Hen with Difficulty Breathing, Please Help!

[MyChickaletta]

Hello,

I have a hen who's currently having some difficulty breathing. She's one of the sweetest hens I've ever had and I just want to help her get better, so any advice is super appreciated!

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
- She's a mix, I think she's part plymouth. She is 4 years old, and she's a fairly big bird, larger than my other hens.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
- She's moving slower than usual and she's more lethargic. She's having trouble breathing, wheezing a little, and sometimes it feels like something's clicking in her chest. Sometimes she'll open her beak wide like she's gasping for breath (though it doesn't look like gapeworm to me). She seems to be breathing through her mouth a lot, so I'm wondering if maybe her nose is blocked? She's still eating and drinking.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
- Since Monday.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
- No.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
- No.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
- Nothing that I know of.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
- She's still eating chicken feed and drinking water.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
- Normal.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
- We gave her some VetRX today and yesterday. We also put probiotics and apple cider vinegar in her water.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
- I don't have an avian vet near me that I can go to, so I'm trying to treat this myself. I'd really love to hear any treatment recommendations for respiratory issues.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
- Here's a video, she's not opening her beak in this video but you can hear the wheezing sound she's making.
- https://drive.google.com/file/d/15fgDn8tqDrGMZXf4nv5ButiZ0j4w-tqK/view?usp=sharing
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
- Woodchips and straw.

I think that covers everything. Again, I really appreciate any help!

 

[brenandmark]

Any luck with your hen? One of my hens has similar sounding problem (just started today) and we also have no avian vet. I tried a little diatomaceous earth in oatmeal earlier and, just now, some natural poultry pellets (Strike III) from TS. I have safe-guard but am afraid to use it...but I don’t know what else to do. So hard tonwatch (and listen to )

 

[MyChickaletta]

Any luck with your hen? One of my hens has similar sounding problem (just started today) and we also have no avian vet. I tried a little diatomaceous earth in oatmeal earlier and, just now, some natural poultry pellets (Strike III) from TS. I have safe-guard but am afraid to use it...but I don’t know what else to do. So hard tonwatch (and listen to )

Hi! We gave her some antibiotics and her condition has definitely improved since then. We've also been giving her electrolytes in her water, and we're giving her VetRX daily.

I don't know the name of the antibiotics we used because we got it from a friend who also raises chickens, but I'll ask them for you.

I'm sorry to hear about your hen! I hope this helps and that she gets well soon!

 

[Sara Ranch]

Just an add on comment....

Antibotics usually help in the moment. Her wheezing may come back later.

Does she have access to deep enough water to allow her to wash her beak? I have observed that my girls who get wheezy will often stop drinking from the waterer and start drinking from the rubber bowl of water in their yard. They can get their whole head wet, if they want to, it's deep enough. (and on super hot days, I usually find a girl in the water bowl, standing there, cooling off!) They often stop wheezing on their own in a day or two.