Sorry I don't have a picture to go with this thread, I was in a hurry to administer aid so I didn't take the time.
Yesterday I noticed my Silver Pied hen, the one in my avatar, was gasping for air. She showed no signs of being sick other than drooping her wings and gasping for air. She was quite lively and difficult to corner and catch and has good weight if not heavy. While inspecting her I noticed that her eyes were bright and clear with no sign of weeping or puffiness. Her nares are clean and open and there was no mucus in the throat. Her sinuses are normal with no swelling.
What I did find was a hard dry chunk of infection behind the tongue in the opening of the airway. She only had a small hole that she could get air through when she would yawn to open it up. I tried to use my finger and a Q-Tip, both being too big to get it out. I was able to use the Q-Tip without the cotton but it was not working very well either so I tried some tweezers that worked better but did cause a small amount of bleeding.
Eventually, I was able to get about half of the pea sized chunk out in small pieces, it was dry and flaky yellowish white infection. The last bit went down the air passage to my dismay. She started breathing much better and has shown much improvement. At the time of removing the infection, I gave her an oral dose of Safeguard and an injection of Zactran. We know that worms can cause secondary infections so the Safeguard won't hurt. And the Zactran is the recommended antibiotic and my vet's antibiotic of choice.
So. Any thoughts on what may be causing this condition?
Yesterday I noticed my Silver Pied hen, the one in my avatar, was gasping for air. She showed no signs of being sick other than drooping her wings and gasping for air. She was quite lively and difficult to corner and catch and has good weight if not heavy. While inspecting her I noticed that her eyes were bright and clear with no sign of weeping or puffiness. Her nares are clean and open and there was no mucus in the throat. Her sinuses are normal with no swelling.
What I did find was a hard dry chunk of infection behind the tongue in the opening of the airway. She only had a small hole that she could get air through when she would yawn to open it up. I tried to use my finger and a Q-Tip, both being too big to get it out. I was able to use the Q-Tip without the cotton but it was not working very well either so I tried some tweezers that worked better but did cause a small amount of bleeding.
Eventually, I was able to get about half of the pea sized chunk out in small pieces, it was dry and flaky yellowish white infection. The last bit went down the air passage to my dismay. She started breathing much better and has shown much improvement. At the time of removing the infection, I gave her an oral dose of Safeguard and an injection of Zactran. We know that worms can cause secondary infections so the Safeguard won't hurt. And the Zactran is the recommended antibiotic and my vet's antibiotic of choice.
So. Any thoughts on what may be causing this condition?
