Wheezing and sleepy hen

[Tmartin7711]

Hello Everyone my Millie Calico Cochin (2 years old) is wheezing and sleeping alot. She was broody all winter so I moved her inside. After it got warm I put her back out, for about a week. It snowed and I took her back inside so she would stay warm. She is very lethargic, having a hard time breathing, and just sleeping unfortunately She also had a infestation of mites. Luckily I sprayed her and they are 90% dead today (I sprayed yesterday). She was wheezing and I have noticed for 2 days. Today I gave her some avian nose relief, and cleaned her nose. No more wheezing, and is breathing somewhat normal. Her face is very pale though. Poop is white with green chunks in it. She is sleeping now. I fed her some baby food, but she is just sleeping. Should I be doing anything else? I don't feel like she has a infection but I'm Just not sure what to do. Any advice?

 

[azygous]

It really hurts to lose a chicken like this. Sometimes we just don't have the time necessary to try to figure out what's making a chicken sick. But quite often, the sickest chickens, even those with scary symptoms like paralysis and imbalance and being unconscious are suffering from things such as not having eaten enough calories and being exposed to very cold temps, and these are easily fixed with just a little sugar water to revive them. From there, you can take measures to feed them and put weight back on them so they can then handle the bitter cold nights.

When hens go broody, unless we wish them to incubate and hatch eggs, we break them in the first two or three days of being broody to spare their bodies the starvation that broodies suffer over the many weeks they are sitting in a nest instead of eating regularly. It's done with a cage with an open mesh bottom so air can circulate under them and to deprive them of a nest to sit in which prolongs their broody hormones. This disrupts the broody hormones, and in just a couple days, they are back to normal and no longer broody.

Chickens handle below freezing temps just fine as long as they're consuming calories to produce body heat. Broodies normally do not consume many calories. If you want to move a chicken back outside after being indoors for a few weeks, you need to gradually get them used to cold temps again before putting them outside and be sure they're eating enough calories to produce body heat.

The respiratory symptoms may have been from an infection, but they could also have been from the hypothermia shutting down her bodily functions. If you suspect she had a more serious disease such as Marek's, it would be a very good idea to contact your state animal testing lab and see about getting a necropsy. Refrigerate the body while you explore this.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She was broody all winter so I moved her inside. After it got warm I put her back out, for about a week. It snowed and I took her back inside so she would stay warm. She is very lethargic, having a hard time breathing, and just sleeping unfortunately She also had a infestation of mites. Luckily I sprayed her and they are 90% dead today (I sprayed yesterday). She was wheezing and I have noticed for 2 days.

I'm sorry that she died.
It would be hard to know what happened.

I do suggest however that if she was infested with mites, it would be a very good idea to treat your other birds and your coop/housing.

 

[azygous]

I think she may have died of starvation and had a case of hypothermia from not consuming enough calories during the long stretch of broodiness.

If you ever have another chicken that you know has not been eating normally (green poop is a sign) and if the chicken has been exposed to below freezing temps in addition to not eating very much, then first thing you should try is warm sugar water with a pinch of salt and baking soda to counter stress from hypothermia and raise glucose to counter starvation.

I'm sorry we were too late to save her.

 

[Tmartin7711]

@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @azygous

Sorry I always ask for your help but you guys seem to know what to do.

 

[azygous]

I'm going to try to wring some more information out of you to get more clues.

Your location. Darnnit, it's darned important.

How cold did it get just before you brought her back indoors?

What condition is the coop in? By that I mean accumulated poop and how much ventilation to prevent bad air quality with ammonia buildup that can cause respiratory issues.

Have you checked her crop? https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Has she been laying? Any recent egg quality issues? Thin shells or shell-less eggs?

How long has her poop been white with green bits in it?

 

[azygous]

How long since she finished being broody and how long all together was she broody? How cold does it get in the coop at night. It looks like Utah weather has been in the extreme lows at night.

Have you checked her weight? Has she lost much? While she was inside while broody, was she eating regularly, or was her appetite spare? Was she hatching eggs or just sitting on air?

 

[Tmartin7711]

She just died. I don't know how. Think she did have a respatory issue.

 

[Tmartin7711]

I think she may have died of starvation and had a case of hypothermia from not consuming enough calories during the long stretch of broodiness.

If you ever have another chicken that you know has not been eating normally (green poop is a sign) and if the chicken has been exposed to below freezing temps in addition to not eating very much, then first thing you should try is warm sugar water with a pinch of salt and baking soda to counter stress from hypothermia and raise glucose to counter starvation.

I'm sorry we were too late to save her.

She had food and water with her at all times, I feel horrible though that I put her back out

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you give her some electrolytes with vitamins or sugar water? Offer some cooked egg and wet chicken feed from a small cup or lid. Here is your other thread where you thought your other hen died from Mareks:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/smooth-silkie-leg-injury-please-help.1508402/
Hopefully, this one will get better.

So sorry for your loss. I was posting before I saw this.