Wheezing & sneezing for 2 months!!

[Chicken_Hannah]

Please help! My 2.5 year old chicken has been on/off wheezing & sneezing since the start of June. The pitch of her voice is also much higher than usual and the wheezing/sneezing only calms down when she is relaxed or asleep.

Weight is stable, appetite & general colour good. Has lost a few feathers lately but never moulted. Vet has identified it as upper respiratory and tried her on penicillin & then also tylan - neither she has responded to. I also wormed her last week to rule out gapeworm..

Can anyone relate? It's so awful hearing her like this Is it possible that chickens get hayfever and this is an environmental thing? We've even been doing regular saline nebulising to no avail.

The vet did a swab of her throat last week so we are waiting on the culture test, but I worry that it will come back inconclusive.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated

 

[azygous]

Most of these upper respiratory issues in poultry are only treatable if bacteria is a component. They are often chronic and become an issue for the chicken when triggered by stress or environmental pollution. It's much the same thing as you see in children with asthma.

Sometimes very dusty feed will irritate the upper respiratory tract and changing the feed to pellets or a less dusty brand can help a lot. If the run or bedding is very dusty, you might mitigate so as to reduce environmental dust. If the bedding is moldy, the infection could be mold based and your vet should consider that as the treatment differs from an antibiotic.

 

[Chicken_Hannah]

Most of these upper respiratory issues in poultry are only treatable if bacteria is a component. They are often chronic and become an issue for the chicken when triggered by stress or environmental pollution. It's much the same thing as you see in children with asthma.

Sometimes very dusty feed will irritate the upper respiratory tract and changing the feed to pellets or a less dusty brand can help a lot. If the run or bedding is very dusty, you might mitigate so as to reduce environmental dust. If the bedding is moldy, the infection could be mold based and your vet should consider that as the treatment differs from an antibiotic.

Hi @azygous , thank you so much for taking the time to reply. We have taken your advice and removed the mash from their feed (we used to mix it into the pellets and it even made ME sneeze!). We have also put a new layer of flooring down in their coop of large pine shavings, and we plan to woodchip the run this weekend - it's been very dusty this summer!

We had a call yesterday from the vets and the culture came back positive for Klebsiella Pneumoniae, and we are waiting to pick up some Baytril antibiotic Really hope this sorts her out and the other changes will help!

Thanks again

 

[Autpaige05]

Hi @azygous , thank you so much for taking the time to reply. We have taken your advice and removed the mash from their feed (we used to mix it into the pellets and it even made ME sneeze!). We have also put a new layer of flooring down in their coop of large pine shavings, and we plan to woodchip the run this weekend - it's been very dusty this summer!

We had a call yesterday from the vets and the culture came back positive for Klebsiella Pneumoniae, and we are waiting to pick up some Baytril antibiotic Really hope this sorts her out and the other changes will help!

Thanks again

Hey I have a chicken doing this could you post the medicine the vet recommended?

 

[Eggcessive]

Hey I have a chicken doing this could you post the medicine the vet recommended?

It was posted as Baytril, also known as enrofloxacin. You can get it in 10% liquid and the pill form at this link:
https://jedds.com/products/enrofloxacin-10?variant=40215712563389

 

[Peggsblueinc]

I just look it up. It says not to give meat or egg laying chickens. Is that just while your giving it to them and what is the waiting period before you can eat their eggs again.