Hi. All 5 of my girls were killed Wednesday night by (I am assuming) a fox. I have fixed the problem that got them killed. So the next problem I had was my goat. She was bought to protect the girls from the hawks. She rocks. No hawk problems since she arrived. Anyway, Patricia(my boys named her) was having a really bad day on Thursday because she was all alone so I knew I had to quickly replace the deceased hens. (No disrespect to the deceased) A friend of a friend offered 2 chickens so I went and picked them up. (I don't know their age) He gave me a Wellsummer rooster and hen. They are beautiful. She has layed 2 eggs in her first 2 days with me. He is handsome and has been crowing up a storm. (My DH calls him the barnyard pimp) Now for my worry, the girl sounds like she has asthma. She seems to sneeze and wheeze. She has no discharge from her eyes, nose, or mouth. She is active and appears fine. Should I be worried? Could this just be normal for her? Could it be related to the stress of re-homing? Should I do something or just wait and see? Thanks in advance for you thoughts.
I'm not a vet, but I wouldn't consider her symptoms "normal". I would go ahead and treat her with VetRx, and not bring home anymore new birds until the new hens symptoms clear up.
Could be something that she already had that the stress of being moved aggravated. I don't know enough about poultry diseases to help diagnose it. At this time I start with more common problems such as worms and progress toward the less common ones such as respiratory infections. Next it could be something that she is now being exposed to since she is in new surroundings. Something like an allergic reaction to some sort of dust in the area. Finally it could just be nothing more than a reaction to stress. Without knowing more you could simply treat the stress by keeping her in a quiet dimly lit and warm area. Basically rest and tranquility. worm her and a broad spectrum antibiotic. sort of attack everything and hope to hit something. If you have to choose between worming or antibiotics. I think I would go antibiotics given the problem is respiratory.
So...I took the hen to the vet this morning. She has a partial airway obstruction due to pus-filled ulcers in her mouth and throat. The culture he took showed both bacteria and fungus. The vet said this may do her in. However, she is not miserable so we are going to try and treat her. She is going to have a 3 week course of antibiotics and antifungals. Her energy level is fine. She is still laying eggs. Her eyes are clear and bright. She has no discharge from her mouth, nose, or eyes. Her comb and waddles are bright red and not floppy. As long as things remain the same I will keep treating her, however, if she starts to act sick we will have to do the humane thing. Keep your fingers crossed. The vet also said this is probably not contagious but to just watch the rooster for another week before sounding the all clear.
