respiratory rattle

[Petitebird]

This is a very late update, but I realized I had not posted the outcome which might help other readers. In the end, I concluded that this was not a gapeworm issue after all. I treated the first ones that started with the respiratory rattle with fenbendazole, and then felt I was still not on the right track so went back to theory that it was simply a respiratory infection of some sort. A few more of the hens started with the snoring rattly sounds, no other symptoms. And then my Ameraucana hen developed a loud, croupy sound, which I could hear as I approached the coop. That's when I did some quick searching to find out what I could give her in terms of a natural bronchodilator. I learned that there are various things that could relax the airway: licorice, cayenne pepper, bromelain, coffee, magnesium, anise seed oil, and ACV would help also, I read. I made a mixture of whatever I had available, and gave the croupy hen a few mls. She took it well from the syringe. Twenty min later she was still making the croupy breathing sounds, very loud noise on breathing in, no other symptoms. I then decided to give the mixture to another hen as well, as she was rattly. As I was doing that, I suddenly realized that the noise from the Ameraucana hen had stopped. Her breathing was quiet. I came back later and she was making only the occasional slight noise, and the other hen was no longer gurgly. So, I concluded that they had something that was affecting their airways, and it seemed the natural bronchodilators helped (my theory). I then treated all of the rattly gurgly chickens with the same mixture and they all were breathing normally within 30 min. I repeated the treatment a few times the next morning and evening for a few when I heard the noises, and each time, they settled to normal breathing. The next day they were all back to normal. No medications needed, didn't have to discard any eggs, and the symptoms did not recur.

Thank you so very much for the update!!! My chickens have the same symptoms for two months, I used Tylan 50 and Baytril, some of them got well, most of them got well but my rooster. So, I took my rooster to the vet, but she insisted prescribing Baytril to be administered for another 7 days, which got me really concerned because I just don't believe you can give Baytril for 7 days and a repeated usage of the same antibiotics can cause antibiotics resistance. I am going to try what you suggested while I am using organic antibiotics to treat any infections that they might have. Two of my hens got reinfected from the rooster one month after they got well from Tylan 50. Can you tell me what exactly you put in your mixture?