Respiratory distress

[georgiashens]

Hello everyone,

I went to check on my chickens today and noticed my 3 year old light Sussex hen was breathing with a lot of effort (whole body moving and opening beak slightly). I took her to the vet who said that only right lung was affected, she has a build up of mucus, her crop has filled up with air because of the open beak breathing and she was sneezing and sounding raspy when she was clucking. He gave her a course of Enrofloxaxin for 7-10 days and said he reckons it’s a chest infection. He’s not actually a poultry vet but the only vet we can go to who has good knowledge of chickens and has been great in the past with my hens. He was clear that it could be something more severe such as bird flu but we can’t know until we see if it progresses.

My question is, what’s the chance of her and the rest of the flock surviving this? I want to be prepared but I don’t know for sure what it is so need some help. Thank you

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hello everyone,

I went to check on my chickens today and noticed my 3 year old light Sussex hen was breathing with a lot of effort (whole body moving and opening beak slightly). I took her to the vet who said that only right lung was affected, she has a build up of mucus, her crop has filled up with air because of the open beak breathing and she was sneezing and sounding raspy when she was clucking. He gave her a course of Enrofloxaxin for 7-10 days and said he reckons it’s a chest infection. He’s not actually a poultry vet but the only vet we can go to who has good knowledge of chickens and has been great in the past with my hens. He was clear that it could be something more severe such as bird flu but we can’t know until we see if it progresses.

My question is, what’s the chance of her and the rest of the flock surviving this? I want to be prepared but I don’t know for sure what it is so need some help. Thank you

Her crop looks quite full, is it emptying overnight?https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Her air sacs are clear right? Chickens have 9 air sacs located throughout the body and 2 lungs located on the back.

I'd see if the antibiotic makes a difference before doing much of anything else. I'm not sure about bird flu, if that was the case, she likely would have died within 24hrs of symptoms.