Hen gasping for breathe, possibly dying

[BigBlueHen53]

Very tricky to vomit a hen, they can aspirate - choke, and die.

 

[Themellowyellows]

I have a 10 month old brown leghorn/copper maran cross hen. She was totally healthy and active this morning. She’s never shown signs of sickness.
I found her just a moment ago gasping for breathe with a blue comb on the ground. I felt her crop and it seemed normal and full of seeds/feed. I looked in her mouth and her throat looks clear. She can’t walk and looks like she’s getting closer to dying. She will randomly panic and flap, before looking dead then go back to gasping.
What could be happening? I don’t know if I can do anything to help her.

I am pretty sure she choked on something. That happend to my hen. I was able to help it out of her throat and she made it. But she was gasping and her face was turning blue. I am so sorry for all of this by the way.

 

[azygous]

If she's been laying, she may be internally laying. Nothing can be done to save her from that.

But if it is a reaction to the sudden increase in temperature, and we can't rule it out, she has the symptoms. You can revive her with electrolytes in her water, but at this stage, you'd need to syringe the water into her. The response can be miraculous and worth trying.

It can also be egg binding, and she may be drawing down her blood calcium, and it's causing heart failure. This is another issue that can be cured suddenly and miraculously if you get it in time. You must give her a calcium tablet of a minimum of 360 mg. Pop it into her beak and close her beak, and she will swallow it. Do this and the electrolyte water right now. She will certainly not survive the night unless you intervene immediately.

 

[Anon112]

I tried massaging her throat and crop and made her vomit a bit

As someone who often does too much, just my 2 cents that you might want to provide her with electrolyte water, a quiet place to rest, and that's it. (Aside from maybe giving the calcium as suggested above).

When left on her own she went from flopping/collapse to standing up. All the handling and the physical trauma of being forced to vomit could wear her out or push her in the wrong direction.

I have in the past regretted "helping", which I later realized was just adding stress to an animal that needed quiet and rest.

But I also will say that it's hard to make those decisions, because if she doesn't make it, you'll wonder "Maybe if I'd just ______". Sending warm thoughts to you and your chickie.

 

[wrenhen]

If she's been laying, she may be internally laying. Nothing can be done to save her from that.

But if it is a reaction to the sudden increase in temperature, and we can't rule it out, she has the symptoms. You can revive her with electrolytes in her water, but at this stage, you'd need to syringe the water into her. The response can be miraculous and worth trying.

It can also be egg binding, and she may be drawing down her blood calcium, and it's causing heart failure. This is another issue that can be cured suddenly and miraculously if you get it in time. You must give her a calcium tablet of a minimum of 360 mg. Pop it into her beak and close her beak, and she will swallow it. Do this and the electrolyte water right now. She will certainly not survive the night unless you intervene immediately.

As someone who often does too much, just my 2 cents that you might want to provide her with electrolyte water, a quiet place to rest, and that's it. (Aside from maybe giving the calcium as suggested above).

When left on her own she went from flopping/collapse to standing up. All the handling and the physical trauma of being forced to vomit could wear her out or push her in the wrong direction.

I have in the past regretted "helping", which I later realized was just adding stress to an animal that needed quiet and rest.

But I also will say that it's hard to make those decisions, because if she doesn't make it, you'll wonder "Maybe if I'd just ______". Sending warm thoughts to you and your chickie.

I'll give the electrolytes and calcium a try, I need to check on her to see if she is still doing ok after my last attempt to help...

Just feels terrible not being able to do anything for them. But thats the nature of it sometimes. I appreciate the kind words and advice.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your chicken, but never make one vomit. That can cause choking to death. It is always good to give one some electrolytes or sugar water when stressed.

 

[Anon112]

Just feels terrible not being able to do anything for them. But thats the nature of it sometimes. I appreciate the kind words and advice.

A wildlife rescue I really like had a thing in one of their newsletters about how "stress kills," and it helped me realize that sometimes leaving them alone and giving them a quiet, dark, safe space IS doing something.

I hope your little one is on the mend. If it was choking and she's managed to dislodge whatever it was, hopefully she keeps moving in the right direction.