sneeze or cough - do I treat all of them or just the one

[angiew]

One of my beautiful chickens has developed this sort of cough or sneeze. I dont see any liquid coming from her nose or eyes and her crop is still nice and red. I bought some tetracycline to put in her water but I dont know if I should treat all my girls or just her. None of my other chickens show any sign of distress or cough/sneeze and they are all active and hungry. Thanks in advance for any advice. It is very welcome to all of us new chicks!

 

[PunkinPeep]

I wouldn't give her any antibiotics.

Sometimes they make that noise because they have something caught in their mouth or throat - or because it's dusty or something. As long as it's dry and not constant, i wouldn't worry. If it's constant, i would take a look down her throat and investigate.

I am also assuming that she is acting normal otherwise.

 

[angiew]

Thanks for your reply. I removed her from the chicken yard and put her in a smaller cage and noticed that she is also wheezing when she breathes. I got this chicken about 6 months ago, she was rescued from an abandoned farm (forclosure) so I dont know how old she is. Any words of wisdom on the wheezing?

 

[MotherJean]

Given where she came from, I might suspect gapeworm. If she were mine, I'd worm her. If she doesn't improve fairly quickly after that, I'd turn to antibiotics to treat possible respiratory disease.

 

[haTHOR]

ivermectin (eprinex) for gapeworm or piperazine (wazine)?