Clicking when breathing.

[MandS]

I picked up one of my girls today because I noticed she was a bit slower than usual and I thought it might be her feet (which get muck trapped in the flaps of skin between her toes).

She started panting and a clicking sound was coming from her body (not her mouth). She did say one point shake her head and liquid came out of her nostrils - clear like water, not gooey like mucus.

I've isolated her and she's not clicking but I can hear a little congestion in her breathing. Her appetite is fine, she's gobbling up sunflower seeds and mash.

I've ordered some VetRx respiratory aid, which should arrive tomorrow. Any advice?

I should add that she has no crop problems and that her comb is bright red with no signs of cyanosis.

I have a recording as well but it will only be available for 24 hours. Breathing

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sounds like you may have pressed the crop and she aspirated fluid.

I'd check to make sure her crop is emptying overnight. If it's not, then address that symptom.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[MandS]

Thanks for the reply. The crop was flat - I struggled to even find it because I too thought that might have happened.

She is much the same today. Her breathing rate is 45 to 50 breaths per minute, so significantly more then the usual 30 to 35.

However she's preening and socialising fairly normally. This morning she has got up and had lots to drink, which she did first, before she took any food.

I will have the VetRx turning up today and I will will use it as soon as I can. I'm going to keep my observations up and what I'm looking out for is any increase in panting and if she stops eating food. Her crop has got a lot of water in this morning because she's been drinking but as she got up I checked her and it was empty.

I think the other thing I'm going to do today is check her mouth for any foreign objects. I don't believe there are, and we don't tend to get gapeworm over here, but I think it would be sensible to check anyway.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Drinking a lot often points to a crop or digestive issue.

I'd check the beak and get a good look at the poop.

Often crop/digestive issues are a symptom of an underlying condition like reproductive disorders, infections, worms and/or coccidiosis.

 

[MandS]

Thanks. That's an excellent article which I've bookmarked.

Her crop is absolutely empty this morning and she was first out. She went straight to food. Her breathing is more wheezy than noisy and her taste of breathing has slowed down a bit.

I've now got the VetRx which I will use on her beak and under her wings. I intend to do this as she's going to bed but may try during the day too - it's only just 8am here.

I'll update when there's any change.

 

[MandS]

She is no longer wheezy or clicking but she is still breathing quite rapidly. It can fluctuate between about 40 to 50 breaths a minute. Yesterday, she did slow down a bit to about 35 at one point.

She's moving about ok. She laid an egg yesterday. She's eating and drinking normally. So maybe it's just a chest infection and needs to run its course?

I've applied neat VetRx to her beak, comb and wattles, plus some under both wings. I rubbed a bit around her mouth, but didn't actually put any in it, although she clearly could taste it.

I've slightly increased the apple cider vinegar concentration to the "stressed" level. I'm guessing that this does help a bit generally, even if only for digestion but it's the Nutramin version, which has very low dosage normally (5ml per litre) 0.65 fl oz (or about 3 teaspoons) per US gallon.

Fingers crossed.....

I wish I could understand why she is breathing so quickly though. Her tail is dipping down slightly as she does, which is how I'm counting it. I've also got CCTV on the run so I know the elevated breathing is not because I'm there etc.

 

[Eggcessive]

While Vet Rx is popular with chicken advice columns, it has a few herbal oils (rosemary, oregano) and it has some camphor, none of which treats respiratory problems. ACV as well does nothing. I prefer to give fresh clean water. Watch for mucus secretions into the beak, head shaking, and rales/crackles with breathing which are signs of a respiratory infection. Clicking can be a common symptom with respiratory distress or cardiac issues. Once my chicken with a leaking air sac had that. That is when there is air under the skin.

 

[MandS]

Thanks Eggcessive.

No mucus, no head shaking, just elevated breathing rates. Shallow breaths but enough to make the tail dip a little as she does so.

I wondered about air sac damage but I don't feel her being inflated. She is very densely feathered so it's not easy to see if any skin is moving, but I don't believe it is. She is a red sexlink if that helps.

 

[MandS]

I'm not sure it was her who laid an egg but one of the two whose eggs I can't identify did. However, she's still not right. Her breathing is making her tail bob slightly as I said, so I checked her abdomen between her legs but just beyond the rib cage. It's quite full and it is pulsating too. I've compared her with others and it is definitely much fuller. This could be internal laying and in which case, I'm at a loss as to what to do. So that egg might not have been hers. I have two of them that rarely lay. Some are more regular than others but I put it down to their age, breed and the life they had before I got them.

I'm putting the VetRx on her at night. She's breathing better but it does seem like it's a bit more of an effort than the others.

She's eating ok - quite keen to get treats and rashers around eating grass and leaves etc. Yet her crop is never very full and certainly each morning it is empty.

Her poop is not solid lumps but more of a runny poop but it isn't green or particularly smelly and it has a reasonable amount of urates in it.

She's about 3 years old now - they all are. They were rescue hens that had had a dreadful life before we got them. By that I mean it was so bad, the farm was closed down and they had real behaviour issues. So she's had a good 19 months with us.

Anyhow, anything else I should check or do would be very welcome advice. I'll keep putting on the VetRx nightly for the next week and keep my fingers crossed that she improves.

 

[MandS]

Update

Breathing back to normal. No crop issues. Eating and moving around fine. Not laying but possibly that was hers when I last posted. She certainly seems happy enough.

I'm going through a number of issues all at the same time. The hens are all the same age and come from the same terrible background (badly treated - farm closed down!) So it may be that it's just that time when they start to collectively come to their end. I'm trying my best to keep them going. Nobody is suffering, there's just various different things with three of them.

My level of daily observation has hit new heights!