I think My Serama rooster has piece of crawfish stuck in his esophogus. labored breathing

[marque]

I have had some chickens in the past years with fowl pox, but not the wet fowl pox. I live on the SE coast of Texas and the mosquitos are horrendous in the summer...big fowl pox carriers. I have done a thorough vaccination prob 3 of my 7 or ? yrs of having chickens. I'm still a rookie. One time the day after having my wisdom teeth cut out. Now, I keep the vaccine in my fridge just to be ready. We did ok this past summer but my little Seramas are a new edition to my flock. I hatched them early this year. I have Ameracaunas, Sex links,

Polish, Silkies and mixed....but these little Sweethearts are so tiny and sweet. Gandolf is a little cuddly camera hog.

 

[marque]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-kind-of-worm.1253974/#post-20120605

That is my thread on Missy. She had some sort of yellow gunk in her throat.
I did remove it using long tweezers that have grooved grip ends. It's not an easy thing to do but I think it saved her life. I also had long wooden stick cotton swabs on hand. I found them helpful if there was a small piece of yuck. When the cotton is dry it will pick up little bits of things. To hold her mouth open with one hand I would get my pointer finger in her mouth sideways and let her get the fight out. Then add my middle finger to open her beak. (I can try and take a picture of that if the description is confusing.)
If his nose is blocked you could try and use a toothpick to gently push things forward towards the end of his beak. It is still a sharp object so you must be very careful but it's one of the few things small enough to fit in their nares.
I also use acidified copper sulfate in the water.
She has made a full recovery and no one else ever showed signs of the same thing.
I really hope the best for Gandolf. Keep us all posted!

this is very helpful! thankyou! I can attempt to remove the yellow stuff. I wasnt sure if it would make his mouth bleed.

 

[marque]

Poor little guy. No wonder he's so uncomfortable and has trouble breathing. That gunk probably goes down into his crop, but if he's lucky, it's not farther down his digestive system.

Can you take a whiff of his breath? Canker and Coryza will stink like road kill. If it's thrush (Candida), it will smell more like yeast or a little like sauerkraut. This is important for the right diagnosis as they would be treated differently.

the first couple days, I thought he got a small crawfish stuck in his throat because his breath smelled like rotten fish and we have them in our yard this time of year. Today the smell changed and it was more of a sour smell so he has actually has both.

 

[azygous]

Here is what I would do. If you have coconut oil, unrefined if possible since it has a nice taste chickens like, put some in his mouth. It's one of the best natural anti-fungals there is. It will also soften the plaque so it will be easier to remove.

The additional benefit of giving Gandolf coconut oil is it will help clear out his crop and digestive system if it's clogged.

This won't interfere with any other medication you need to give him.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

this is very helpful! thankyou! I can attempt to remove the yellow stuff. I wasnt sure if it would make his mouth bleed.

It can bleed so be careful. Try to remove what is obstructing his airway and go from there. Generally if she bled when I removed it there wasn’t a lot of blood. I would use the cotton swab to wipe it and put a little pressure.

 

[marque]

Here is what I would do. If you have coconut oil, unrefined if possible since it has a nice taste chickens like, put some in his mouth. It's one of the best natural anti-fungals there is. It will also soften the plaque so it will be easier to remove.

The additional benefit of giving Gandolf coconut oil is it will help clear out his crop and digestive system if it's clogged.

This won't interfere with any other medication you need to give him.

actually I do have some. Any idea of how much or should i coat the inside of his mouth with a cotton swa

 

[marque]

It can bleed so be careful. Try to remove what is obstructing his airway and go from there. Generally if she bled when I removed it there wasn’t a lot of blood. I would use the cotton swab to wipe it and put a little pressure.

ok. i will do it early as possible. I'm home alone during the but I can find somebody to recruit as my helper

 

[Saaniya]

That's what my teacher taught me in my veterinary University if he's streach his Neck up and and trying to Breath put him close open his beak wide and Blow Up 5 times in his beak very strongly 5 times remember if anything stuck there will be go down it's a Emergency Hack I learn in my University

 

[azygous]

No set amount. You have the idea, though - coat his mouth. A spoonful maybe. What he swallows will do well to unclog his crop.

 

[Eggcessive]

Marque, I don’t remember if you have said that a vet was out of the question, but that might be a good thing to do, since you could learn from them how to deal with this. Look into the choanal slit in the roof of the beak also, in case there are plaques or gunk in there that can be dug out. You really have your hands full—I have never had to deal with something so difficult. Here is a pic of the choanal slit: