Urgent: Chicken coughing - asthma?

[atmaclean]

I have 4 favorelle hens of my flock of probably 40 hens, 4 roosters. I have one favorelle hen who has done this "coughing" episode ordeal twice now. I tried to attach a video I made with my iphone of what she is doing, but it says the file extension isn't allowed. ?? It sounds like she is wheezing and then she will occasionally do a high-pitched cough/sneeze sound. The last time she did this was last fall. They are free range (guarded by 2 LGDs), they eat whatever they want in the 2 acre yard and their pelleted food is free choice Nutrena layer pellets, free choice oyster shell, healthy food scraps, and free choice water with probiotics in it. I also feed a fermented grain mix every evening (to keep my guineas around). I deworm twice a year with Valbazen and treat each one with Frontline Plus when they get dewormed (spring/fall). I have not treated yet this spring. She has no mites on her, no visible signs of anything wrong on the outside with her feathers, wings, feet, etc.

This hen is the only hen doing this. She starts this coughing/wheezing stuff and I have no clue why. I kept her up for about 10 days last fall and put her on amoxicillan and she got better and I let her back out. She was fine all winter until yesterday when she started the same behavior again. Last night I brought her inside and got her some Primatene Mist inhaler and gave her a puff of that and started a humidifier. She seemed to get better but then about the same time this afternoon (4:30/5), she started coughing/wheezing again. I gave her more Primatene Mist to try to help but it didn't seem to do much.

The humidifier has been on since late yesterday afternoon when I brought her in. She is in a medium sized dog kennel in my laundry room and I taped up the vents on the sides to keep the humidity in the kennel for her. I have a big puppy pad folded up on the bottom of the kennel so I can monitor her poops. I've seen nothing unusual with poop. She has eaten some applesauce and some of her pelleted food and some fermented corn and some meal worms. She has also been drinking her water (I put ACV and Nutri Drench in it). One difference I noticed this afternoon is that her chest seems to be more congested/rattly. So, I started her on Cipro this evening to battle any infection she might have going on in there.

Has anyone seen this before or heard of it? What is it?? It honestly sounds like asthma and she holds her beak open like she is having trouble getting air in. She has no discharge from her eyes or nose. She did have a messy butt, so I trimmed all that off. Her siblings (or any other of my hens) don't have any of these symptoms. Since this is the second time this has happened I am really baffled. I'm hoping the Cipro will possibly knock this out this time if it is something that has been lingering. She has had no symptoms, however, until yesterday when I heard her doing the crazy high-pitched coughing again.

 

[azygous]

The first thing you should suspect when a chicken is making the sounds you describe is an obstruction in the larynx (airway). Have someone hold the chicken. It helps to wrap her securely in a towel so wings and feet are under control. Then pry open her beak wide, it won't hurt her, and shine a strong flashlight down her throat. The airway is just behind the tongue at the center of the throat. If you see something you can reach with tweezers, fish it out.

While you're looking, check that her mouth is clean and pink with no gummy plaques or blisters.

If you see nothing and the sounds continue, if it is an obstruction, it often clears on its own over night.

You can post your video to You Tube first, copy the URL and then paste that here. The video should embed.

 

[atmaclean]

The first thing you should suspect when a chicken is making the sounds you describe is an obstruction in the larynx (airway). Have someone hold the chicken. It helps to wrap her securely in a towel so wings and feet are under control. Then pry open her beak wide, it won't hurt her, and shine a strong flashlight down her throat. The airway is just behind the tongue at the center of the throat. If you see something you can reach with tweezers, fish it out.

While you're looking, check that her mouth is clean and pink with no gummy plaques or blisters.

If you see nothing and the sounds continue, if it is an obstruction, it often clears on its own over night.

You can post your video to You Tube first, copy the URL and then paste that here. The video should embed.

Thank you. We don’t see anything in her throat... she isn’t coughing right now it seems to have let up since she is resting now. Hope she is able to sleep through the night...

 

[Eggcessive]

It sounds like stridor. One of my hens had that a couple of times from inhaling her feed, and getting a small piece in her airway. It also can happen with a respiratory infection where the airways can swell, or mucus can partially block the airway. Sometimes it goes away in a few hours or by the nenxt day. I would not use human medicines such as Primatine on a chicken without a vet’s orders. Cipro is a good antibiotic, similar to Baytril, that is not approved for poutry. But some vets do still prescribe Baytril for certain infections. Respriatory infections can be both bacterial, fungal, or viral. Only bacterial illnesses such as MG or coryza will respond to certain antibiotics.

 

[atmaclean]

It sounds like stridor. One of my hens had that a couple of times from inhaling her feed, and getting a small piece in her airway. It also can happen with a respiratory infection where the airways can swell, or mucus can partially block the airway. Sometimes it goes away in a few hours or by the nenxt day. I would not use human medicines such as Primatine on a chicken without a vet’s orders. Cipro is a good antibiotic, similar to Baytril, that is not approved for poutry. But some vets do still prescribe Baytril for certain infections. Respriatory infections can be both bacterial, fungal, or viral. Only bacterial illnesses such as MG or coryza will respond to certain antibiotics.

Thank you. All our veterinarians are closed on Sundays and we don’t have any competent poultry vets around here. That is why I got her started on Cipro. If she doesn’t respond to that, I will look into an antifungal medication I suppose. I wish I could upload the video...

 

[Eggcessive]

Videos need to be uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo with a link posted here. Here is a video of a chicken with stridor, and it can be accompanied by a sneeze or chirp.

 

[atmaclean]

Videos need to be uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo with a link posted here. Here is a video of a chicken with stridor, and it can be accompanied by a sneeze or chirp.

Ok. Thank you. She does not sound like that. I will upload the video to YouTube and try sharing that way. Thank you!!

 

[atmaclean]

Here is a link to what my chicken is doing and what she sounds like. Hope it’s helpful. Please let me know if you have experienced this and what you suggest.

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree that sounds like a wheeze with gasping, and not stridor. The other sound is a sneeze or cough. Can you look inside her throat in the morning with a flashlight while someone holds her head? Look for any yellow material or canker, smell for an odor, and look for any mucus in the back near the trachea. I would try to see a vet if you cannot see anything in the beak or throat. There might be something environmental that she is reacting to.

 

[atmaclean]

I agree that sounds like a wheeze with gasping, and not stridor. The other sound is a sneeze or cough. Can you look inside her throat in the morning with a flashlight while someone holds her head? Look for any yellow material or canker, smell for an odor, and look for any mucus in the back near the trachea. I would try to see a vet if you cannot see anything in the beak or throat. There might be something environmental that she is reacting to.

Ok will try that in the morning. I let her out of her cage in the house this afternoon for a few hours and she acted fine other than the occasional cough. I am reading up on aspergillosis too and they recommend looking there in the trachea and mouth as well. The vets around here know little to nothing about chicken medicine. I had some vets from the State University vet school in Raleigh here a few months back but she was fine then - go figure. They ran some blood tests on the birds and found my flock to be very healthy and happy with no issues. I thank you for your help!! Hopefully she will get better soon and I can figure this out.