labored breathing - egg bound? - swollen abdomen

[JustDawn]

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Golden Comet, 3 years, normal weight
2) What is the behavior, exactl
She seems to be having difficulty breathing. She's not gaping, but slightly opens her mouth to breathe. Kinda looks a bit like when they pant when they are hot but she's not hot. If I pick her up now, it seems to get worse. She is used to being held so this is a new symptom.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
4 days​

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
no
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
no
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Nothing. We have had to keep our girls cooped up more because of the frequent hawk attacks lately. But they all have been getting out for at LEAST 2 hours a day, usually more.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all?
Eating fine - Nutrena Pellets, drinking water fine. Foraging fine. Grit and oyster shells at will. Treats - black sunflower seeds.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Normal
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Isolation from sisters. (She's in our family room!)
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
She is stable. Treat ourselves.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
pine shavings, sand

QUESTIONS - Could this be a start of gapeworm? Could it be a start of an upper respiratory infection? Could this be tumors in her lungs?

HOW DO I TELL?

How would you treat?


Thanks all =)

Dawn

 

[EggyErin]

Sounds like upper respiratory to me but I'm partial to that diagnosis because I've been going through it with my chickens lately. YUK! It's kind of confusing. I put the whole flock on oxytetracycline for a week, isolated the hen. Someone posted to me that a combination of gallimycin and oxy (equal doses of each) worked well. You put it in the drinking water. Some people don't do anything unless the chicken doesn't seem to be getting over it after a few days, If it's CRD there's nothing you can do to eradicate the disease; the chickens will always be carriers and symptoms will pop up from time to time. I don't know if there are isolated kinds of upper respiratory infections that are a one-shot, one-chicken episode.

 

[JustDawn]

Thanks EggyErin.

She is still the same. Eating fine. Poop fine. She's not "talking" much. She is actually very quiet. I still have her in isolation. Today is day 5 of open mouth breathing (day 2 in our family room). Looks like panting but it's not. No others are acting like this. I have Duramycin-10 (Tetracycline Hydrocloride) in her water. It was the only thing the feed store had besides dewormers.

If she is a carrier of CRD, would it be strange not to show up until she's 3? If this is an upper respiratory problem, how long will it take to resolve? You said there's nothing I can do to eradicate the problem.Does this mean she won't get better? Does this mean I should keep her separated from the flock forever? Is this contagious to my other hens?

BTW, I have never wormed my flock. I didn't know I was suppose to unless they showed symptoms

Sorry, you would think that after 3 years, I wouldn't be such a newbie!

Thanks for your help.
Dawn

 

[EggyErin]

Well, we can continue to be newbies together because I don't feel too far along that learning curve either. All my chicken experiences just make me realize how much I don't know. I isolated my hen for eight or nine days. Once she tired of scrambled eggs and buttermilk and started making croaky clucks, I decided to put her back with the flock. She was still a little wheezy but no open-mouth breathing and she's doing well now. Have you fed scrambled eggs and b'milk? That's good for extra protein and probiotics. You can mix some crumbles in there, too if she's still eating well. It's hard to tell where the CRD originates. My hen is six years old, never had a problem. It may have been brought in by additions to the flock or wild birds. Who knows. Likely if one bird has it, they all have it but may not be showing symptoms. Some may never show them. Your hen's symptoms will probably resolve. I'd leave her up a few more days, continue the antibiotics. Also, I was told that this may have been triggered by a low immune system due to worms, which I wouldn't have connected. I had planned to deworm next month anyway so guess I'll do it a little earlier. In your case, I think I'd wait until she's off the antibiotics and ready to rejoin the flock before deworming just because it's hard on their systems. Use valbazen. Don't hesitate to ask questions. I've been burning up the threads lately about this stuff.

 

[chickenzoo]

Take a listen to her lungs, under a wing, listen for rattling, wheezing etc...? Any water or puss in her nostrils? Any bubbles in her eyes or watery discharge? Open mouth breathing can also be a sign of pain, but if you hear noises in her chest then it would be respitory. No stck egg? Is her crop feeling ok?

 

[Erica]

Hi JustDawn,

is there any mucus coming out of her nose? If her nose is clear and dry then it's far more likely to be another issue than chronic respiratory disease or CRD.
With CRD and most other respiratory infections the first signs are rattling, sneezing, mucus, wheezing and head shaking. There's often damp under the wings from where they lay their head while sleeping. Often also there is swelling around the eye/face.

If her nostrils are clear, I'd be thinking about other issues including high worm load or organ failure (which these birds can be prone to in later life). However it may also be many other things and the gasping alone can be rather vague (e.g. it can indicate internal pain, increased abdominal pressure, tumours on the lungs, respiratory disease or laying troubles!).

Is she laying? If she is, then we can rule out peritonitis and other egg problems like egg binding.

I would check her bottom for any signs of diarrhea or pulsating vent (which can mean egg laying troubles such as soft shelled eggs or egg yolk peritonitis). If she has diarrhea and seems thinner than usual I'd look at worming her. A huge worm burden can definitely lead to internal pain.

Feel her body all over. Does her abdomen feel hard or distended? Compare her to other birds if unsure. Organ failure and egg yolk peritonitis can cause abdominal distention, and that will definitely cause panting as an early sign.

Lastly I suppose tumour diseases can migrate to the lungs, but I'm not very up on those sorts of issues.

Sorry for the long post -- we need more information, as it could be many things.

Best of luck,
Erica

 

[JustDawn]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the responses! I've been going down the list.

• There is no mucus or puss coming out of her nose.
• There are no bubbles or drainage from her eyes.
• There are no sounds in her chest.
• She is not speaking much but she's one of my quietest birds.

• She is still eating well. She's eating crumbles now and I am supplementing with high protein canned dog food with Nutri-Drench (nutrient supplement) mixed in. She also got an egg today and gobbled that up. We went outside today and she foraged, but not as ravenous as my other girls.

• Her crop seems fine.

• Her stools are normal (haha... chicken poo normal!) but in small amounts. No diarrhea or blood.

• She is pulsating her vent. Her tummy does seem hard and distended (I think). She is not laying.

I can't find an egg but I am nervous to press to hard cause I don't want to hurt her or break the egg if it's in there. I started warm baths for her last night. She had her second one this morning. She seems to enjoy them though when she's done.... SHE'S DONE... and I usually end up pretty wet LOL! I've put a bit of olive oil on her vent in hopes it would help her out.

How can I tell the difference between egg bound and peritonitis?

If she doesn't have diarrhea, or blood in her stools, what other symptoms would mean worms?

Thanks all =)
Dawn

 

[JustDawn]

Day 6.

She is still eating but spends most of her time sitting and breathing hard so I think Omelet is getting worse. I still have her on Duramycin-10 (Tetracycline Hydrocloride) and still is isolated though we will go outside again for some sunlight and foraging because it makes her happy. This will be day 3 of warm baths.

Recap:
3 year old Golden Comet hen
no injuries or trauma

Same symptoms:
open mouth breathing
no mucus, pus, or drainage from nose or eyes
no sounds from chest
she is eating but not as much, seems to tire her out - I'm going to make her an egg after her bath cause she loves them!
some poo is getting loser but is still in the normal range, some is not... though both in small quantities
not laying
abdomen seems hard and distended
vent still pulsating

What else can I for my sweet girl?
Thank you,
Dawn

** LATEST UPDATE - She will not really eat the high protein dog food this morning. I don't think she likes that Nutra-Drench. She did however gobble up her scrambled egg with grounded egg shell (ground in spice blender).She is also still eating her Nutrina crumbles (pellets in a spice grinder - I do love my spice blender LOL) but not as hardy as she was yesterday. She sat in her bath all by herself today and seemed to enjoy it. I was not as wet when it was over! She did NOT like the blow dryer so I just toweled her somewhat dry (until she started to get upset basically) and put her back in ICU in my family room. When she is dry we will go outside and forage. ***

What else can I do for her?

 

[chickenzoo]

I would try putting her on an antibiotic like penicillin or amoxicillin. Amoxicillin can often be found for pet fish in capsules. I' give one 250 mg pill for standard size hens. In penicillin injectable, I believe it's 1 cc

 

[JustDawn]

I will pick up penicillin injectable in the morning. I have never injected a hen before. Where do you give them an antibiotic injection?

And thank you.