Older hen with breathing/respiratory issues. At a loss

[twocayugas]

Hello. I've been with BYC for a while but never really needed to post anything until now.
I have a 9 year old Sussex hen that has been without issue for most of the nine years I've had her. For the past week, she has been sneezing occasionally and has developed a sort of rattle to her breathing. Every once in a while, she will open-beak breathe, but not for long. Her poop is a little runny but not straight up liquid, and she has been eating and drinking normally. She has also been walking/pecking around and not lethargic or anything. I suspected Mycoplasma, but then again, she doesn't have any bubbles in her eyes or any swelling on her face. She doesn't lay anymore because of her age, so I can't use the eggs to look for other issues.
My backyard is a little dusty because my dog likes to race around and kick up dirt. Could that be it?
I have been giving her VetRx liquid drops orally and around her head as the bottle suggests. It seems to help for a day or so and then the next night it's back to the mucous-laden breaths. Am I wrong, and it's actually infectious bronchitis? Should I get her tested? Would it even help?
She is very dear to me and I know she's older but if there's something I can do to help her, I would like to give it a go. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

@Wyorp Rock and @Eggcessive

She sounds to possibly have some sort of respiratory infection. I won’t perscribe anything as a definite as I am not a professional at this, haha. I would suggest looking at Doxy-Tyl for your girl whilst we wait for more input. You can put it in her water. Jedds Bird Supplies should have whatever is suggested, they carry stuff for pigeons but they work wonderfully on chickens.

 

[twocayugas]

For whatever is suggested, would it hurt my duck if it was placed in the same water she drinks?

 

[billyboy1111]

Hope we can get some help as my chicken is around the same age with the exact same symptoms as I posted in my thread. I'm using the same product but maybe in both cases it's the curse of old age. We shall see and best wishes.

 

[Eggcessive]

She is pretty old. Do you have any pictures of her including her face and eyes? Is there any mucus from her beak or nostrils, sneezing, or gasping? She might have a chronic respiratory disease, but dust, mold, and poor air circulation have a bad affect on breathing. MG can come and go during periods of stress, and causes bubbles in eyes or swelling of the eyelid, face, or conjunctiva. Infectious bronchitis virus causes sneezing all day long for several weeks, and usually there would be more suffering. Tylosin powder can be given for treatment of MG but bronchitis would need to run it’s course over a few weeks.

 

[coach723]

Have you checked her crop? Sometimes if the crop isn't emptying properly contents can come back up and affect breathing, which could cause the mucousy or gurgling sounds.

 

[twocayugas]

She is pretty old. Do you have any pictures of her including her face and eyes? Is there any mucus from her beak or nostrils, sneezing, or gasping? She might have a chronic respiratory disease, but dust, mold, and poor air circulation have a bad affect on breathing. MG can come and go during periods of stress, and causes bubbles in eyes or swelling of the eyelid, face, or conjunctiva. Infectious bronchitis virus causes sneezing all day long for several weeks, and usually there would be more suffering. Tylosin powder can be given for treatment of MG but bronchitis would need to run it’s course over a few weeks.

I can grab some pics of her today. Sneezing and mucus present, occasional gasping. She is also molting right now, does that count as stress? Should I just give the Tylosin a go?

 

[twocayugas]

Have you checked her crop? Sometimes if the crop isn't emptying properly contents can come back up and affect breathing, which could cause the mucousy or gurgling sounds.

I'll check that out too.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

9 year old Sussex hen

For the past week, she has been sneezing occasionally and has developed a sort of rattle to her breathing. Every once in a while, she will open-beak breathe, but not for long. Her poop is a little runny but not straight up liquid, and she has been eating and drinking normally. She has also been walking/pecking around and not lethargic or anything.

She doesn't lay anymore because of her age, so I can't use the eggs to look for other issues.
My backyard is a little dusty because my dog likes to race around and kick up dirt. Could that be it?
I have been giving her VetRx liquid drops orally and around her head as the bottle suggests. It seems to help for a day or so and then the next night it's back to the mucous-laden breaths. Am I wrong, and it's actually infectious bronchitis? Should I get her tested? Would it even help?

For whatever is suggested, would it hurt my duck if it was placed in the same water she drinks?

Sneezing and mucus present, occasional gasping. She is also molting right now, does that count as stress? Should I just give the Tylosin a go?

I'd try the Tylosin since she's sneezing and has mucous.

With her age, as suggested, she may have something else going on that is an underlying condition that is causing her symptoms.

Any mucous or lesions/canker inside the beak?
I'd check her crop and also feel of her abdomen for any bloat or feeling of fluid. Even though she's not laying eggs anymore, often as a hen ages they can have reproductive disorders that unfortunately will produce some symptoms of gurgling, labored breathing, etc. But if you are seeing mucous, that can point to respiratory infection.

As for your Duck. Technically the Tylosin wouldn't hurt her I suppose. Tylosin is used to treat certain conditions in waterfowl too, but it's best not to give an antibiotic to a healthy bird if you can avoid it. I'd separate out the hen during treatment if that's possible.

VetRx is a remedy much like Vapor Rub, it's not going to cure anything, but if you've found that it does seem to help alleviate symptoms for a short time, I'd think it'd be fine to continue with using that as well according to the package directions.

I hope she improves, keep us posted.

 

[SnackMeat]

Bromhexine to help with breathing while the antibiotics kick in too.