Periodically wheezing and sneezing chicken

[First time chicken lover]

Hello all! – first of all, I’m a first time chicken lover and raiser! I truly appreciate all your information that you guys are going to give me. I went out to my chicken pen this morning and one of my chickens was wheezing really bad and sneezing a little bit. I called the vet and made an appointment but I went back out an hour later and she was fine! She was drinking and eating and chasing bugs as normal. Went back out An half an hour later and the wheezing had came back. Just to play it safe I took her to the vet anyways, they gave me anabiotic‘s in on anti-inflammatory to give to her. She had a temperature of 106, but the vet said that the infection was not in her longs yet. From what I’ve read from BYC this could be a bad thing in the long run. Here’s the kicker! I’m leaving for vacation at 7 o’clock in the morning tomorrow and I have already made reservations for this cabin months and months ago! My neighbor was going to be the one taking care of my flok when I was gone but I’m worried about him transferring whatever she has to his pen. All the other chickens seem absolutely fine, they’re doing their normal thing. Any comments?

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. If the wheezing and sneezing disappeared, it may have been a piece of feed in her airway, or dust in the feed making her sneeze. Mucus in the airway from a respiratory infection can also do that.
Now that it is back, I would watch for it to happen right after eating.

If your chicken has a respiratory disease, then the rest of your flock have probably already been exposed. Some respiratory disease can be from viruses, and antibiotics won’t do much other than to maybe help prevent a secondary infection. If your neighbor has chickens, his chickens could be carriers or have been exposed already. About all you can do is tell him that your chicken has sneezed and wheezed, and let him decide whether to take care of them or not. Or you could bring your sick chicken along on your trip in a dog crate. Or not go...