Wheezing Hen Q-Tip Sounds Like A Saw...Don't know what else to do!

[OneFlewOver]

Hello...we have a pet chickens (total of 21) and one, and only one, started wheezing in and out five days ago. We brought her inside and she still eats and drinks fine, and her poops are normal. There is no nasal discharge, although she has sneezed a few times in the past few days, but I think that was after she drank water. The droplets (2) were clear and thin, not thick and mucus-like. When she is at rest or just walking around, she doesn't wheeze that much and it is very quiet. If she becomes active (she's a Polish chicken and is somewhat easily spooked) or if you go to pick her up and she doesn't want to be and therefore moves fast flapping her wings, the wheezing becomes louder. It almost sounds like a manual saw going back and forth with inhaling and exhaling. We have given her 1/2 cc Tylan 50 for 4 days now and although she isn't wheezing loudly except as mentioned above, she doesn't seem any better or any worse. We had nice weather until today (very windy) and put her outside during the warm parts of the days...she even took a dust bath and went into the coop with the others when it became evening. We have kept her inside at night and all day today as we're having 35 mph winds. I also want to mention two other things...1. It is very dusty here with the red clay...I am having trouble with asthma 2. We are using the deep shaving method in our coop (which is 20' by 8' and is ventilated fairly well). I am at loss as to what to try or do...

1) What type of bird POLISH, age 2 1/2 YEARS OLD and weight SAME WT AS ALWAYS- HEALTHY SIZE (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
2) What is the behavior, exactly. WHEEZING IN AND OUT, SOUNDS LIKE SAWING, BETTER IF STILL AND NOT FLAPPING OR SPOOKED INTO ACTIVITY
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? 4 DAYS
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? NONE
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. NONE
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. WE HAVE A LOT OF DUST (GA RED CLAY & IT'S BEEN VERY DRY; ALSO USING SMALL SHAVINGS IN DEEP BEDDING METHOD; THERE IS DUST IN THE COOP FROM THIS AND THE CHICKIES
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. DRINKING (GAVE WITH DROPPER WHEN FIRST STARTED WHEEZING, BUT NOW DRINKS ON OWN) EATS CRUMBLES, CORN AND MOISTENED BREAD, ALSO LIKES BANANAS
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. NORMAL, NO BLOOD AND NOT RUNNY; SMELLS NORMAL, TOO!
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? TYLAN 50, VETRX (TWICE), MADE SURE HAD CALM PLACE (INSIDE OUR HOUSE) WITH A LITTLE BIT WARMER TEMPERATURE, ALLOWED OUTSIDE DURING WARMEST PART OF DAY (QTIP DECIDED TO TO A DUST BATH AND WALKED AROUND AS NORMAL, BUT STILL IF YOU GOT CLOSE YOU COULD HEAR THE WHEEZING/SAWING)
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? NO CHICKEN VETS AROUND; MUST TREAT COMPLETELY MYSELF (WITH HELP OF FAMILY)
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use 20' X 8' COOP; ADEQUATE VENTILATION; DEEP SHAVING/BED METHOD USING SMALL SHAVINGS FOR ABOUT 2 MONTHS; TURN OVER BEDDING DAILY ONCE CHICKENS ARE OUT; OUT DURING DAY IN PEN AND FREE RANGING IN BACKYARD/WOODS (NO POISONOUS PLANTS); FEED MIXTURE OF HIGH PROTEIN CRUMBLES, BREAD (WHOLE WHEAT), OYSTER SHELLS AND GRAVEL AVAILABLE AS NEEDED; WATERS WASHED AND CHANGED DAILY

 

[CMV]

She doesn't sound like she has an illness since she has not responded to treatment. That leads me to believe she may have an issue that is specific to her.

Is she retaining fluid that you can see? Sometimes a condition like a weakened heart or liver can cause fluid to build up in the body leading to wheezing. She would feel quite solid when you weighed her and her abdomen would be swollen when compared to other birds. Unfortunately, there is little that can be done to combat this.

Could she have aspirated something that settled into her lungs? Or has she had any hard knocks that could have damaged her air sacs? Do you see any air pooling under her skin? The only time I have heard the sound you are describing is when I had a duck get damaged air sacs after an attack. The wheezing I heard sounded grinding, but there was also an undertone that sounded like crinkling plastic cellophane. This is an injury that can eventually heal on its own, but often doesn't because the bird won't stay still long enough for the healing to take place. I had a chick that survived blown air sacs for several months, but she eventually died very young anyways. Every other bird I had with air sac injuries died from them despite my best efforts.

If neither one of these sounds like it is her problem then I would say she might have some airway irritation from the dust. Birds are quite sensitive to dusty conditions. Unfortunately, there is little you can do except keep her environment as dust-free and irritant-free as possible. I would continue to monitor her for signs of respiratory infection. A compromised respiratory system will leave her open to them. I also don't think I would let her mingle with the rest of the flock until you are sure she is not carrying something contagious. It is unlikely that she has anything that the rest of the flock has not already been exposed to, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

I hope you figure out what is going on with her. Good luck.

 

[delisha]

Good advise.

 

[OneFlewOver]

Thank you so much for the detailed information! Q-Tip is better with keeping her inside the house away from dust and "stress" (being low chicken and also a loner by nature). Her eyes are still bright and she now is eating anything and having her normal "caramel" poops . We're having so much wind here in GA that a lot of the dust is being blown away and hubby and his ventilation mask will be removing the old bedding and using a blower to get all of the dust out of the coop. Then we will be using larger shavings vs the new ones we started using a few months ago, which had a lot of saw dust in them. She is the only one who seems to have difficulty, and although the new shavings were working wonderfully for controlling poop and freshness, Q-Tip is my youngest's favorite chicken and so we will go back to the larger shavings.

Again, thank you so much for the information.

Kate in GA