Ellie025
Hatching
- Jun 8, 2020
- 3
- 0
- 4
Hello. My beautiful Ethel has been gasping for air for 5 days. She was fine one day and I found her gasping for air the next morning. Every inhale, every exhale is labored and wheezy. She extends her neck to take in oxygen. I don’t know how she can take it anymore. She is absolutely exhausted.
She is a Silver Laced Wyandotte. She is 5 yrs. old and is my absolute favorite chicken (shhh. Don’t tell the others
) She has survived several fox attacks and has outlasted all the other flocks. We just got a whole new spring flock of chickens and a few ducks. She is such a good girl to them all.
I did tons of research and I was convinced it was gapeworm. I called a vet and she advised me of the proper dosage of Safeguard for goats. I gave her that for 3 days (1.5 ml) every morning and I saw some little worms in her stool, but no improvement with the breathing. I have a tiny scope with a video attachment and I scoped her. Her throat and trachea are completely clear. If a gapeworm is to the point of choking them, they should be visible, but I found nothing. Day 3, I took her to an after hour emergency vet. He is not a bird doctor. He said she has sour crop, so off we go with orders to massage her crop, and feed her yogurt and scrambled eggs. He said that feeding her protein only would starve the yeast in her crop. I was way ahead of him. That’s what I had been feeding her since she became sick. I gave her some olive oil, electrolytes and I gave her Vet RX. He also sent me home with a full syringe of euthanizing solution just in case. Another night passed and I just knew it wasn’t sour crop. It just didn’t make sense. Morning of day 4, no change. I just can’t watch her suffer anymore. Her comb is nice and red so she is oxygenated, but she is in distress. I waited for an avian vet to open today and I took her for a 2nd opinion. She examined her and said she was just mind boggled. She cannot find the reason for the gasping. Certainly it is much deeper in the lungs. She can only look down so far. She said it’s worth trying to save her. Her body mass is good and she decided to throw the book at her....Just treat her for everything. She is still on the dewormer and we started an antibiotic, anti fungal and anti inflammatory. She is drinking, but not interested in food. She is pooping watery stool, but that’s to be expected with these meds. How much more can she take? I’m praying I wake up in the morning and I see improvement. She can’t even sleep because she must extend her neck for every breath. Please....any suggestions?
She is a Silver Laced Wyandotte. She is 5 yrs. old and is my absolute favorite chicken (shhh. Don’t tell the others
) She has survived several fox attacks and has outlasted all the other flocks. We just got a whole new spring flock of chickens and a few ducks. She is such a good girl to them all.I did tons of research and I was convinced it was gapeworm. I called a vet and she advised me of the proper dosage of Safeguard for goats. I gave her that for 3 days (1.5 ml) every morning and I saw some little worms in her stool, but no improvement with the breathing. I have a tiny scope with a video attachment and I scoped her. Her throat and trachea are completely clear. If a gapeworm is to the point of choking them, they should be visible, but I found nothing. Day 3, I took her to an after hour emergency vet. He is not a bird doctor. He said she has sour crop, so off we go with orders to massage her crop, and feed her yogurt and scrambled eggs. He said that feeding her protein only would starve the yeast in her crop. I was way ahead of him. That’s what I had been feeding her since she became sick. I gave her some olive oil, electrolytes and I gave her Vet RX. He also sent me home with a full syringe of euthanizing solution just in case. Another night passed and I just knew it wasn’t sour crop. It just didn’t make sense. Morning of day 4, no change. I just can’t watch her suffer anymore. Her comb is nice and red so she is oxygenated, but she is in distress. I waited for an avian vet to open today and I took her for a 2nd opinion. She examined her and said she was just mind boggled. She cannot find the reason for the gasping. Certainly it is much deeper in the lungs. She can only look down so far. She said it’s worth trying to save her. Her body mass is good and she decided to throw the book at her....Just treat her for everything. She is still on the dewormer and we started an antibiotic, anti fungal and anti inflammatory. She is drinking, but not interested in food. She is pooping watery stool, but that’s to be expected with these meds. How much more can she take? I’m praying I wake up in the morning and I see improvement. She can’t even sleep because she must extend her neck for every breath. Please....any suggestions?
