Is it normal to be able to hear your hen breathing ?! Just wanted to rule out any respiratory proble

[kartking22]

thank you kartking22,
I did read up on gape worms, but my girl doesn't seem to have those symptoms . the only thing she is doing is showing stress when she tries to lay an egg and she seems to be breathing a bit loudly compared to my other hens.

i don't believe she is egg bound ?

If your hen may have an internal broken egg, she will also show signs of distress, oozing from the vent, and possible vent pulsating.

 

[dawg53]

I am not sure what wormer was used. I got some wormer from a friend. The medical term for this is Syngamus Trachea which can be found on the net. They have more info on treating this. www.everything-poultry.com/gape-worm-in-poultry.

I know about gapeworms. I doubt your birds had them as they are rare in chickens. If they did have gapes, most likely your birds would be dead. By the way gapes infect the windpipe, not the esophagus.

 

[pwand]

So do you think its not respiratory then, I'm nervous to put her back in, if it is !? I did give her a tums but i don't think she ate very much so i put the remainder in her water.

She came back out of the dog crate shorty after my last post and is acting some what normal ( i can still hear her breath though) but not breathing heavily with an open mouth anymore.

i just don't know anymore .....

Break the tums up and give it to her into her mouth. Check her anyways to see if there is an egg or broken egg in her. Rule it out.

 

[dawg53]

Quote: I read quickly through all your posts in this thread. I've seen this behavior on occasion; when a hen is fixing to lay an egg and cant...not quite eggbound status...it could be an extra large egg she needs to lay and she pants with mouth open, might squat and seem irritated...but she usually lays. She also may have another egg right behind the first one. A small oviduct could be a problem as well. She's just having a hard time at laying eggs. The second time I've seen this behavior is when a hen might be going broody. Right now all you can do is observe her. I wouldnt give her any meds at all.

 

[Bbailey1]

thank you everyone, i guess all i can do is wait and observe, but i will check again to rule out a stuck egg !

 

[Henman]

A few of my chickens are showing signs of possibly gape worms. Sneezing snotty noses and wheezing wile the breath. And some sort of a caugh or maybe just a sneeze. I'm going to start them in a dewormer tomorrow. Any thing else I need to be looking for. Some of my hens, and I'm not sure wict ones are having a real runny droppings that are a rust color. I'm sure that's not their Cecil droppings. It just doesn't look right. Any suggestions please.

 

[dawg53]

A few of my chickens are showing signs of possibly gape worms. Sneezing snotty noses and wheezing wile the breath. And some sort of a caugh or maybe just a sneeze. I'm going to start them in a dewormer tomorrow. Any thing else I need to be looking for. Some of my hens, and I'm not sure wict ones are having a real runny droppings that are a rust color. I'm sure that's not their Cecil droppings. It just doesn't look right. Any suggestions please.

I seriously doubt it's gapeworm, more likely a respiratory disease. Pick up some tylan 50 injectable while you're at it and worm them later. Your other option is to cull the sick birds.

 

[pwand]

thank you everyone, i guess all i can do is wait and observe, but i will check again to rule out a stuck egg ! 

How is your hen making out today?

 

[Bbailey1]

How is your hen making out today?

Hi , she seems to be the same slightly loud breathing but thats all her symptoms?! She laid an egg this afternoon, which was normal size. I did do another egg bound exam this morning again and felt the egg so i gave her some time but she still didn't lay it by 1pm. So I gave her a warm bath and put some ky jelly around her bottom and turned off the light and put her in the dog crate and by 330 she had laid the egg.

It will be 6 days tomorrow since I separated her, she seems healthy other then her slightly loud breathing , I may keep her for 7 full days inside just to make sure and then i'll put her out with the others if all seems well with her and her friends ??

 

[pwand]

The calcium pill or tums seems to help the eggs pass as opposed to having to do the warm bath. Try a calcium pill first next time, see how that goes. It does sound like its more of an egg issue with her. Try adding egg shells crushed up. Bake them or microwave them. I find my birds prefer these instead of the oyster shells. I wounder if the pieces are a bit big, i have watched mine pick them up and drop them. They don't seem to like them. You probably have the same as what I can get here. Hopefully she straighens around.

She would be more happy with her friends and moving around.