Hen suddenly hyperventilating and unable to stand, emergency vet not able to diagnose

[Martaals]

Hello!

I am wondering what could be up with my hen. I will try and share all details so far. Just trying to get an overview of what could be going on. Perhaps others have had similar experiences? She is a bantam cochin, born end of october 2019.

The day before yesterday when we went to close up the coop for the night, we found one of the hens unable to stand, just laying on her belly sort of drooping forwards, and gasping for air or hyperventilating (not the kind of panting they do when it is hot!). Two hours earlier she had seemed fine. I thought she was choking or something. So we immediately took her to the emergency vet, although they are not specialised on poultry - but hoping they could at least help her if there was something stuck, put her down if she was suffering a slow death, or preferably help us take care of her.

They put her on oxygen and checked her a bit, but didn't want to do too many examinations as she was very weak. They remarked that she seemed to be a little skinny, and that her comb and wattles looked great (they initially thought she was a rooster, which she clearly is not). She stayed in the oxygen chamber for about 1,5 hours, which seemed to help her feel better. They initially wanted to keep her for the night in order to supervise her. But they also didn't really know what it could be, and leaving her there overnight would be 500 euros, with the "she might still be dead by tomorrow" prediction and if she is still alive; additional costs for examining her closer. As much as I care for my hen we decided to bring her home to supervise her ourselves, without the extra oxygen. With the idea that if she would get worse we could bring her back and end it, but wanting to give her a chance as we didn't know what it was. We got amoxicillin/clavulanic acid(antibiotics) and metacam(painkiller and anti-inflammatory) with us.

At home I set up a dog crate in the bathroom. I offered her regular layer pellets soaked in water and a bit of yoghurt (which was all she would eat when she was brooding out chicks last year), which she ate and immediately she seemed better, and she stood up for the first time. Since then she is able to stand on her feet again and she eats the pellets if I wet them. I also offer her 1 scrambled egg a day which she eats very eagerly, just because her appetite is a little reduced still. I leave pellets with water in there at all times, and fresh water of course.

The last two days she clearly better. She is standing and walking normally, she laid an egg both yesterday and today, her poop looks mostly firm and good, though sometimes there's a wet one (but could be due to antibiotics?). Not green. I see her eating and drinking, sleeping, and a few times a day I open the cage and she walks a little bit around in the bathroom. Today I've seen her cleaning her feathers, scratching her face (balancing on one leg while rapidly moving) which is in strong contrast to not being able to stand and gasping desperately for air. She is talkative and appreciates company. If I sit with her she likes to chat for a while, and after her little stroll around she mostly takes a nap.

So I'm quite certain something really helped. The improvement came quite sudden. Whether the oxygen/metacam/antibiotic/food+inside care or a combination. I thought she was dying, and now my hopes are high she will make it.

But I'm also rather worried. The vet we saw said it could be avian flu (our ladies go outside), other than that I have no information what it could be or what the antibiotics are for. I do my best to handle her after the other flock and they are not near each other. I'm also hesitating to go back to this vet as I had the feeling they just don't have much experience with hens. I live in a city, so dogs and cats can get great help I have an avian vet which I can e-consult, which I intend to do, but this time as it felt so urgent I didn't video record her. Now she isn't exhibiting symptoms anymore, so it's hard to explain what happened, and this avian vet is on the short and pragmatic side.

And I'm not really sure what was going on. Gasping for air or hyperventilating from pain or anything else. I find it difficult to give an image. How is avian flu diagnosed? Blood sample?

A month ago another hen got inflammation of the oviduct(salpingitis), which has been treated and she seems to have recovered well. Potentially any related underlying disease? Thread about that here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/lash-egg-or-something-else-is-this-urgent.1522617/

 

[DonyaQuick]

How is avian flu diagnosed? Blood sample?

There is a nasal swab-type test for it I think. However, it doesn't sound like your bird had avian flu, particularly not the highly pathogenic strain that is currently a problem in many places. From what I have read and watched of videos showing birds symptoms, the high path avian flu is fast onset with some combination of respiratory problems, facial swelling, comb/wattle discoloration, and on light-skinned birds it often has a very distinctive purple discoloration on the legs.

The fact that your bird improved after starting antibiotics seems like it would suggest some kind of bacterial infection. Exactly what kind of infection I don't know enough to say so someone else will have to speculate on that.

 

[Martaals]

There is a nasal swab-type test for it I think. However, it doesn't sound like your bird had avian flu, particularly not the highly pathogenic strain that is currently a problem in many places. From what I have read and watched of videos showing birds symptoms, the high path avian flu is fast onset with some combination of respiratory problems, facial swelling, comb/wattle discoloration, and on light-skinned birds it often has a very distinctive purple discoloration on the legs.

The fact that your bird improved after starting antibiotics seems like it would suggest some kind of bacterial infection. Exactly what kind of infection I don't know enough to say so someone else will have to speculate on that.

Okay, that's at least a little reassuring. AI was the only clue I had so far from the vet but there is no discolouration or swelling as far as I can tell, and she indeed seems to respond to the AB treatment. I wish the vet would have told me more about what to look out for except for "any decline = euthanization".

Another thing the hen did today, which I think is more behaviour/communication related, but just in case anyone has a clue what it's about.... She was making this sound for like 5 minutes and eventually falling asleep

This is her scratching, eating and taking a nap

 

[Martaals]

Update:

I contacted the avian vet per email, and got some information but still inconclusive.

It does not seem like avian flu.
It could have been related to blood mites, except her comb should not be looking good.
I should stop wetting the pellets and see if her poop still comes out wet.
The fact that she is laying indicates she is not critically ill.

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree with that - in my mind, there is nothing distressing about the purring. I would not worry about it. Also, in my experience, any bird laying is in pretty good health. The bird's body automatically shuts down laying if highly stressed.

Anything active, eating, and laying are generally pretty darn healthy. I am not sure what caused the initial health attack, but something worked, and got you past it. I would get her back outside, and just keep an eye on her.

Mrs K

 

[Martaals]

I agree with that - in my mind, there is nothing distressing about the purring. I would not worry about it. Also, in my experience, any bird laying is in pretty good health. The bird's body automatically shuts down laying if highly stressed.

Anything active, eating, and laying are generally pretty darn healthy. I am not sure what caused the initial health attack, but something worked, and got you past it. I would get her back outside, and just keep an eye on her.

Mrs K

+ @DonyaQuick thanks for thinking along and sharing your thoughts!!

Yes, I've put her back outside yesterday after consulting the avian vet per telephone. Will finish up the AB treatment but I was already not giving her metacam anymore.
I did find quite some cecal worms though, which the avian vet assured me was not per say cause of alarm because they are normally present, but tend to get shed more if cecal droppings get wet (which they were). But just in case there are other worms as well we also do a deworming for the whole flock this week.

And I've gotten a new bag of feed in case there was something wrong with the old one, just in case.

So hopefully they all stay healthy, it feels like we're having such bad luck!
Well, I guess also good luck, with one case of salpingitis and one case of "hen mysteriously unable to breathe or stand" all seemingly resolved.

My bantam brahma getting broody is gonna be a walk in the park