Respiratory illness

[Cochranhomestead]

It's always possible, but likely if she has something contagious, the others are already exposed and more than likely they would be having symptoms by now as well.

I had chicken a few days ago gasping for air, wheezing, and blue comb. I brought her to the house. I checked her air way, I cleaned the coop, did all the things to check her over and her environment. None of my other chickens are having any issues. Since then her comb has returned to normal, her breathing is better, she’s eating, drinking, has spunk, laid an egg, poops normal, etc… she still has some wheeze and is sneezing a lot. What can I do to help her along? She’s mad as all get out being in the house in a cage lol. Shes going in the right direction just want to make sure there isn’t something I can do to help with her sneezing and breathing. Thanks!

Generally with Gapeworm symptoms are consistent and will worsen, so she would be constantly gaping/gasping.

Do you have an antibiotic on hand? Tylosin, Baytril?

Just to check on something, feel all over her body for anything that feels like swelling under the skin, like an air bubble.

Going back over your thread...crop is emptying, no mucous or canker inside the beak.

You could try deworming too just to see if that makes a difference. Fenbendazole (Safeguard Liquid Goat Dewormer) at a dose of 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row. This would treat Gapeworm, Capillary worms and others.

I would say the gasping has gotten worse. Less hungry but will eat treats.

I don’t feel anything concerning on her body. Everything else seems normal.

I only have penicillin on hand. I have cows and pigs. I will try to order some Tylosin. Does it have the dosage information on it?

I will pick up some safeguard today. I do have pig wormer. I will attach a picture. I think the liquid goat will be easier.

You think I can treat at the same time? Although it might take some time for the Tylosin to come unless there’s something I can pick up at a farm store. I have a rural king, tractor supply, and family farm and home near me.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would say the gasping has gotten worse. Less hungry but will eat treats.

I don’t feel anything concerning on her body. Everything else seems normal.

I only have penicillin on hand. I have cows and pigs. I will try to order some Tylosin. Does it have the dosage information on it?

I will pick up some safeguard today. I do have pig wormer. I will attach a picture. I think the liquid goat will be easier.

You think I can treat at the same time? Although it might take some time for the Tylosin to come unless there’s something I can pick up at a farm store. I have a rural king, tractor supply, and family farm and home near me.

I would get the Safeguard Liquid Goat dewormer or Equine Paste, these are easier to dose.

Penicillin would not be effective against something like Mycoplasma since it has no cell wall. It *may* help with certain bacterial infection, most just use it to treat infected wounds nowadays.

Tylosin dosing is on the package, but if for some reason it's not let me know.

Unfortunately, most all medications were pulled from stores a few years back, so very unlikely you'd find anything at TSC, Rural King, etc. Most order online, like you are doing. Hopefully the medication will arrive fairly quickly.

 

[Cochranhomestead]

I would say the gasping has gotten worse. Less hungry but will eat treats.

I don’t feel anything concerning on her body. Everything else seems normal.

I only have penicillin on hand. I have cows and pigs. I will try to order some Tylosin. Does it have the dosage information on it?

I will pick up some safeguard today. I do have pig wormer. I will attach a picture. I think the liquid goat will be easier.

You think I can treat at the same time? Although it might take some time for the Tylosin to come unless there’s something I can pick up at a farm store. I have a rural king, tractor supply, and family farm and home near me.

I would get the Safeguard Liquid Goat dewormer or Equine Paste, these are easier to dose.

Penicillin would not be effective against something like Mycoplasma since it has no cell wall. It *may* help with certain bacterial infection, most just use it to treat infected wounds nowadays.

Tylosin dosing is on the package, but if for some reason it's not let me know.

Unfortunately, most all medications were pulled from stores a few years back, so very unlikely you'd find anything at TSC, Rural King, etc. Most order online, like you are doing. Hopefully the medication will arrive fairly quickly.

 

[Cochranhomestead]

So I picked up the wormer this afternoon and gave it to her around 5ish. About an hour later it was just a gasp here and there, now she hasn’t really gasped much. Is this just coincidence? Or does it work that fast?

It’s unfortunate you can’t get stuff at the farm stores anymore. We breed and raise cows and pigs so it definitely kinda made things hard for us.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So I picked up the wormer this afternoon and gave it to her around 5ish. About an hour later it was just a gasp here and there, now she hasn’t really gasped much. Is this just coincidence? Or does it work that fast?

It’s unfortunate you can’t get stuff at the farm stores anymore. We breed and raise cows and pigs so it definitely kinda made things hard for us.

I'd say it's a coincidence, but even so, it's good that she's improving.

 

[Cochranhomestead]

I'd say it's a coincidence, but even so, it's good that she's improving.

I appreciate all the help you have given me so far. I have a couple more questions. I treated her for 5 days with the wormer which seems to have helped a lot. She finished on Tuesday. Then I’ve been giving her probiotics. She’s no longer gasping, eating normal, almost completely normal. Do I do another round after so many days?

She still has some wheezing and sneezing. Should I treat her for that or let it run its course? It could be something in the house that isn’t agreeing with her or maybe she does have something respiratory going on as well. I really do believe she had Gapeworm. The way she improved from the dewormer just doesn’t seem possible she didn’t. I have TiaGard 12.5% on hand. I didn’t know if the dewormer would react to the TiaGard. I have an empty coop I use for transitioning birds that I plan to stick her in. I wanted to keep her here to just keep an eye on her till I was sure how she was doing.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I appreciate all the help you have given me so far. I have a couple more questions. I treated her for 5 days with the wormer which seems to have helped a lot. She finished on Tuesday. Then I’ve been giving her probiotics. She’s no longer gasping, eating normal, almost completely normal. Do I do another round after so many days?

She still has some wheezing and sneezing. Should I treat her for that or let it run its course? It could be something in the house that isn’t agreeing with her or maybe she does have something respiratory going on as well. I really do believe she had Gapeworm. The way she improved from the dewormer just doesn’t seem possible she didn’t. I have TiaGard 12.5% on hand. I didn’t know if the dewormer would react to the TiaGard. I have an empty coop I use for transitioning birds that I plan to stick her in. I wanted to keep her here to just keep an eye on her till I was sure how she was doing.

I'm glad she's improving!
There's no repeat on the Safeguard when given for 5 days in a row.
However...(you knew that was coming right LOL) if I thought the major cause of her problems were Gapeworm, I'd consider retreating in 6-8 weeks to eliminate anything that has hatched, etc. From my limited reading about Gapeworms, the prepatent period is around 14-22 days (time from ingestion of parasite to "maturity). So with her struggling so much, I'd surely want to follow up to ensure the parasites are not taking hold again. If that makes sense. Since she's the only one with symptoms, treat her.

Tiagard (Tiamulin) only treats Mycoplasma in poultry. I do not know how effective it would be if her problem is worms.
Tylan may help or you could use a broader spectrum like Baytril, but it may be worth seeing if she overcomes this on her own without extra meds...it's always hard to know, you'd have to access her and make that call.

It's good that you are also offering supportive care through probiotics. It's hopeful to think she's getting to the point of being able to transition outside.