Hello! We have a chicken who has been seemingly normal lately today we noticed her laying down ALOT so we picked her up to bring her inside to cuddle her and make sure she was ok. After we walked down the hill from the coops we were almost in the house and my sister (Who was holding Bonnet) yelled 'Ali we need to get her inside ASAP! I sai why than I looked over and her face was DARK RED! The DARKEST red I have ever seen! We rushed inside and set her on our bar and she was making a weird noise and breathing funny and it seemed like she has liquid in her lungs! She has now stopped making that noise. WHAT DO I DO??? If there is anything you can do. She is so special and we have lost two chickens lately and we take amazing care of them! PLEASE HELP Bonnet and I!! (That is her as my profile)
I have had some success when mine have had respiratory problems in using eucalyptus oil to help open their airways. Vet RX is a product specifically for poultry but not something that you would necessarily have on hand to use immediately, so eucalyptus or menthol vapour may help until you can get a veterinary product. Placing her in a warm dark draught free place but with plenty of ventilation will keep her comfortable and stress free, which will help. Holding and petting her may put more pressure on her lungs. If she is as bad as you describe a vets visit would be best, but as it's the weekend that may not be possible. How old is she? What happened to your two other chickens that you lost. I'm wondering if this might be connected. When did you lose the other two? Did they have similar symptoms? Where in the world are you and what is your climate like? If it's warm and damp, could she have been scratching in something mouldy and inhaled some mould spores? Piles of rotting wood chips/compost can be a source of mould spores. Sorry I can't be of more help, but more information may give us a better idea of what could be wrong with her. Hope she has stabilised a bit. Best wishes Barbara
