Please help me! Ayam Cemani pullet with mucus coming from beak and just not doing well

[AshleyRagen]

I am a new chicken mom and am panicking right now because my sweet girl wasn’t well when I went out to secure the coop for the night.

She was sitting on her roost with mucus on her beak and in her feathers around her head and chest area and keeping her beak open. I immediately panicked and made sure she had plenty of water (her bowls were all still full). It’s been hot here in Georgia so I was afraid she may have overheated or something. Her coop is completely shaded and I supply water with ice blocks in it during the day.

When I picked her up to move her to the large dog crate in the garage so I could watch her and just look her over more, I noticed her chest area is really hard on the top left side. I panicked and thought maybe she’s hurt herself somehow. I don't know much about chickens yet so I’m really not sure what would cause this. Is she gasping for air and potentially threw her neck out of place like I’ve read in some places online? I have no clue and just feel helpless.

I’m going to take her to a vet tomorrow, I’m just hoping there’s an avian vet that’s open nearby. My husband is a small animal veterinarian but doesn’t know a thing about chickens... he only works with dogs and cats. We do have access to medications though if there’s anything any of you think could potentially help.

I’ve really gotten quite attached to her and the thought of her not making it through the night or not making it at all breaks my heart and I can’t sleep knowing that she’s not well.

Any advice or suggestions are welcome and so appreciated. If there’s anymore info needed from me to help, just let me know.

Thank you all so much in advance.

 

[birdsrfun]

How is your bird doing @AshleyRagen?

You said it has been hot. Does your coop have enough ventilation? Did you mean the chicken’s right chest area is hard? That is her crop. When you felt it was hard, was it at night? How was it in the morning?

 

[AshleyRagen]

I recently put in more boards on the inside of her roof because she was flying up to the top of the coop and I was worried she would get stuck between this small area between the roof and the coop. Now there’s no holes that would enable air to flow through the coop. Her coop door is opened every morning though and her run is all open. I can take pictures if that helps because I’m not very good at explaining.

I took her to the vet yesterday and after x rays and fecal samples, they’re not 100% sure what it is but they gave her fluids and then sent me home with Albon and Benebac. Nearly $400 worth of vet bills and I still don’t know what’s caused her to be sick but she seems to be doing a bit better today and is acting much more like her old self so it’s worth it to me. She does still has mucus in her beak. She’s more interested in food and water now so that’s making me feel much better for the moment but I’m worried about it happening again. If we’re not sure what the cause is, I can’t really prevent it from happening again.

I think I will try working on a better solution for better ventilation for the time being and until she’s 100% she’s going to stay in our air conditioned garage in the extra large dog kennel. I’m just so worried to put her back outside again.

 

[birdsrfun]

Now there’s no holes that would enable air to flow through the coop.

This is a step backwards. Please work on getting ventilation in your coop.

I took her to the vet yesterday and after x rays and fecal samples, they’re not 100% sure what it is

Yeah, unless a vet really knows chickens, most vets won’t know anything.

She does still has mucus in her beak.

There’s some sort of respiratory issue going on. Ventilation is key. Also, make there’s not a lot of dust in the environment, and hopefully your not using any cedar shavings. Maybe try a different bedding so you can rule out any sensitivity to a particular bedding.

Heat can cause respiratory issues too. Do all you can to allow your birds to cool themselves. Please keep us posted.