day she was fine. I wormed all of the hens after that, just to be safe.
Back in October, the same thing again. It was a weekend and no vet available. I bought some VetRx at TSC, and the next day no problem. Which brings me to today....same deal, sneezing and gurgling, no real symptoms aside from that. Since the weather is so cold here, and ice predicted for later, I'm afraid to leave her outside just in case THIS TIME something is really wrong.
Am I overreacting? I have assumed if it was something like a respiratory infection or gapeworm, the symptoms wouldn't disappear overnight. Can hens just get stuff caught in their throats or nostrils after a busy day of scratching and rolling around in the dirt that might cause this to happen?
Finally, what can I do to ease this problem for her? I gave the girls some treats a bit ago to make sure she would eat and she had no troubles.
Thanks for any advice!
I have a nearly year old Brahma hen that is definitely my baby. When I got her last year as a chick, she had a prolapsed vent but I managed to nurse her to the big sweet girl she is now.
Anyhow, my first post is about a problem that I have had with her 3 times since summer, and today it has started up again. Each time she has had coughing/sneezing fits with gurgling. There's usually a little bit of mucous, no sour smell from her mouth, no neck stretching. The first time I panicked and contacted my vet immediately, but by the next day she was fine. I wormed all of the hens after that, just to be safe.
Back in October, the same thing again. It was a weekend and no vet available. I bought some VetRx at TSC, and the next day no problem. Which brings me to today....same deal, sneezing and gurgling, no real symptoms aside from that. Since the weather is so cold here, and ice predicted for later, I'm afraid to leave her outside just in case THIS TIME something is really wrong.
Am I overreacting? I have assumed if it was something like a respiratory infection or gapeworm, the symptoms wouldn't disappear overnight. Can hens just get stuff caught in their throats or nostrils after a busy day of scratching and rolling around in the dirt that might cause this to happen?
Finally, what can I do to ease this problem for her? I gave the girls some treats a bit ago to make sure she would eat and she had no troubles.
Thanks for any advice!
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