Sick chicken: Wheezing, sneezing

[Gtown Farmer]

Hi folks.

It seems I have a sick hen; 8 weeks old. She is wheezing and has somewhat labored breathing. I'm concerned it may be some sort of respiratory infection. I'm in Upstate NY and we have had rain almost everyday for three weeks, so it's hard to keep a properly ventilated and dry environment. Anyway, I went to our local Agway and bought a few things. One, VetRX, which I put around her nostrils, under her wings and on her legs. I also bought some vitamins and electrolytes. As well, I bought some antibiotics called Agrimycin, which I have not administered yet because I can't figure out how many milligrams are in a teaspoon.

Can anyone suggest what else I should do, and/or be giving her? Should I bring her in the house and put het under a heat lamp to keep her warm?

 

[erthymom2]

i had a similar problem (we live in the souther tier of NY)
i took the sickly ones back into the brooder box(i use a large watermelon box with a heat lamp) and fed them gamebird feed finely ground up with some oatmeal added, and as a treat plain yougert . No drafts, no other chicks with them - we call it the chik hospital. Electrolytes in their water.I used VeyX the first week but put it into a separate waterer with a little molasses in it to entice them back to it thru the day.
they came around after two weeks but i did loose two who looked to be too far gone.

 

[Gtown Farmer]

thanks for the reply. I'll separate her from the rest and keep her warm. As for the other six. Do you think it's okay for them to be out in the hen house with a window open all night? It got down to 60 last night, but they're 8 weeks old. I think that should be okay. Please chime in.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

there is 5 Ml in tsp
a ml is also a cc

so what amt does it say to give them in water

they definetly need the antibiotic
I would give it to all of them as she has contaminated the whole flock by the drinking in the waterer and sneezing etc

also here is the way to use VETRX

put some on the head and a couple drops in each eye
and rub in
also under the wings
then give each chicken sneezing 1/2 tsp as well as putting the antibiotic in the water

besure and do not under estimate the amt for gallon of water

as it will take medication

also the vetrx does not hurt the antibiotic so put it in the same waterer
VETRX is only campho and herbs for respiratory disease

and it is important to put in the eyes as it is for sinus problems
which respirartory disease effects

this will not be over for two weeks so doctor them daily and stay on top of it

also give some wet mash probiotic recipe when the medication is over

any questions email me

 

[Gtown Farmer]

thanks. I think I'm going to hold off on the antibiotic for another day. She seems okay right now; eating bouncing around as always. Droppings all look healthy. I just held her close to my ear and although I could hear her breathing, I assume that's normal. No gurgling though and the sneezing seems to have stopped. I want to make sure she's actually sick before I subject all seven birds to antibiotics. I'll keep you folks posted.

 

[grower]

I could not find another thread at the moment that seems close to what I've got, so I hope this is all right.

I have a small flock of mixed chickens, all around 6-7 months old and not yet laying. For about a week now, I had been hearing one of the chickens making a little "huh" sound from time to time, as if it had something caught in its throat, but wasn't sure which one it was. 3 days ago I noticed one hen pecking around the goat trough. The goats normally eat sweet feed (like you feed horses) and some loose goat-specific minerals from a low trough. When I called the chickens to eat some scratch I was throwing out, all of them came but the hen with the white feathers on her wings. But she seemed happy enough, pecking around the goats. Yesterday, I saw this same hen just standing with her eyes closed and feathers fluffed up, and her beak partly open. Occasionally she would close and open her beak. If I nudged her, she would open her eyes and look at me, then close them again. This morning, I started throwing out the scratch close to where she was and she ran over to me as if she would eat, but then just kind of looked down at the ground and didn't get any, again with her beak partly open. I picked her up, and she felt way too light! She's lost a lot of weight. I picked what I thought was a small straw from the corner of her mouth, and it was dried snot, I think. She had some dark scum dried to the top of her beak and around her nose. I put her back down and washed my hands thoroughly. Then I googled this forum to ask someone more expert than I....Could this be bird flu? Or does it sound like something she may have swallowed or snorted?

Thanks for the help.

 

[grower]

I had a closer look at my hen....she had dried snot around her nose, so I cleaned that off. Nothing in her mouth. Seems to have no crop. Skin is normal color, comb and wattles pink. Her eyes are still bright, but she is very weak.