still rattle after treatments, next step?

[trudyg]

I got 2 Red Star hens about 2 months ago. After several days, Lady started a cough and then we noticed a rattle when she breathes. I immediately did a search for causes and remedies, sounded like the chronic respiratory thing so I started them both on Duromycin. After the required doses, she still had the issue. So, next thing was Wazine followed up by Safeguard in case it's worms. Still has it after 3 days of Safeguard. Our weather has been warm with some rain (they both got soaked 2 days ago, not enough sense to get in out of the rain). They eat layer pellets and get plenty of fresh water (from our well, so no chlorine or flouride). I give them a mash in the morning made of pellets, home-made kefir, vitamins and maybe some applesauce or oatmeal. She eats well. Seems to not drink as much as Lucy, but appears fine. Actually, the rattly one looks better than the other, who seems to have ruffled feathers all the time. They have a tote with peat moss + DE for dust baths in the coop, outside they have several spots where they bathe to which I added wood ashes. They get plenty of greens and bugs, as they free range every day for at least 5 hours (I no longer have basil). Rattler has laid several double-yolkers. They both have laid daily except for once, and we've had several jelly eggs. Those double yolkers look like small potatoes! The nest is filled with wood chips from tsc. I have dusted it all with sevin. I"m at a loss for what to try next. Do they ever just have a rattle and live with it? Sometimes it's like she's got phlegm she's trying to cough out, but not often. I did buy ivermectin horse paste just in case, but I can take it back and exchange for something else if need be. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[Mt Hood Hens]

Hey there,
Don't know if my situation is the same but I posted this:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...d-antibiotics-can-they-be-done-simultaneously

I've got one that is still percolating after two rounds of antibiotic treatment, 4 nights of Oxine fogging, and a trip to the vet. Going to the vet did give us piece of mind as we were able to find out she didn't have parasites(I was fearing the gapeworm...), and had a viral case of bronchitis. Antibiotics don't do a thing for viruses, but because of a couple other things, the vet did put her on antibiotics. Even though we're done with those now, the hen still sounds terrible. The vet said she'll just have to get over the virus on her own, and that she'll probably always battle it. The other hens sound great and they all run around acting like all is well.

 

[trudyg]

Thanks for the comment. I had already read that in my earlier research. We have no nasal discharge at all. I figured the worming couldn't hurt and might help, but I'm not seeing any difference. I thought Lucy might have mites b/c she had a dirty butt one day, but I put her in a pan of warm water and since then it has not recurred. If Lady has gapeworm I think she'd be getting sickly or even be dead, but she acts/eats/lays just fine. so, I don't think it's that. One thing I didn't mention earlier is that, when I go get eggs or whatever, I've been getting bitten by something. I don't think it's coming from the coop, but rather from the yard/garden, but better to mention just in case. I'm stumped. She acts fine except for the cough/rattle, which does sometimes seem to make her a bit dizzy. Do they ever just have a chronic cough that doesn't go away but also doesn't get worse? As it's coming onto summer, I'm thinking the sunshine and warm weather can't hurt.

 

[Mt Hood Hens]

Hey there,
My experience is a total of 2 months now.....so take it with a grain Preferably a beer.
The vet at the Avian Medical Hospital, where we took the percolating hen said that, "yes", the hen will always battle it. But, you don't know if what your hen has, is what our hen has. They did some kind of culture,and poop tests to figure it out. At this point, there is no discharge from the face(eyes, nose...)or swelling anywhere. Clean butt. Serious rattle. The hen will likely be more prone to getting sick in the future with this already in her lungs. But, we are willing to ride it out and see how it goes.

The recipe I followed for the fermented feed is this:
http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.ca/p/fermented-feed.html

I do not use apple cider vinegar to ferment, but plenty of people do and it seems fine.
I had added DE to everything when we first set up their coop and run and dust bath area, and then removed it after battling the lung issues since it's very irritating to the lungs of a rattly bird. That actually helped and she stopped sneezing as much, definitely.

We have noseeums here that are so small, they fit through the screen in a window. They are aweful biting little creatures, and I rarely see them in action, but their bites take much longer than a mesquito's to heal:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratopogonidae

Maybe that's what you have biting you.
hope something helps

 

[Eggcessive]

You may be getting bitten by mites. You can inspect your hens feathers next to the skin for mite droppings--there are a couple different kind, but they can cause anemia. For chronic respiratory disease, you might try giving shots of Tylan 50 (not 200 as it is too strong) 1/2 ml. into the breast muscle X 3 days. It is around $12 at farm stores and buy syringes with needles too.