Open mouth breathing - flu? Video *update* - vet dx airsacculitis/pneumonia can we treat with antibiotics?

[egz]

Did the vet run a fecal float to see if worms might be a problem?

No...he did not! He essentially listened to her breathing and recommended euthanasia.

 

[azygous]

I'm sorry. I had to laugh at your description of what your vet did. Actually, it sounds pretty typical. My own vet admitted up front he knows zero about chickens, but would euthanize a chicken for $5.

 

[egz]

I'm sorry. I had to laugh at your description of what your vet did. Actually, it sounds pretty typical. My own vet admitted up front he knows zero about chickens, but would euthanize a chicken for $5.

Ha it's so true. I'm glad the dark cynical eye rolling humor came through

 

[egz]

More confusing signs and symptoms...yesterday she was pooping green bile poops and her crop seemed better after a morning massage so I gave her access to her pellets and she ate those and drank some water. About 4 hours later she had a watery but brown poop and ate more pellets later. I thought for sure she was going to lay - she got in her nest box and made all the clucking noises and threw shavings over her shoulders and around her for 2 hours, but no egg.

This morning her crop had a little something in it but we forgot to take the pellets out overnight, and it definitely wasn't big and hard. Only one very small but not watery poop this morning that is wrapped up and ready to go to the vet. Still doing chickeny things - preening, cooing, wiping her beak (a lot it seems like), ruffling, etc. She does still open mouth breath after being held and you can still hear her lungs. The other chickens show no signs of any issues.

We go to the 'real' vet today at 3pm who will hopefully be able to help us make an informed decision about what direction to go in. She asked if the other vet did any radiology and I laughed to myself as his exact words were 'we're not going to bother with that because all we'll do is say oh yeah look how bad her lungs, are we already knew that'.

Anyway, I will hopefully have an update later today for the two of you who are helping me so much and for anyone else who is following this thread and facing a similar situation.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

More confusing signs and symptoms...yesterday she was pooping green bile poops and her crop seemed better after a morning massage so I gave her access to her pellets and she ate those and drank some water. About 4 hours later she had a watery but brown poop and ate more pellets later. I thought for sure she was going to lay - she got in her nest box and made all the clucking noises and threw shavings over her shoulders and around her for 2 hours, but no egg.

This morning her crop had a little something in it but we forgot to take the pellets out overnight, and it definitely wasn't big and hard. Only one very small but not watery poop this morning that is wrapped up and ready to go to the vet. Still doing chickeny things - preening, cooing, wiping her beak (a lot it seems like), ruffling, etc. She does still open mouth breath after being held and you can still hear her lungs. The other chickens show no signs of any issues.

We go to the 'real' vet today at 3pm who will hopefully be able to help us make an informed decision about what direction to go in. She asked if the other vet did any radiology and I laughed to myself as his exact words were 'we're not going to bother with that because all we'll do is say oh yeah look how bad her lungs, are we already knew that'.

Anyway, I will hopefully have an update later today for the two of you who are helping me so much and for anyone else who is following this thread and facing a similar situation.

Please do let us know what you find out.
I'm hoping this sweet girl can get better soon!

 

[egz]

Bad news but at least it’s news. The vet felt her abdomen was distended and took out a syringe of completely clear liquid. They drained 1.8 pounds of liquid from her after looking at X-rays. So much fluid her lungs were 1/10 of the size they should be at least and everything was pushed out of place. Poor thing - likely heart failure. We go home with her for now with diuretics while a radiologist reads the X-rays and we’ll make her comfortable and likely be back soon for euthanasia. Poor sweet thing. Honestly it feels good to know what’s going on, that it’s not contagious, and you called it from the very beginning! We’ll let you know the final outcome but just wanted to say thank you so much again. Unless anyone has a miracle way to keep chickens alive with heart conditions

 

[Folly's place]

I'm so sorry, you have done the right thing. maybe the diuretic will buy her more comfortable time too.
Mary

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Bad news but at least it’s news. The vet felt her abdomen was distended and took out a syringe of completely clear liquid. They drained 1.8 pounds of liquid from her after looking at X-rays. So much fluid her lungs were 1/10 of the size they should be at least and everything was pushed out of place. Poor thing - likely heart failure. We go home with her for now with diuretics while a radiologist reads the X-rays and we’ll make her comfortable and likely be back soon for euthanasia. Poor sweet thing. Honestly it feels good to know what’s going on, that it’s not contagious, and you called it from the very beginning! We’ll let you know the final outcome but just wanted to say thank you so much again. Unless anyone has a miracle way to keep chickens alive with heart conditions

Thank you for the update.
I'm sorry that the outlook doesn't look very good.

It's good that the vet was able to drain the fluid, this will hopefully make her much more comfortable.
Diuretics sounds good. Did he say to finish the antibiotic since he did drain after all.

Since your Gal is a pet, you may want to look into draining her yourself, just in case she becomes distressed and you have to wait for a vet visit. There's plenty of info here on BYC as well as YouTube on how to drain fluid. One video is linked below.

Another alternative that I have not tried yet, but plan on if when I have another hen with fluid in the abdomen is Aloe Detox. @coach723 explains it in the link below.
Draining, detox, antibiotics, etc., are not cures, but they can be part of a supportive care plan to keep her comfortable and extend enjoyable days. Once a hen stops eating, they sleep, don't want to interact, etc., then putting them out of their misery is to be considered.

Fluid can be from organ dysfunction/heart or reproductive disorders, I would assume it's hard to know the cause of the fluid until a bird dies and a necropsy is performed.

Just my 2¢ here. I'm not a vet nor an expert. The video posted earlier in the week shows a hen that is eating/drinking. Yes, she's got something going on, now we know more. She acted like she was going to lay an egg, never did. Her crop is getting better. She's had fluid drained. She's on abx for infection, has meds for fluid.
IF she were mine. If she's feeling pretty good in the morning and meds/treatment has been given, I'd take her outside. Get some fresh air and sunshine. Let her be near her flock. See what happens.
If she continues to do well, then I would consider re-introducing her with her flock or at least have her near them during the day.
That's just me though...
I'd let her go chicken as long as she's able to chicken.

You know your birds better than anyone else, so it's all a judgement call on your part.

Please do keep us updated on her progress. She seems like such a sweetheart.
I hope she improves, but above ALL else, I hope you take care of yourself and that baby who will be here soon!

Coach's post about aloe detox
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-breath-if-you-hold-her.1284253/post-20750855

 

[egz]

SOO helpful as always @Wyorp Rock and exactly what my partner and I were discussing last night. The way she's acting/being seems like she's not on death's door, and we'd love to give her time to chicken (a great way to put it). The vet told us and showed us how easy it is to drain at home so I think we're going to go that route - keep her comfortable, manage the symptoms, and let her be a little chicken outside with her sisters in the grass and the sunshine when it comes in the Vermont spring, argh. Of course we'll watch her and make sure she's not suffering. We also considered bringing her inside if the temp drops at night but maybe that's unnecessary?

I put her outside this morning (the others came right up to the door today as if they were waiting for her release!) and because I know this little flock and they're gentle faverolles and there doesn't seem to even be a pecking order within them I simply put her outside with no drama. They are all scritchy scratching together in the yard and she couldn't be happier to be outside. See video for proof

Couple of side notes - the vet actually recommended stopping the abx since a) it's not a respiratory infection and b) they're a little stressful for her to take, although it's a good consideration re: infection after the draining...she didn't mention that aspect.

The Aloe Detox sounds like a great product and we'll go ahead and order that! I'll continue to update here for folks who are following along. This has been such a learning experience. I was thinking back to maybe 2 weeks ago when I felt like she was waddling more than the others but I brushed it off. Such a good reminder to follow your instincts and the more you can watch them the more you'll know when something is off!

The next mystery to solve is how there were 4 eggs in the coop yesterday with 3 chickens!

 

[Sunnypollito]

hello. I had a quail with pneumonia, which did not recover. Tylosin was administered twice daily by mouth. she recovered a little but after finishing the treatment she relapsed again after a short time. She sneezed a lot and looked fluffy. Then I read a manual on quail diseases in which they suggested administering antibiotics in the water. So I started giving him 0.5 g of tylosin per liter for 7 days. He improved during the first days, at the end of his treatment he recovered completely and did not relapse again. I also gave him daily probiotics, it was a gel that he put in his snack worms