Hen with rattly breathing

[chicknmania]

We have a pet hen (BokBok) who has had rattly breathing for a long time. We also had another hen with this condition but she seemed to have cleared up on her own. Several months ago, we had a couple of hens with Avian TB. Both died in about nine months. At the time we sterilized as much as possible, to try to prevent spreading. There is no cure for this, and it takes a long time to develop to a point where it is fatal. Not all chickens in the flock will get it. We have been trying to avoid thinking about the possiblity that this is what BokBok has. Unlike our other hens who died, this is her only symptom. We have had her confined for about ten days and on an Terramycin 4 tsp per gallon. This seems to have helped a little bit, but not much. Anybody have ideas...should we try VetRX, or that cough syrup stuff (Spotted Crow, what's the dose you use?) or something else to help her breathing, and where can we get it? She is not laying either, but there could be a lot of reasons why not. She is very unhappy about being confined. If you put em on cough syrup or vetRX, in the event she does start laying, I'm guessing you would not eat the eggs? Or does it matter?

 

[dlhunicorn]

In my opinion...medicating an ill bird when you are not really sure it is going to help is a very bad idea... what you can do to help her is beef up her nutrition (give a good daily supplement like Avia Charge 2000) and ensure very clean and dry pen and give a daily live culture yogurt... this will help her own immune system to function properly...

 

[chicknmania]

OK. We have some baby vitamins we used for our birds before; we need to order some Aviacharge. If we use baby vitamins til the Aviacharge comes, what is the dosage for the vitamins (I can't remember); also, do you have to make live culture yogurt, or where can you get it? We have been giving her Turmeric powder for poultry on her food, also.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Also, before you start giving her anything else...
Is it just rattles when she breathes?
Does her nose run? If it does, does the discharge smell?
Has she had any yellow diarrhea?
Are her eyes watery or her face swollen?
When she was laying, how were her eggs? Where they soft or had rough spots?

I would think that you can get live bacteria yoghurt in the health food dept of the super markets. or some place like Whole Foods.

 

[dlhunicorn]

...not sure on the tumeric but I do know that a sprinkling of cayenne pepper (dont drown her food in it) has been known to stimulate the immune system in several poultry specific studies ....
doage for the POLYVISOL (baby vitamins) is three drops in beak every day for a week then taper off...

 

[chicknmania]

She has no symptoms at all except the rattly breathing. It is worse when it is very hot out. Her poo seems normal; she has no diarhea. When she was laying (an egg a day) her eggs were normal. She seems cheerful in every other way. We have no idea how old she is, really. Today we let her out to run a bit. She headed for the dust bath.
I found some stuff on McMurray's website called Immunocharge (Ithink that's what it's called; you're supposed to give it ill or recovering chickens after they've had antib's, and it beefs up their immune system and puts back some biotics, I guess. I would like to get some if they'll sell it in a smaller quantity. Won't know til Tuesday.

What does it mean if an egg has soft spots?

 

[SpottedCrow]

Is it a soft shell or like half a shell?

 

[chicknmania]

They're not her eggs; I don't think, anyway. I just noticed a few weeks ago, that for a couple of days someone was laying an egg with a small soft spot in it. It just happened a few times; then I haven't noticed it since. Actually, I really think BokBok has some kind of permanent lung damage from something, or she has TB, which is extremely hard to diagnose til you do a necropsy, because it can affect all the organs and the joints too, but mimics a lot of other conditions. And you're right, actually; the State of Ohio vet who helped us with the TB problem told us the best things we can do are: give them vitamins, and make sure they're as parasite free as possible. I was just curious about the soft eggs.

 

[SpottedCrow]

She's probably a carrier and will have the rattles for life...
As long as she's getting along fine, then that's that...No other symptoms then it could just be how she breathes. Slifer was a wheezy chicken and I could tell the difference between Mommy, I'm sick wheezes and her "normal" wheezes.
Soft eggs can be a new pullet just starting or an older bird coming to the end of her laying cycle or at the beginning of a new laying cycle.