Is a secondary infection/pneumonia caused by aspiration of fluid transmissible to other hens?

[Capicola]

Hi all,

So in trying to resolve my hen's sour crop, I believe she may have gotten some fluid in her air sacs. After I got her to vomit she began breathing heavily and "wheezing" but both conditions have improved. She now only wheezes when she vocalizes, much like a person sounds like when they have mucus stuck in their throat.

If she develops an infection/pneumonia from this, will it be transmissible to my other hens? I'm wondering because this will decide whether I buy injectable Tylan-50 or water soluble and treat the whole flock.

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[Nambroth]

If the pneumonia is caused solely by the physical aspiration of fluid into the lungs, it is not transmissible.

Unfortunately, it might be hard to know if it is the sole reason for the wheezing, as that is also a symptom of many contagious and serious respiratory diseases! So, if you are very sure that it was from aspiration, then you might just want to keep a sharp eye on your other birds for symptoms and not treat them unless they show signs. Treating with an antibiotic when there is nothing to combat can make it harder to treat real disease, later on.

I hope this helps, and I wish your hen a swift recovery!

 

[Capicola]

Thanks for your reply and the well wishes.

I'm 99.9% sure that if some infection were to occur it would be as a result of aspiration. She was showing signs of an impacted/sour crop but was breathing fine, and vocalized fine. It wasn't until after I turned her upside down and made her spit up whatever was in her crop did the issue arise. I tried to help her only to make things worse...

I feel like she has something (the source of her impaction) caught in her throat, but not necessarily in her lungs. I ordered Tylan for her just in case she develops something. Not the worst thing to have on hand anyway.

 

[Nambroth]

Good plan!

Yes, sadly, forcibly regurgitating a hen can save her life when the impaction is very bad and full, but it has its risks.

I once had a hen freak out when I was administering wormer directly into her crop. Despite my best grip on her, she managed to throw herself around and get a tiny bit of liquid sucked down the wrong tube, so to speak. She was a bit raspy for a day, and I was very concerned and watched her very closely. Fortunately she seemed to cough it up after a while and was just fine.

I hope the crop issue has passed?