Obstructed airway? Hen having trouble breathing

[Trish1974]

I am almost certain that the obstruction is at the very top of her airway in her voice box (larynx). That's probably what you feel. That's all the maneuvers for tonight. Tomorrow when you have a helper, in addition to shining a light down her throat and snapping a good photo, I'd like to see you repeat the inverted maneuver without the thrusts, but have your helper stroke the hens' throat toward her beak just behind where her lower beak starts. That's where her larynx is.

You could try it alone by holding her body between your knees. It would be more comfortable for you to be sitting down. Then try a little circular massage of her larynx with a downward stroke to finish. Then that will have to be it until you get help tomorrow with photographing her throat. We may even be able to see what's stuck there.

Thank you so much!

 

[MissChick@dee]

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@Trish1974 I've been following along. I have nothing to add but well wishes for your hen and for you to get some rest

Please keep us updated.

 

[Trish1974]

@Trish1974 I've been following along. I have nothing to add but well wishes for your hen and for you to get some rest

Please keep us updated.

Thank you so much!

 

[azygous]

Gee, I sure wish I was there to help you. I'm betting the obstruction is visible just behind the glottis, the hole in the center of the back of the hen's throat. A vet would probably be able to stick a long tweezer in there and grab it. I am sure anxious to see a photo of her throat.

 

[micstrachan]

Thinking of you and your poor girl!

 

[SixNolans]

I did it again, and let her flap her wings. She is still making the horrible noises. This time every time I shook her she made the noise a little bit, but for the most part her breathing was silent again while she was upside down.
After I set her down I felt around her throat again. I can feel raspiness/rattling under her jaw. As I got past her beard her throat felt bigger around, maybe like there was fluid?? Or is that normal anatomy?

Hope she is doing better. Been thinking of about it. Great posts from everyone!! Such caring group!

 

[Trish1974]

I am happy to report Mutton Chops seems to be back to normal...what a relief! When I awoke to get ready for work I put my ear to the utility room door and didn't hear anything. I really thought she had passed but decided to wait until I was done getting ready for work to check. When I opened the door in total darkness I heard her sweet little coo-coos! She had no abnormal sounds, no apparent breathing distress, so I decided to put her back outside since 1.) I would be gone for 10 hours and figured she'd be happier with her flock instead of lonely scary room, and 2.) the difference in outside temp to the utility room temp was only 15 degrees, where as it would have been much more by evening. My boyfriend will be checking on her between 1:00 and 2:00 this afternoon, so I will update again. I tend to be a pessimist so I don't feel she is completely out of the woods yet.

Is it possible her muscles relaxed enough when she slept to allow the foreign object to move? I didn't see anything in the crate except 6 healthy poops.

 

[azygous]

That's better news than anything I've seen this morning! Calls for a dance and a song! I was thinking maybe the obstruction would soften or dissolve overnight. Funny, wishes haven't usually worked for me in the past. But we'll take it!

She was doing all she could by exercising her voice mechanism to try to expel the obstruction, and maybe shaking her pennies out a couple times helped reposition it so it dislodged enough to work itself free. Anyway, the next step would have been surgery and I doubt you'd be up for that. So we all lucked out!

 

[Eggcessive]

She may have coughed up the obstruction (piece of food,etc.) which happens many times we see stridor. Glad she is much better.