Respiratory or Gapeworm?

[kbgrover]

I have a chicken that was almost gasping for air last night for around 10 minutes. I brought her inside, she ate a scrambled egg and seemed to be okay after that. I am worried that it’s a respiratory infection, I looked down her throat and could not see any worms. Unsure of what to do and what to treat my flock with if it is contagious. She is separated from everyone else at the moment and will be that way until we figure out what’s up.

I gave her vetrx and also rubbed it on everyone else last night. Unsure if there’s anything I should put in their water to help treat anything or if I will end up having to cull everyone (this is my last resort, these birds are more pets to me than anything else). Also my chicken that was gaping hasn’t done it again that I’ve heard, I gave her water with some ACV and food in her own space, she has pooped and it looks normal.

Can anyone tell me what I should treat my flock with to eliminate the respiratory? There have been no new additions to my flock, we recently started getting some cold snaps overnight in my area as summer goes away and it has been wet and rainy. Could this have caused anything? I also have ducks, so I would be treating them too. I haven’t noticed any other signs from other chickens.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you see any drainage from the nostrils, watery or bubbly eyes, sneezing more than occasionally, or wheezing? How is the ventilation in your coop, and is there any excessive dust or any mold? Gasping and gaping can be seen in a struggling chicken, if overheated, or when close to death. Gapeworm cannot be see, since it is inside the trachea/windpipe, and it is fairly rare. But SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer or the horse paste can treat gape and other worms at a dosage of 0.25 ml per pound of weight given orally for 5 consecutive days. I would look for any yellow material inside the beak.

 

[kbgrover]

when she was gasping, there was clear almost like water that dripped from her nose but I have not seen it since. I’m not sure if it’s a worm issue or respiratory so I’m not sure how to treat it or what to try first and also if it’s effected my whole flock. We have vents all around the top of our coop, they share with our ducks though and it’s been extremely damp and wet, raining almost everyday. I am going to switch to using straw today as well and giving the coop a nice deep clean. They don’t use the roost and would rather sit on top of the plastic bin I have in there to hold some supplies. They poop on this and I have to scrape it all the time. I haven’t heard any noises so far yet this morning, she drank water and ate food and really wants to be out with the rest of the flock

 

[Eggcessive]

The roosts need to be higher than anything else, or they will roost on other things. What is your general location? Straw and hay can hold moisture. I have always used pine shavings, but sand can be good to use if moisture is a problem. Ducks can be messy. Have you added any new birds recently? Unless you see any of the signs I listed, antibiotics should not be used. Worming them may be helpful.

 

[kbgrover]

The roosts need to be higher than anything else, or they will roost on other things. What is your general location? Straw and hay can hold moisture. I have always used pine shavings, but sand can be good to use if moisture is a problem. Ducks can be messy. Have you added any new birds recently? Unless you see any of the signs I listed, antibiotics should not be used. Worming them may be helpful.

We live in the woods on the coast in Maine, our roosts are pretty high up. I use pine shavings now but unsure if I should switch to straw for the ducks? We don’t keep water in the coop or anything so all the moisture that’s in there is from the rain or ducks. We have not added any new birds, it has been suddenly very cold and my birds are going through a molt. I don’t see bubbling eyes or discharge coming from her nose or eyes. Only when she was gasping for a few minutes I saw some clear water looking liquid come from her nose, it was not gooey or sticky in any way. I do have a video of her doing it. She has not done it again since that I have seen. Im not sure if we should try the worming first and just keep up on the ACV and is there anything else I can add to water to aid?

 

[Eggcessive]

ACV is not necessary for anything. It’s use is overrated. I have used it in small amounts, but switched long ago to clean water each day. Videos must be uploaded to YouTube or similar with a link posted here. Check her crop to see if it is emptying by early morning. It’s possible that she could have been adjusting her crop or spit up some water. Hopefully, there is nothing serious happening.

 

[kbgrover]

Here’s the link for what she was doing, I’ve only seen this once and otherwise it looks like she’s been acting normal

 

[kbgrover]

ACV is not necessary for anything. Its use is overrated. I have used it in small amounts, but switched long ago to clean water each day. Videos must be uploaded to YouTube or similar with a link posted here. Check her crop to see if it is emptying by early morning. It’s possible that she could have been adjusting her crop or spit up some water. Hopefully, there is nothing serious happening.

I checked her crop this morning and it was pretty much empty, I had just given her a little food and water so there was a very small amount in there, but compared to last night, it was much less

 

[Eggcessive]

In the video her crop looks full, so I would suspect she had something stuck or bothering her. The crop should be empty in early morning.

 

[kbgrover]

In the video her crop looks full, so I would suspect she had something stuck or bothering her. The crop should be empty in early morning.

I’ll check her again tomorrow morning, keeping her separate for now until we make sure she’s in the clear, today she is acting normal with no gasping or anything like that. Thank you so much for your input!! We also called our poultry vet and they’ll be getting back to us. Not sure if there’s anything like that going on or not!