Wheezing chick

[829]

I think I have a runt. I bought 3 RIR pullets on October 5th. About 7 - 10 days after I got them, one of them, I call her Sneezy, developed a wheezing and sneezing problem. She eats well, plays, and is very inquisitive and tame, compared to the other two, but she is growing at about 1/2 the speed. I have tried ACV, Red Pepper, and VetRX, but nothing is clearing up here sneezing and wheezing issues. The other two birds do not have the issue. The girls free range during the day and sleep in the green house at night under a 200W heat lamp. I use a trash can lid with Atwoods Ranch Pro animal bedding wood shavings, changed every Saturday. I have also put a 2x4 across the lid for them to roost on, but they prefer to lay down in the bedding.

Should I be concerned about her respiratory issues, or could she just be that way? Could she be the runt or could her issue be causing the slow growth? The two other birds look like they could start laying by February, while Sneezy looks like she is a small game bird and months away from laying.

 

[faykokoWV]

can you post a picture of her, that may help the experts determine if she is a different breed

is there any discharge from her beak

do you know how old they were when you got them?

 

[829]

They all look the same, but I have wondered if she was crossed with something else?

No discharge that I have seen.

I bought them at Atwoods, it was late in the season, but the guy told me that they had been getting shipments about every week. I really do not know how old they are, but I would say a week or two older than 10/15 when I bought them. I could fit all three in my had when I first got them. They all had the orange chick fuzz.

Sneezy is the tiny one, Bertha is the big mean one, and Chicken is the one that is slightly smaller than Bertha.

It is 26 degrees here, that is why they were in the greenhouse in the pictures. I let them run about an hour and then put them back in the house if they do not go back in on their own. it is about 85 in the green house right now.

The first picture shows sneezy breathing. It is like she labors for air, but she seems to be fine otherwise. She plays and runs without issue.

 

[faykokoWV]

I'm definately not an expert, but seeing the picture makes me think she is mixed.

also, do a search on youtube for gapeworm, See if that's what she's doing.

 

[829]

All I found was a video for a silent yawn, but I will try to get a video tonight.

 

[allquackedup]

We are having issues with chicks recently bought from Arkansas. We were losing them one a time. Started off with sneeze/wheezing. Found out Maryland will test your flock for free believe it or not. All our new chicks have confirmed CRD(microplasma gallisepticum) from their parent flock. Has been very disheartning process. We ar being told to protect the rest of our birds we need to cull all these new ones. Get her tested and save yourself some heartbreak. Highley contagious/no cure. We had 15 newbies we are down to 6 tried treatments waste of time. Permanent isolation and even if disease is gotten under control they are still carriers that can pass it through their eggs and so forth. We are learning the hard way. Hoping the rest of our birds come back with a clean bill of health. Agriculture Inspector says don't get birds unless certified reputable breeder or hatchery. Lesson learned the hard way!!! Good Luck. This site has a lot of good info but most are not professionals.

 

[829]

We got ours through Atwoods, they are a multi-state chain, but I know that does not mean a lot. I am wanting to say that they came from Oklahoma.

I am not sure she has CRD, because if it is highly contagious, it would seem that my other birds would have it? They spend a lot of time together and when they range in the cold they all huddle together and usually sneezy is in the middle. Same thing happens at night, if the wind has blown the door to the green house closed.

 

[829]

Here is a short video of sneezy, I ran out of space on the memory card. She makes her gasp, but it is not as wheezy.

10MB

http://mytechdirect.net/images/chickens/MVI_1460.AVI

 

[faykokoWV]

 

[829]

That is the one I watched, but my chicken is not silent, she makes a noise. I do intend to treat her with the ivomec though, i figure it will not hurt to try that next. Do you think if she does have worms, that it could have stunted her growth like that?