Sneezing and rattlely chest

[stubbornhill]

I have a Rhode Island Red that has started sneezing. Their run in a bit dusty right now so I didn't think a lot about it. However, she has recently started sounding a little raspy for lack of better terms. Not when she crow, just walking around she will make a wheezing noise. She is eating fine and I believe laying eggs. I just dusted them all as she and one other were losing feathers. Hers mostly on her neck. I didn't see any parasite, but who knows. She was wheezing before I dusted them. She is supossidly about 24 months old. Any ideas what I should do or what it could be? Thanks in advance!

 

[stubbornhill]

Anyone?

 

[E.G.Glayer]

She has a little age on her if she is 24 months but has alot of life left in her I think. I'm not a vet just a guy who has had some very good success with no illness losses in the 10 years I've been raising chickens. I dont over treat with medications but I do recommend giving antibiotics in the water when you notice something like this and it persists for more than a few days. Usually treat with a broad spectram antibiotic in the water Duramycin or Terramycin for something like 14 days or whatever the package says. All of them will be drinking and I dont thinks it hurts anything. It has worked for me several times.

There will be those who say not treat to often because it will cause some resistance in the virus over time (probably true but not in the 1 or 2 x per year that I might need to treat) or that you cant eat the eggs when they are on meds but at my house nothing goes to waste and honestly the amount of med transfer to the egg has to be minute. Not telling you what to do but this has worked well for me.

Hope this helps...

 

[speckledhen]

If you hear wheezing, that can be respiratory illness, could be something caught in the throat, or a number of things. I never give antibiotics for anything like that because it doesn't cure most illnesses of respiratory nature, just fixes the symptoms if it's bacterial. First of all, if you have something viral going on, no antibiotic will touch it. If it's bacterial and respiratory, you may cure the symptoms but they will most likely remain carriers. If it's just sneezing, do look up the nares with a flashlight and down the throat (a two person job, put a pencil crossways in the beak and look down there). Syringe oil into her mouth then massage gently so if there is something stuck like a piece of corn or a screw, it may be eased down.

I just had a chickie rodeo trying to catch a couple of flighty chicks to remove legbands and one's crop was pressed on, pushing something up into her throat, making her gurgle. No symptoms and if we hadn't stressed her and manhandled her, it wouldn't have even happened, but there you have it, a non-respiratory cause of an unsettling sound from a chicken. I have her in the house to calm her down and drink water and make sure she's okay, but there can be so many causes that are not even disease related. Always separate a bird in question, though, till you can figure it out.