Sub Q emphysema deflating

[Lacap]

Hi, I'm a newbie,
A little background, I live in the Florida keys..have a large screened ..open air coop. I deep litter with pine..horse bedding on dirt..no issues, or smells and it is composting nicely..no odor..and a large fan to move air. Have two adult laying hens, 10 four month old RIR pullets I raised from week one,,,recently and stupidly I added three pullet bantams I bought at a farm stand. Kept them in quarantine And .. But quickly discovered mites, fleas, and then after a week runny noses, raspy chests. I treated them with vet RX and sulmet. Waited three weeks..They seemed then fine, So I incorporated them into the coop... Big mistake..They infected my entire flock ! I blame myself. I returned the bantams back to the farm stand...and started treating all the rest. Two had to be culled..head,eyes showllen shut and bearly breathing, now I am left with runny noses..wheezing..and rattling in two. I treated with electrolytes (I live in the keys and it's been waaaaay hot).. Sulmet, vet RX..keeping beaks/noses clear. One had bubble in eye treated with my antibiotic eye drops (worked amazing).. All have perked up.
Now for my latest problem. On of my pullets swelled up under her wing and chest. Two large lumps..they looked like cysts..so I thought I would aspirate it. Numbed it, cleaned the area with betadine , punctured the site..expecting fluid and the only return was a large whoosh of air and it fully deflated. No blood, sprayed with blu Kote.. She seemed fine and relieved. Knowing she had just gotten over a respiratory thing..I did some research... She either has a severe resp.infection or somehow internally hurt herself. In any event...I looked on YouTube..and quickly discovered it was a sub Q emphysema..so the next day she blew up like a large balloon on . Both breasts and it was huge under her left wing. I aspirated in four sites just under the skin (no blood) and released all the air ..it closed and I sprayed the site with blu Kote. She seems ok now. Back on another round of antibiotics.
Question...after deflating her she is half the size..is there anyway to put weight back on fast? And should I continue to deflate if she swells up again? Any advise would be appreciated. I video'd my first attempt when I thought it was a cyst. If one needs to see it what I did. She is eating , pooping and drinking fine...a little raspy but fine, thanks.

 

[Eggcessive]

Wow, you have just demonstrated how important quarantine is for new chickens. When a chicken gets a respiratory disease such as MG (CRD) or coryza, they are carriers for life. They will be infectious even after their symptoms have left. I am familiar with subcutaneous emphysema with a chick I treated who had gotten bumped around her neck or chest. Since your chicken has had a fairly serious disease, the SQE could be from having an air sacculitis infection, which is a complication of resp. diseases. I would be tempted to take or send her to the state vet lab for a necropsy to find out what diseases she has, since many of those can come in twos. Some states will do them for free, some at a minimal cost, some not. Here is a link to contact yours: http://www.usaha.org/Portals/6/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf

As far as feeding her to gain weight, I would try feeding some egg, tuna, a small amount of buttermilk or yogurt for probiotics, and wetting the feed with water can make their feed more tempting. Adding vitamins and electrolytes to her water may help her appetite.

MG and coryza are only infectious for 3 or so days after the chickens are gone, so you can clean and disinfect your facilities and start over with new chickens if you lose them or choose to cull. Other diseases such as ILT may linger for moths. This is just a horrible thing to have to go through, and I really feel bad for you. Here are some articles about MG, coryza, and common diseases:
http://umaine.edu/livestock/poultry/mycoplasma-gallisepticum-faq/
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/82/infectious-coryza/
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Lacap]

Thank you for all that the information, it's greatly appreciated. Her inflation day by day is getting better. She only needed one small prick today for the remaining air. Hopefully, it worked and the. Healing can begin. I gave her a really heavy dose of sulmet, a little RX vet on her beak and mouth to keep her clear. And thanks for the advise on the wet food, her crop was the most filled I've seen in days! And I'm thrilled. I'm going to see if she survives, as she is running around with the flock...I spoil with treats from our yard, bananas, mangos (minus the pit) Papayas ..and since they are all on a round of antibiotics I cook and serve em up the eggs we can't eat. if she doesn't make I will for sure send her in for testing. This is my first time with chickens...i really get pleasure taking care and having amazing eggs!