Hello, Everyone. One of my five "teenage" (18 week-old) buff orpington chickens began wheezing badly Friday night. (Very loud wheeze on both the breath in and the breath out, with her mouth open.) She also occasionally made a "hic" sound that may have been a sneeze, a cough, or a hiccup. She was shaking her head, like a swimmer with water in his ear. We were scheduled to leave for an overnight trip the next morning, so we brought her in the house and set up a little pen so she would be separated from the rest of the flock (her 4 clutchmates, 4 birds five weeks older, and seven almost year-and-a-half-old hens). We came back Sunday afternoon and she still had a wheeze, although it was much quieter. We moved her to a pen outside.
The other birds all free range during the day and sleep in a coop at night. There is a lino floor covered with pine shavings. I scoop out the poop several times a week and add shavings. For a chicken house it is pretty clean, with a slight poopy smell some days, but not ammonia-like. There is a run, but the chickens don't spend much time in it, preferring the big yard. I did add new straw to the nest boxes last week, but this girl isn't laying yet, so I don't think it affected her. They eat lay pellets, with cracked corn and food scraps as treats, plus all the grass and bugs they want.
There is no sign of a discharge, Her eyes are clear and bright. She has a good appetite. Her energy level seems okay. Judging by the bits of food that end up in the waterer, she drinks, though I haven't seen her do it. The only sign of illness is the labored breathing and wheezing, which seems to be improving. The hiccuping noise is rare now, and the head shaking is almost gone.
This bird has always has a funny "voice." She honks.
I've butchered a couple of birds who were several weeks older and did not see anything unusual in their windpipe or throats. (Thinking gape worms.)
As the wheezing seems to be getting better, I am wondering what I should do. I have given her no meds, just a few drops of GSE in her water when she was in the house for a day and a half. How long should she be kept in the pen? No one else is wheezing. There is the stress of being one of the youngest birds, but she has all her feathers (unlike the molting mamas!) Any advice???
The other birds all free range during the day and sleep in a coop at night. There is a lino floor covered with pine shavings. I scoop out the poop several times a week and add shavings. For a chicken house it is pretty clean, with a slight poopy smell some days, but not ammonia-like. There is a run, but the chickens don't spend much time in it, preferring the big yard. I did add new straw to the nest boxes last week, but this girl isn't laying yet, so I don't think it affected her. They eat lay pellets, with cracked corn and food scraps as treats, plus all the grass and bugs they want.
There is no sign of a discharge, Her eyes are clear and bright. She has a good appetite. Her energy level seems okay. Judging by the bits of food that end up in the waterer, she drinks, though I haven't seen her do it. The only sign of illness is the labored breathing and wheezing, which seems to be improving. The hiccuping noise is rare now, and the head shaking is almost gone.
This bird has always has a funny "voice." She honks.
I've butchered a couple of birds who were several weeks older and did not see anything unusual in their windpipe or throats. (Thinking gape worms.)
As the wheezing seems to be getting better, I am wondering what I should do. I have given her no meds, just a few drops of GSE in her water when she was in the house for a day and a half. How long should she be kept in the pen? No one else is wheezing. There is the stress of being one of the youngest birds, but she has all her feathers (unlike the molting mamas!) Any advice???