Help! Baby chick Respiratory Illness or Neurological? Video

[Rnkjones]

You'll see in the video she is breathing at a rapid rate, but does not seem to be panting or gasping. Every so often her head will twitch and a peep with each twitch. Sneeze? Nervous tic? Something else?

My Easter Egger is 2 weeks old. At 1 week old she began the rapid breathing. She spends time under the heat lamp so it doesn't seem to be heat exhaustion.

She is much bigger and developing faster than the other 9 chicks, might have hatched a few days before they did? She eats, drinks, sleeps, and runs around with all the others. At a week & a half she began the twitching motion.

Any insights or thoughts would be very much appreciated!

 

[Fuchsia]

I hope she is okay!

 

[ILoveDaffy]

Hope she gets better!

 

[Isaac 0]

How is your chick doing?

Sneezing in chicks is sometimes caused by dusty feed, bedding, high ammonia in the pen, or wet bedding which can result in fungal infections such as aspergillus. Sometimes, a chick will get something stuck in her nares, or trachea which can sometimes result in sneezing. Other causes could include respiratory diseases, such as IB, or MG, but other symptoms, such as lethargy, nasal or eye discharge would be likey.

If you could post a few pictures of your setup that would be helpful. What brand of feed are you using, is it powdery at all? What kind of bedding are you using? Have you had any problems in the past with respiratory disease with your fowl? How do her poops look? What is the temperature in their pen?

Does the sneezing have any rhythm to itself? In other words, do you see the sneezing right after she eats, or drinks, after you pick her up, or is there no regularity to it?

 

[RainbowHen]

She appears to be sneezing

 

[Rnkjones]

How is your chick doing?

Sneezing in chicks is sometimes caused by dusty feed, bedding, high ammonia in the pen, or wet bedding which can result in fungal infections such as aspergillus. Sometimes, a chick will get something stuck in her nares, or trachea which can sometimes result in sneezing. Other causes could include respiratory diseases, such as IB, or MG, but other symptoms, such as lethargy, nasal or eye discharge would be likey.

If you could post a few pictures of your setup that would be helpful. What brand of feed are you using, is it powdery at all? What kind of bedding are you using? Have you had any problems in the past with respiratory disease with your fowl? How do her poops look? What is the temperature in their pen?

Does the sneezing have any rhythm to itself? In other words, do you see the sneezing right after she eats, or drinks, after you pick her up, or is there no regularity to it?

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I think you may be onto something with the dust.

She has not gotten any worse, but her symptoms have remained constant. 2 to 3 sneezes every 15 seconds.

I am using Texas Natural Feeds Elite Chick Starter. It does have a mixture of crumbles and powder. Their bedding is a medium size pine shaving. I have been removing the soiled pieces a few times a day but did completely replace it all when fresh shavings after a week and that is when her twitching first started. That is also around the time they began scratching the bedding around. I also put a large amount of new shavings in yesterday and noticed some of the others sneezed for a short time.

Temp is currently at 80-85. They will be 3 weeks old Oct 27th. Her poops seem normal. This is my first experience with chicks so no history of past diseases. She is the only one of my 9 with these consistent symptoms. I've been applying Vetrx to her beak for 4 days but that hasn't seemed to work.

I will try to observe if there is any pattern to the frequency. I have noticed it seems to be worse early in the morning before I feed them. Closer to 5 sneezes every 15 seconds. When she tries to sleep she will wake up and do it. But it slows as she sleeps. Her rapid breathing does continue when she is asleep.

I am very grateful for your time and thought on this.

 

[Isaac 0]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I think you may be onto something with the dust.

She has not gotten any worse, but her symptoms have remained constant. 2 to 3 sneezes every 15 seconds.

I am using Texas Natural Feeds Elite Chick Starter. It does have a mixture of crumbles and powder. Their bedding is a medium size pine shaving. I have been removing the soiled pieces a few times a day but did completely replace it all when fresh shavings after a week and that is when her twitching first started. That is also around the time they began scratching the bedding around. I also put a large amount of new shavings in yesterday and noticed some of the others sneezed for a short time.

Temp is currently at 80-85. They will be 3 weeks old Oct 27th. Her poops seem normal. This is my first experience with chicks so no history of past diseases. She is the only one of my 9 with these consistent symptoms. I've been applying Vetrx to her beak for 4 days but that hasn't seemed to work.

I will try to observe if there is any pattern to the frequency. I have noticed it seems to be worse early in the morning before I feed them. Closer to 5 sneezes every 15 seconds. When she tries to sleep she will wake up and do it. But it slows as she sleeps. Her rapid breathing does continue when she is asleep.

I am very grateful for your time and thought on this.

Thanks for answering the questions.

Their pen area is slightly small, which can focus all the dust from the bedding, feed, and moisture, from their water, feces into one area. It may be good to provide them with a bigger pen area. If you think their feed is a little powdery, which is common with crumbles, I would put some of the feed through a sift, to sort out the big crumbles, but leave the dust-out. Since you mentioned the other chicks starting sneezing right after you changed the pine shavings, it may be worth keeping them on towels for a few days, and see if that helps.

I would try that, and if she continues to sneeze, it may be best to start thinking about it being a respiratory disease or fungal infection, however, it would seem other chicks would be showing similar symptoms by now. Tylosin, doxycycline, can be used to treat respiratory infections, but for fungal infections, such as brooder pneumonia, only supportive care, and environmental corrections are helpful. I'll get a few inputs on this, and tag @Eggcessive, and @Wyorp Rock .

 

[Rnkjones]

I will start sifting their feed, and look into enlarging their pen. Any suggestions on the best way to change their bedding to reduce the dust?

If she does have some particles in her nares or trachea is there anything I can do to help?

Thank you @Isaac 0

 

[Isaac 0]

I will start sifting their feed, and look into enlarging their pen. Any suggestions on the best way to change their bedding to reduce the dust?

If she does have some particles in her nares or trachea is there anything I can do to help?

Thank you

I added a segment to my post, right after I posted, in case you didn't see.

Since you mentioned the other chicks starting sneezing right after you changed the pine shavings, it may be worth keeping them on towels for a few days, and see if that helps.

I'm afraid if there is dust in her trachea, it's a matter of waiting, I'm not aware of anything you can do for that.

 

[Rnkjones]

All great suggestions. I appreciate your replies @Isaac 0
I will post back with an update in a couple of days.