Quiet crackle/pop noise when massaging crop

[TheWeeBee]

She's exhibiting an upright posture and slightly extending her neck, beak open, to breathe. It's rhythmic, not a one-off movement.

My vet got back to me and he wasn't able to pin down the exact cause. To rule out gapeworms, he gave her a dose of ivermectin, and to rule out a bacterial infection he's started her on Baytril. He mentioned that she hadn't been gasping since he gave her the Baytril (I'm taking that to be a good sign). Her symptoms line up perfectly with those of mycoplasma gallisepticum: M gallisepticum has a very typical appearance with upper respiratory symptoms, a clear nasal discharge, occasional sneezing and, very commonly, sinusitis

One other thing that has us concerned is during a fecal exam to check for parasites/bacteria, he saw a distinctly protozoan object under the scope. He couldn't identify it, but I'm hoping that it's not something fatal like cryptosporidiosis. He's going to send it off to the lab for a definitive diagnosis.

I know exactly what you mean about the "going forward movement", because mine will do that when they've scarfed down a too-large piece of their crumble and have to force it down their throats. I have a BQ hen that is a total pig and is constantly making herself do that lol. I don't know if sprinkling some probiotics on their food would help? It certainly would not hurt them.

 

[DK newbie]

I know exactly what you mean about the "going forward movement", because mine will do that when they've scarfed down a too-large piece of their crumble and have to force it down their throats. I have a BQ hen that is a total pig and is constantly making herself do that lol. I don't know if sprinkling some probiotics on their food would help? It certainly would not hurt them.

Ohhh, that might be the thing. I got a new mini blender last week, which doesn't turn all the feed into powder like my coffee grinder does, but I decided the size the blender made it was okay. That might explain why I saw it again now. The millet could have caused it before and the larger pieces of crumble now. Guess I'll try to be a bit more patient with the blender to get the pieces smaller Thanks for sharing your experience! And also the details from the vet, hope she gets better soon. I'm looking forward to hearing what the lab finds. Does she have 'a clear nasal discharge'?

 

[TheWeeBee]

A little, and only when she sneezes.

I use a coffee grinder for breaking down the gamebird crumble for my quail chicks for the first 4-5 weeks. Even the smallest bit is too large for them! I'll start reducing the grind time at week #4 so they can get used to eating the normal sized feed within a couple of weeks.

 

[TheWeeBee]

She's still gape-breathing a bit, but now that's she snuggled against my neck she seems okay. Here's a video I took of her when I brought her home from the vet. She had eaten some mealworms and had a sip of water.

 

[dc3085]

Has she been laying? Egg bound birds will gape like that.

 

[TheWeeBee]

No, but she'd been sitting on some duds for a while up until last weekend when I cleaned out their pens and tossed them out. I've had an egg-bound budgie so know what their distress looks like when they're bound. Bee's gaping because her sinuses are congested and has to breathe through her mouth. She's still having the occasional bout of sneezing and gaping, but seemed to be a little perkier today with fewer bouts of labored breathing. I'm bringing her to work with me this week so I can keep an eye on her. I'm sure the Baytril just needs time to work its magic. Her eating, drinking, and preening habits are all normal.

 

[dc3085]

Does her nasal discharge smell bad? Can you hear wheezing in her chest?

 

[TheWeeBee]

There's no smell to her nasal discharge at all, it's clear, and I can't hear any rattles in her lungs.

It's so strange: she will have a burst of energy, eating, drinking, stretching, preening, and then go back to the warm spot by the heat lamp and maybe sneeze a bit and breathe through her mouth for a bit. Then she'll revert back to normal nasal breathing.

When I talked to my vet yesterday, he decided to include ciprofloxacin nasal drops to give her along with the oral Baytril, to directly target any bacteria that may be in her sinuses.

Not knowing what this is is really stressing me out. Her symptoms most closely resemble that of a mycoplasma infection, but there has been no swelling, no reduction in appetite, or obvious ocular discharge (they're just a little watery). If she were a human, I would think she has seasonal allergies.

I changed out her bedding last night and replaced her water with a solution of Soluvite-D from Vetafarm to give her a boost of vitamins that she may be lacking. All of my quail are on Purina gamebird chow w/ 30% protein mixed with some fortified budgie seed.

 

[DK newbie]

I found this article:
https://ladygouldian.com/Respiratory-Infections-in-Birds
Don't know whether it's helpful, but you might want to read it and see for yourself.

 

[TheWeeBee]

I stopped giving her the Baytril and cipro nasal drops Monday because they seemed to make her feel worse. I also gave her a fresh batch of Soluvite-D so she was on concentrated vitamin supps for a full 6 days. Her symptoms have improved a bit, but it seems like the sneezing isn't completely going away. The vet said her lungs were clear and there's no sign of infection (at least without doing a battery of avian fecal tests which would be outrageously expensive). The popping noise was being caused by her heavy breathing, it was her sternum/cartilage making the noise when she would breathe heavily. He did say that she seemed to be recovering from her sneezing fits much more quickly, and her breathing was not as labored. She gained 5g since her last visit which is good, and he wants me to continue doing what I'm doing and they will call to check on her in a week.

I went to the feed store over the weekend and bought fresh gamebird crumble in case the old stuff had gone bad or had mold growing in it. She's also getting fresh greens (either turnip or watercress), boiled egg, crushed raw sunflower seeds, and either mealworms or brine shrimp. I put her back on regular water yesterday with a bit of ACV added to it. She has good energy, is loveable as usual, and has a good appetite. Since no one can figure out *** is wrong with her (and I have been unsuccessful in finding anyone with similar problems on various message boards) I'm just going to continue to keep an eye on her, make sure she's got a well-rounded and healthy diet, and see to it that she's happy.

I love my Bee