Hen with extreme respitory infection

guest226

Chirping
Nov 18, 2023
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Hello everyone. Someone I know that has chickens is out of town, and I was tasked with helping her sick hen. I do not know her breed, but she is a very mini breed, possibly a form of bantam. She probably weighs 2-3 lbs. She is 4 years old.

I could not see any noticable bubbles in her eyes or discharge from her nose or mouth, but she does not move, is closing her eyes, and contantly wheezing with her mouth open. She makes a high pitched whistle whenever she wheezes. Apparently, they took her to my nearby chicken store and the people there swabbed her and checked for gapworms, which was negative.

I made her drink some water and she ate a bit of mash from my hand. She was probably very hungry, since when I showed up to the house there was no food left out for her, just water.


I do not have pictures of video of her. Do you guys think this is some sort of avian flu or just a respitory issue? I am scared she is going to die on me... shes a tiny quirky girl and the last time i saw her (a few months ago) she was very active.

Does she possibly have a throat obstruction? Or would respitory issues make more sense?
If throat obstruction do you think it can pass on its own?

I checked her other hens, none seem to have symtoms.
 
It sounds most likely a respiratory infection or pneumonia. If she were mine, I'd put her on Poultry Cell vitamin water and an antibiotic. Is there a reason they left her without food? That's rather concerning.
 
It sounds most likely a respiratory infection or pneumonia. If she were mine, I'd put her on Poultry Cell vitamin water and an antibiotic. Is there a reason they left her without food? That's rather concerning.
Edit, they took her to a vet ER where she will get better treatment. I don’t know why left her without food, but at the time she was being taken care of someone who did not know how to care for hens.
 

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