Gasping and wheezing chicken

[RaesChicks]

I posted on Halloween about my chicken gasping and wheezing and making a sneezing sound. We had just changed from crumbles to layer pellets and the chickens had been in the run all day, we let them out in the yard when we get home to make up for a bit of an undersized run.

We couldn’t find a vet that would see Fluffy while it was happening. The soonest was a week out, many miles away and $155 just for the visit without treatment. We like our chickens and they are expensive as is but that just wasn’t feasible for us.

We isolated the chicken in a kennel with a heat lamp and a barrier to block the wind and gave vetRX in the water for three days while isolated. We addded it to the run water as well after sanitizing everything. By morning the wheezing had stopped and the chicken sounded hoarse. The next day it seemed normal. After the third day we let her back with the others.

This evening when I got home and went for eggs I heard a loud wheezing sound that was verging on honking and found the same chicken on the lower roost bar she would sneeze or something like it and it reminded me of when we cough to get something up. I didn’t have gloves this time but I checked her beak and couldn’t see anything in her throat. I checked her nostrils and there was no discharge, eyes were clear, and she could run from me pretty well despite the wheezing. I rubbed her chest and throat and at the base of her neck there was what felt like a pouch under the feathers with small grit like texture on the inside as a massaged it. I don’t know if that was her crop or not. Her wheezing was quieter after that. I put her in the kennel again with fresh water. Washed everything and covered the kennel as best I could in case of rain. She’s roosting on the dowel rods I had in there when they were chicks and she is breathing easier but still wheezing lightly in her sleep almost like a snore.

I made sure I put my clothes straight in the garage and washed with antibacterial soap and a little bleach just to be thorough in case.

Is this common? Could she have eaten something too large or blocked her wind pipe somehow? Or is it more likely she is sick? It’s strange to me that it happened before with the same chicken and seemed to clear up on its own. I don’t want to make my other chickens sick and I don’t want my family to get sick either. We think this is the Easter egger that just began laying a few days ago and I’m not sure if this could effect the safety of the eggs either.

She is about 6 months. We got her mid June. We really thought she was a cockerel but I have posted and it was pretty unanimous that fluffy is a hen. If you have any advice I’d appreciate it. I was reading another post about a lash egg and the expert help sounded better than I could hope for at a vet. My husband thinks I should put her back in the coop and leave the animals alone. But I’m a worrier and I’m not sure what more I can do or how to address this.

 

[azygous]

I'm posting a diagram of a chicken so we will be on the same page talking about body parts. It's possible she has a respiratory illness, but with no discharge from her beak nares or eyes, I'm thinking that she may have an exchange of fluids going on between her esophagus and her trachea. In other words, she may be regurgitating and it's causing a minor blockage in her airway.

Something caught my attention when you talked about her perch. What is the diameter of the dowel she sleeps on? If it's too skinny, it wouldn't be supporting her in a proper position, so it could possibly be causing this regurgitation. A skinny or narrow perch can also cause skeletal deformities that can affect long term health. If her issue stems from this, it's a red flag that she could be headed for worse issues.

Consider swapping out any perches with something that is a minimum of two and a half inches. Generally, people use 2 x 4s wide side up as perches as these are most comfortable for most chickens. I happen to have no shortage of pine branches so my perches are round three-inch diameter. I like them because the chickens' feet wrap naturally around them and they are large enough to solidly support their bodies resting on them.

 

[Eggcessive]

Some chickens can inhale their feed sometimes getting a small piece of it stuck in the airway/trachea. This can cause them to have a loud high pitched wheeze breathing in and out. Sometimes that goes away when they cough it out, usually in a few hours or overnight. A video of her behavior uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo with a link posted here may be helpful.

 

[RaesChicks]

I'm posting a diagram of a chicken so we will be on the same page talking about body parts. It's possible she has a respiratory illness, but with no discharge from her beak nares or eyes, I'm thinking that she may have an exchange of fluids going on between her esophagus and her trachea. In other words, she may be regurgitating and it's causing a minor blockage in her airway.

Something caught my attention when you talked about her perch. What is the diameter of the dowel she sleeps on? If it's too skinny, it wouldn't be supporting her in a proper position, so it could possibly be causing this regurgitation. A skinny or narrow perch can also cause skeletal deformities that can affect long term health. If her issue stems from this, it's a red flag that she could be headed for worse issues.

Consider swapping out any perches with something that is a minimum of two and a half inches. Generally, people use 2 x 4s wide side up as perches as these are most comfortable for most chickens. I happen to have no shortage of pine branches so my perches are round three-inch diameter. I like them because the chickens' feet wrap naturally around them and they are large enough to solidly support their bodies resting on them.View attachment 3705736

Thank you for the diagram it looks like I was rubbing her crop. She is wheezing gently now as I said before but it was very loud at first. And the sneezing/coughing noise stopped after she ran out of the kennel to the coop. She made a wheezing and honking noise the whole way. After I caught her is when I rubbed her neck and crop .

When I got home I did notice they were completely out of water. My husband had fed them by throwing the feed on the ground in the run instead of going in earlier in the day I guess he didn’t notice the water level. They had water in the morning but it was bone dry by 5. I wasn’t sure if that could have led to the issue but I couldn’t get her to drink when I held water in front of her.

In the coop the perches are laurel cherry branches from a downed tree. The run the length of the coop. She is only on the dowels in the kennel and they do sound too small from what you have said. I’d prefer not to keep her in the kennel tonight if possible because it’s very windy and I can’t bring the kennel in the garage or the house.

 

[RaesChicks]

Some chickens can inhale their feed sometimes getting a small piece of it stuck in the airway/trachea. This can cause them to have a loud high pitched wheeze breathing in and out. Sometimes that goes away when they cough it out, usually in a few hours or overnight. A video of her behavior uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo with a link posted here may be helpful.

That sounds like me when I try to eat. I will try to upload a video. I didn’t record anything until after I got everything set up so the video I have is just of the sounds she’s making.

 

[azygous]

Just a @Eggcessive mentioned, I've also observed this phenomenon of coughing and wheezing after my hens dive like gluttons into dry feed. You see, normally they are fed fermented feed which is wet. Therefore, my chickens think that dry feed is some sort of rare exotic treat and they vacuum up as much of it and as fast as they can. I've learned it's not the medical emergency I originally feared. It's just chickens being idiots.

 

[RaesChicks]

Just a @Eggcessive mentioned, I've also observed this phenomenon of coughing and wheezing after my hens dive like gluttons into dry feed. You see, normally they are fed fermented feed which is wet. Therefore, my chickens think that dry feed is some sort of rare exotic treat and they vacuum up as much of it and as fast as they can. I've learned it's not the medical emergency I originally feared. It's just chickens being idiots.

Thank you both so much. The wind was kicking up pretty bad here so I went to check on her. There were no noises when she breathed so I went ahead and took her to the coop where she would be safer. I truly appreciate your expertise, thank you both for responding.

 

[RaesChicks]

Just a @Eggcessive mentioned, I've also observed this phenomenon of coughing and wheezing after my hens dive like gluttons into dry feed. You see, normally they are fed fermented feed which is wet. Therefore, my chickens think that dry feed is some sort of rare exotic treat and they vacuum up as much of it and as fast as they can. I've learned it's not the medical emergency I originally feared. It's just chickens being idiots.

Hi again, I’m sorry to keep bothering you.

My Easter egger fluffy stopped wheezing that evening and we put her back with the rest. She seems totally fine but we noticed a couple other hens sneezing this morning. Two appear like they may have clear runny noses but I’m unsure because everyone was also just drinking from the waterer which I had just refilled and added VetRX in it to be safe before I noticed the noises. I cannot isolate anyone because we have a huge storm coming through and there is nowhere else safe for them. We’ve had fowl pox making its way through the coop for the last several weeks as well. From other posts I determined there wasn’t really anything we could do. I clean out the coop every week and add new bedding but I haven’t been able to sanitize the roosts or anything yet. I wanted to do the deep litter method but may concern about sanitation and the fact that I was told my coop and run are on the small side makes me too nervous to stick with that method. My 12 chickens have a 4x8 coop with a 10x12x4 run. They free range a minimum of a couple hours a day most days and are out all day when we are home. This week has been rough and they have spent most every day in the run, only about 7 of them coming out in the evening when we finally get home and can open the coop for them. We have a 4”x8’ vent that runs the length of the tall side of the coop and two smaller vents about 4”x7” on the opposite side to create air flow. We are trying to find a good waterproof vent option to add on that side since we get rain most days.

Can chickens get runny noses and sneeze without it being serious? Also are the eggs safe if they are sick? I brought in 5 eggs from my only two layers yesterday and a couple were really dirty even though I didn’t see any poop in the nest, it looks like that’s what is on a couple of the eggs. I’ve read so much on these things that I tend to panic now assuming the worst and I don’t know how to go about getting the right things to treat them.

 

[Eggcessive]

Your eggs are fine to use. Chickens can sneeze just due to dust, environmental allergens, or dust in their feed. Is your run covered? VetRx is an herbal oil with camphor so nothing in it will cure a disease, but many people like it. It is similar to using Vicks in people. Since they are together, they have all certainly been exposed if there is a virus or other disease, so separating is not necessary. I always like to have enough room in my coop, however, to put a dog crate to use as a hospital crate. So making you pr coop a little bigger in the future might help. The only reason to get upset about their sneezing, is if you see bubbles or foam in one eye, or a swollen eyelids or face. That could be MG/CRD, and Tylosin powder for the water cannbe used. With the symptoms you are seeing now, it is probably just nasal irritation, or possibly a virus such as infectious bronchitis. That would run its course over a month or so. Have you added any new birds recently to your flock?

 

[RaesChicks]

Your eggs are fine to use. Chickens can sneeze just due to dust, environmental allergens, or dust in their feed. Is your run covered? VetRx is an herbal oil with camphor so nothing in it will cure a disease, but many people like it. It is similar to using Vicks in people. Since they are together, they have all certainly been exposed if there is a virus or other disease, so separating is not necessary. I always like to have enough room in my coop, however, to put a dog crate to use as a hospital crate. So making you pr coop a little bigger in the future might help. The only reason to get upset about their sneezing, is if you see bubbles or foam in one eye, or a swollen eyelids or face. That could be MG/CRD, and Tylosin powder for the water cannbe used. With the symptoms you are seeing now, it is probably just nasal irritation, or possibly a virus such as infectious bronchitis. That would run its course over a month or so. Have you added any new birds recently to your flock?

No new birds all of my hens were purchased as chicks within 1 week of each other at tractor supply. They free range though and we have a variety of birds that pass through the yard. We took down bird feeders and try to only feed in the run since we got the hens. Our coop is concreted in so we would have to build a second coop to expand it. We had some baby squirrels born in the yard and they have gotten very comfortable as they grew and will eat acorns right next to my chickens as they graze. I don’t know if that matters.