Chickens gurgling when breathing plus sneezing/coughing & making strange head movement

[MeTxLady]

Chickens seemed to be fine now this evening I noticed one of the hens gurgling a tiny bit and one of the rooster who had lost his voice before and then got it back sounds a little hoarse this evening. Now what??? and we are leaving Friday to go out of town for the weekend.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would get them tested, or sacrifice a sick chicken, and send it to the state vet for a necropsy to find what disease you are seeing.

 

[MeTxLady]

How do I get them tested? Do I need to find a vet to do that? The vet I took one of my hens to didn't do any test. He did say I could sacrifice one and they would send it in and it would be either $150 or $200 based on how fast I wanted results. That sounds pretty steep to me.

 

[Eggcessive]

Some states will do necropsies for free or low cost. Anything that involves your vet will cost more. Speak with yoyr state vet's office, anf they may suggest a place to get testing. It's not that expensive per bird. Here is a link to find your state vet: http://www.usaha.org/Portals/6/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf
It is necessary to either take the chicken in to be euthanized, or ship a dead body that has been wrapped in plastic and refrigerated. Here is a link about doing that: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/799747/how-to-send-a-bird-for-a-necropsy-pictures

 

[MeTxLady]

Ok, I did contact the state vet and they referred me to my regional person. I talked to him for a while explaining all that had happened and he said based on the symptoms, it is not one of the two things they monitor for. He suggested using either Baytril 10% oral solution, Baycox 5% oral solution or Tylan Soluble (all mixing in drinking water). He emailed me the info to take to the vet with me. I liked this vet much more than the other one. He examined my hen real well and found that she has lice and also 2 kinds of worms (whip worms and another kind of stomach worm that he wasn't sure of). He gave her an antibiotic shot of Baytril and gave me some to bring home. He prescribed Ivermectin for the worms and wormed her and then we wormed all the other chickens except the chicks (we assumed they are too young?). Now the Ivermectin is mixed 50/50 with something else but I don't remember what it is and it's not on the bottle. He also gave me Permethrin 10% to mix with water to spray my chickens, the coop and any free range areas they go in but also told me to keep any animals out of the area for 24 hours because it could/would kill my cats. I have 7 outdoor cats and 2 of those hang out around the chickens and their coop most of the time. Spraying the chickens sound like it would be hard not to get it in their eyes or mouth and a lot of work. I have read on here about using other things for lice. Wondering about using Epernix Pour because it sounds very easy to just put drops on them or using the sevin dust, but not sure how much to use of course I can research that. I have a large outside area they free range and wondering best way to treat it and also not kill or harm my cats. I would also like to note that I have 5 mallards (just over 4 months old now) who also free range with the chickens and roost in their own house next door to the chickens. The vet said I probably need to treat them too. Now this could get tricky as they do come near me when I'm out there feeding, watering, cleaning but they would freak out if I tried to catch them when they are in their house and they have very sharp claws (learned this last time I tried to pick on up and hold it). Do I treat all the chickens and ducks for lice - even the youngest chicks that are about 1 1/2 months old or what?

 

[MeTxLady]

I should also mention that we treated for the worms Thursday night before we went out of town. We got home today. When the chickens went to roost tonight I didn't hear any gurgling from any of them. I will know more tomorrow about if the wormer seemed to help with that problem - especially when I can hear my rooster Speckle crow. (thinking it possibly could have been gapeworm after all).

 

[Anne Katherine]

Based on what I have read, it does sound like gapeworm. It might possibly have something to do with the pine shavings too. I never used shavings for my chickens but I have heard others complain about the health problems resulting from using them. You might want to look into it to see if that might be the problem.

I really hope your hens all recover. It is so hard to lose or have to cull birds and I really hope it doesn't come to that :-( Hope your roo gets better too.

 

[casportpony]

I should also mention that we treated for the worms Thursday night before we went out of town. We got home today. When the chickens went to roost tonight I didn't hear any gurgling from any of them. I will know more tomorrow about if the wormer seemed to help with that problem - especially when I can hear my rooster Speckle crow. (thinking it possibly could have been gapeworm after all).

Glad they are better, but be sure to do a follow up fecal.

-Kathy

 

[CJG80]

I've been fighting this issue since March, all summer. Done quartine, treated just sick ones with Tylan 50 and ivermectin. Lost some hens and Roos her and there during quartine. When I think got flock healthy & sick ones removed, no symptoms, and it comes back.
Treated the entire flock with antibiotics and safeguard wormer multiple times. Moved to portable pens and kept moving through the pasture while treated the coop & pen with lime, DE to disinfect the ground for worms. This during one of the worming and antibiotic treatments.
Started with buying 3 roosters from a person, they acted weird shacking their head. But started spreading before I realized it was a real issue.
Bout at wits end just lost a hen tonight, and gurgling is back.
Honestly, once they get it, even with quartine and treatment, the final outcome is always death.
Super frustrated.

 

[kkelly003]

Hi...think I have the same thing going on, except it's just one chicken out of 5. She's had the cough thing off and on for months...sometimes there is a wheeze with it , sometimes not.
She seems totally normal, eating, active and laying eggs. I've tried apple cider vinegar in the water ...doesn't seem to help. Also, tried Vet Rx...doesn't really do anything either.
Thoughts? Do chickens get allergies?

Thanks!