Wheezing/croopie Silkie

[tlatham72]

Hi all. My silkie hen started a raspy, croopie breathing sound yesterday. Sounds just like a congested cold in a small child.

Today she is also sneezing, feels like she has a fever, and has a squishy crop. The crop hasn't felt this way until today. She still wants to eat and drink.

For the past week, she has been acting broody, sitting in the spot where she lays her egg each day (but with no eggs), has stopped laying eggs, and started doing the broody poop. I have been making her go out and free range when I let the other chickens out trying to break the broody tendency. I've seen her eat and drink during free range time, and she generally has been acting normal except for the broodiness (...but maybe she has been sick for the past week and not broody after all?).

She is not doing a gaping motion, so I don't think this is gapeworm.

I got LA 200, oxytetracycline, antibiotic from TSC this morning and gave it to her orally at 0.2ml per pound. I gave her a smidge of NutriDrench, as well, and added a smidge of VetRx to her water. Last night I gave her an egg yolk with some of the electrolyte water mixture mixed in since that was all I had on hand.

As soon as I heard the croop yesterday evening, I took her inside to quarantine her far away from the rest of the flock, but she has been with them for the past week if she was in fact sick all along.

1. Do y'all agree that I should be treating her for a respiratory infection? (The possibility of sour crop today threw me. Would that typically happen with a cold?)

2. Is it ok that I gave the antibiotic orally? I'm terrified of shots and don't think I can give one. I found some info on this forum that said it was OK and another post that gave dosing amounts per Auburn University for that antibiotic (for the shot anyway).

3. What should I do for her crop? Should I wait for the treatment of the cold to take affect first?

4. What else should I consider or rule out?

5. Should I do anything for the rest of my flock?

Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

Many of my broody hens had slow mushy crops, so that may just be due to her broodiness. Chickens do get respiratory diseases, but not colds. Those include viruses and fungal infections which don’t respond to antibiotics, and bacteria, such as Mycoplasma (MG,) which might respond to LA200 oxytetracycline or to Tylosin, which can be put in the water.

I would break her right away from being broody by placing her in a large dog crate with food and water, a small roost, and no bedding. It may take 5 or more days to accomplish that. Look for any bubbles or foam in an eye, or swelling around an eye, which can be signs of MG. Have you added any new birds to the flock recently? Check her crop early in the morning to see if it is empying. Make sure that she is drinking plenty of water, and putting water into a small amount of her feed daily could help.