Respiratory Distress

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

Hi Hen Keepers,

My 2 year old New Hampshire Red has been wheezing and struggling to breathe since last night. I have applied VetRx to her head, neck, under wings, waddles, down throat, etc. to help her out. I honestly did not think she would survive the night. She did, and I have retreated her this morning.

It's been very cold here and this little girl likes to stay out beyond the time the automatic door closes. I found her and her partner in crime (another NH Red) roosting out on the fence post in the freezing rain last week. They identify as ducks and go out in the weather all the time. I, of course, grabbed them and put them in the coop as soon as I found them.

I have her in a heated tack room in a crate for now. She will eat, but I have not seen her drink. I have infused VetRx into a towel and a roosting pole under her, and set up a warm humidifier with VetRx in the mix.

I dont' have access to a vet or antibiotics (at least that I know of), so is there anything else I can do? I am not optimistic at this point.

Thank you,

 

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

Well, this bird continues to deteriorate. I went out and there was an odd paper-ish looking thing on the bottom of the crate. I thought it looked like a coffee filter piece, but my wife thinks it was an attempted egg that went wrong.
Idk, I'm thinking the most humane thing for me to do is put her down in the morning if things continue.
Anyone have any ideas as to what this might be?
She's beyond wheezing. Open mouth. Sucking in air barely.
Just awful to see.
Thanks

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Sorry about your girl. Gasping breathing like that might be a respiratory disease but is sometimes just due to pain and stress. It can be really hard to tell what is going with a bird... I'm sorry you're going through this and I'm sorry I don't have any good advice.

If she's not drinking I might try syringing a little water into her beak, but who knows how much that will really help her at this point and it might just stress her out more.

 

[kcan2]

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive
Tagging some experts for your girl

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you get a video of her? Upload to youtube and provide a link.

A photo of the papery thing you saw in the box?

Feel her abdomen for bloat or fluid below the vent between her legs.
What's her crop like?

Has she pooped at all? If she's not pooped, then I'd feel inside her vent about 1-2" for an egg. Give her 1 Calcium Citrate tablet or 1 TUMS. See if you can get fluids into her.

 

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

Thanks everyone for your replies and suggestions.
I honestly thought I would find this hen dead on Saturday morning. The only thing I had was VetRx. I had her isolated in a cage in a heated tack room, and I put some VetRx in a warm mist humidifier.
Despite driving around all Saturday, I could not find any broad spectrum antibiotics for local purchase. Very frustrating to say the least.
I ordered some Denagard online despite not knowing exactly what the diagnosis was.
It's Tuesday and she has gotten progressively better. She went from gasping to just having a wheeze to looking normal again. I did start a course of Denagard yesterday and I'll let that run for 3 more days.
Eating normally. Passing waste normally. Crop appears to be functioning fine. She is drinking the treated water just fine (added sugar as others have said).
So, not sure what to think other than this bird is pretty resilient. She's a great layer and a character. Happy she's going to pull through.
Thanks again for all the ideas.

 

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive
Tagging some experts for your girl

Thank you very much for doing that. I appreciate it.

 

[kcan2]

Thank you very much for doing that. I appreciate it.

So glad to hear that she is doing better!
Maybe it was a bad cold from her time spent outside, especially if her feathers got soaked through. I wish I knew more to tell you regarding meds or boosts to help, but it sounds like she is a tough girl. Good job pulling her through this!

 

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

So glad to hear that she is doing better!
Maybe it was a bad cold from her time spent outside, especially if her feathers got soaked through. I wish I knew more to tell you regarding meds or boosts to help, but it sounds like she is a tough girl. Good job pulling her through this!

Well, I don't know if I did much, but she is the funniest little hen. She and her partner in crime are always the last to go into the coop to roost, and I am assuming that's because they are the smallest and they are in last place regarding pecking order. However, if you drop some scraps of food from the table near the flock, she's first on it and she will even go toe to toe with our big boss rooster. So funny.
Maybe it's a breed thing, but they both are not phased by the rain or cold, and they'll go out and forage when all the other girls are under cover.
Happy she has turned the corner and crossing my fingers she pulls all the way through whatever this was.
Thank you again for your help. Very kind.