Respiratory Issues with Buff

[HannahChickens99]

Hello,

I am looking for some help with my buff orph that is about 6 months old. As of this morning when she came out of the coop she had a whistling breath and was sneezing. She also has a runny nose. I've given electrolytes in the water and then was told oregano would work better. So currently she has oregano water. Within the last week we have had a soft egg every other day or so. I was thinking this was her laying them but not sure. Today she laid a very solid egg. She is quaratined in a large dog kennel in our garage to help her keep warm as it is high 30's overnight outside and dont want it spread through our other 9 babies. We believe she has infectious bronchtitis due to symptoms and the soft eggs we have gotten the past week (But not today?) We don't want her to spread it to the chickens as I have read that she will now be a carrier for this all her life.

So getting to my questions-
1. Is it imminent that she get seen by a vet? It will be close to 200 dollars for office visit and blood workup and I am nursing student with limited paid working hours..
2. If not, how do I treat this at home? Antibiotics? Electrolytes? Oregano?
3. What's standard procedure after she gets better.. how long does she have to stay away from the flock? Could they already have it as well with no symptoms? Do they need any preventive measures that I should be taking?

Let me know if you can help me in anyway!! I am so at a loss and will take any advice.

 

[Isaac 0]

Welcome to BackYard Chickens. I'm very sorry to hear your hen is having problems. Could you answer a few additional questions?

Is she eating and drinking? Where are you located in the world, you don't have to be specific, just a general location? What is she being fed? Do you have any pictures of their coop area? Do you have a few pictures, or a video of the bird in question? Are there any other symptoms such as lesions inside the mouth, or facial edema? Any more information pertaining to the bird and your setup would be helpful.

Based on how you're describing her it does sound like she is suffering from a respiratory-related disease. The few commons ones we see the most are, Mycoplasma Gallisectum (MG), Infectious bronchitis(IB), and Coryza. Besides IB, where birds can stop shedding the virus after a year, MG, and Coryza will cause the bird to be a carrier for life. All of the diseases mentioned have no cure, only supportive care, and antimicrobial therapy.

http://www.veterinaryworld.org/2008/July/Common Respiratory Diseases of Poultry.pdf

If you wish to treat the hens, I would first suggest contacting either a national veterinary diagnostic lab such as Zoologix, or your state veterinary diagnostic lab to have testing done to confirm which respiratory disease you're dealing with, so you can choose a treatment tailored to the specific disease. Your vet likely doesn't have the equipment to perform these advanced diagnostic tests, so you may just contact the laboratory yourself. Coryza, is often treated with sulfa drugs such as TMZ. MG is often treated with either Enrofloxacin, tetracycline, or doxycycline. All can be obtained online in a fish, and bird form.

http://www.zoologix.com/avian/index.htm

Some owners choose to euthanize the whole flock and start over since, as stated previously, with some disease the birds will be carriers for life. So while the antibiotics may help alleviate the symptoms, during times of stress, cold weather, etc. The birds may start to show symptoms again, or the disease itself may just become resistant to the antibiotic so a new one needs to be set in place. AS with most antibiotics, eating eggs while performing an antimicrobial treatment, is generally not a good idea.

https://www.jedds.com/shop/tylan-soluble-100-g/
https://allbirdproducts.com/products/baytril-10

Of course, a lot of these decisions depend on what you're dealing with, that's why it's a good idea to have testing done.

For now, keep the hen is a well ventilated, clean, stressful free area with feed and water provided. I would not add any supplements such as oregano to her water for now.

 

[HannahChickens99]

Thank you so much! She is drinking, I haven't seen her eat much however she did eat some banana yesterday when I gave her some. I'm in southern Maine. She is being fed Purina layer pellets. I don't see any of those other symptoms but I haven't been able to get a good look in her mouth. The coop does have straw which I had read can harbor mold, but we did just change it last week and it doesn't feel wet. But I know that could definitely be a contributing factor. She is the only one showing symptoms and has always been healthy from the start. She is currently in a large dog crate with shavings and food and water. I did have oregano in her water but I just swapped it this morning for water and hydro hen. Her poop does look green which wasn't like that before. It could be the oregano. I've attached pictures of everything you requested and I will link the youtube video I took of her breathing this morning. I put a humidifier in the garage with her over night because I read that will help.. Her breathing does sound a little better than yesterday. I can upload the video from yesterday when it sounded worse as well if that will be helpful! She was sneezing yesetrday more frequently, I haven't heard he sneeze at all this morning.

I'll definitely contact the diagnostic lab of Maine. Will you mind tell me what test I would want to do? Here is the link for the lab of Maine: https://extension.umaine.edu/veterinarylab/tests-pricing.

If antibiotics don't really fix the issue is there anything else to do?

youtube video of breathing this AM:

 

[Isaac 0]

Thank you so much! She is drinking, I haven't seen her eat much however she did eat some banana yesterday when I gave her some. I'm in southern Maine. She is being fed Purina layer pellets. I don't see any of those other symptoms but I haven't been able to get a good look in her mouth. The coop does have straw which I had read can harbor mold, but we did just change it last week and it doesn't feel wet. But I know that could definitely be a contributing factor. She is the only one showing symptoms and has always been healthy from the start. She is currently in a large dog crate with shavings and food and water. I did have oregano in her water but I just swapped it this morning for water and hydro hen. Her poop does look green which wasn't like that before. It could be the oregano. I've attached pictures of everything you requested and I will link the youtube video I took of her breathing this morning. I put a humidifier in the garage with her over night because I read that will help.. Her breathing does sound a little better than yesterday. I can upload the video from yesterday when it sounded worse as well if that will be helpful! She was sneezing yesetrday more frequently, I haven't heard he sneeze at all this morning.

I'll definitely contact the diagnostic lab of Maine. Will you mind tell me what test I would want to do? Here is the link for the lab of Maine: https://extension.umaine.edu/veterinarylab/tests-pricing.

If antibiotics don't really fix the issue is there anything else to do?

youtube video of breathing this AM:

You can call, and speak with them further, but you would want to go with the,

Basic avian serology panel (S. pullorum/SE, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, M. synoviae, Avian Influenza) per serum sample

Other serological tests of poultry may be available

If they don't test for IB, it may be good to send some samples to Zoologix. Regarding your last question, I'm afraid there's nothing else you can do besides supportive care, and antimicrobial therapy. At least from what I've seen, that tends to effective though.

The video from yesterday would be helpful. If she is making such a rapid improvement, not sneezing anymore, or producing discharge from her nose, her symptoms may have been caused by something as simple as getting something stuck in her trachea. Is that what's actually happening (?) No one knows unless you spend just a few dollars and have some testing done. Worth it, IMO.

 

[HannahChickens99]

Okay I just contacted Zoologix and my local testing center as well. I attached the video in my last reply were you able to see it? Ill link it again -

 

[Isaac 0]

Okay I just contacted Zoologix and my local testing center as well. I attached the video in my last reply were you able to see it? Ill link it again -

I was under the impression there was a video of her from yesterday? Or, am I wrong? The one you just posted was from this morning, correct?

 

[HannahChickens99]

Yes I'm sorry I know what you mean now lol. Not enough coffee this morning! I will upload the videos from yesterday now and link them!

 

[HannahChickens99]

Here are both videos I took yesterday:

 

[Isaac 0]

Here are both videos I took yesterday:

Thanks for the videos. My suggestion would be to just keep an eye on her for now. Based off on how rapidly she's improving their very well may have been something stuck in her throat that she's trying to expel. You can send some samples in, but the more I look at the videos the more I lean towards it being an object/powder stuck in her trachea. Especially with mild respiratory diseases, it can be hard to differentiate the two.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you look inside her beak?
Is her crop emptying overnight? Take out the food/water tonight, feel her crop first thing in the morning, it should be empty.