Young Pullet with Cough/sneeze/hiccups

[Grace11]

This almost 8 mo old pullet is in 3rd day of a cough/sneeze hiccup noise she is making. There are NO rales, but she lifts her head up to get a breath, but not always, and if no head lift, she keeps her beak slightly open to breathe. Seems to be eating reasonably well. NO facial/eye swelling, encrustations or pox type things or discolorations anywhere i can see. She a beautiful Welsummer at POL. I can see nothing in her throat, there is a approx, 1/3" blackish/gray area at inside of point of upper beak. She has been treated so far with 2 1/2 droppersful of vet RX, and this Am, treated her with 6 drops of ivermection on back of her neck, hoping this might be gapeworm. The only other thing i think might be air sac mites. I havent a CLUE what could be wrong with my lady girl. Could she have inhaled a piece of straw or dust, and if so, how can it be gotten out? and how do u know?

 

[silkiemother]

do you have any pictures?and could something,maybe,maybe, damaged something internally in her lungs or throat.I am just guessing at that and it is not really a likely problem.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This almost 8 mo old pullet is in 3rd day of a cough/sneeze hiccup noise she is making. There are NO rales, but she lifts her head up to get a breath, but not always, and if no head lift, she keeps her beak slightly open to breathe. Seems to be eating reasonably well. NO facial/eye swelling, encrustations or pox type things or discolorations anywhere i can see. She a beautiful Welsummer at POL. I can see nothing in her throat, there is a approx, 1/3" blackish/gray area at inside of point of upper beak. She has been treated so far with 2 1/2 droppersful of vet RX, and this Am, treated her with 6 drops of ivermection on back of her neck, hoping this might be gapeworm. The only other thing i think might be air sac mites. I havent a CLUE what could be wrong with my lady girl. Could she have inhaled a piece of straw or dust, and if so, how can it be gotten out? and how do u know?

Can you post some photos of your girl - especially the gray area inside the beak?
A video of the sounds she is making would be good too - upload to youtube then provide us a link.
How long have you had her?
By any chance does is she laying - does she have any fluid/bloat in the abdomen?
Check her crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks to make sure it's empty.

A hiccup.sneeze cough could also be respiratory disease, the stretching of the neck sounds like "pump handle" action, but without seeing it, it would be hard to know.
If she does not improve, seeking vet care is always best.
You can try antibiotics to see if that makes a difference. Some respiratory diseases are viral and antibiotics won't help unless there is a secondary infection.

Ivermectin is not effective for Gapeworms. Gapeworms are fairly rare, but if you are wanting to treat for those, the you can use Fenbendazole (safeguard) at .25ml per pound of weight given for 5 days in a row.

Here's some reading about chicken diseases http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

Look forward to your photos/video.

 

[Grace11]

I cant post photos.... 4 th day, still about the same, but less episodes of the hiccup sounds. whats really weird is when its dark and i darken her hospital area even more she settles down and the sounds are few and far between. ramps up in the daytime. still eating fine. i think she inhaled something. Tried something new thiS aM. I shone a hi watt flashlight thru her head/neck area, not a thing, the feathers get too thick lower down to see. when i first picked her up i held her by the legs upside down for a minute or so and then I massaged her whole neck this morn and i think it helped her some.
Ive had her from a chick, one of a dozen, shes at POL, almost 8 mos old.

I only have 5 left of the orig female chicks, 2 were roosters(eaten) and mareks has gotten the 5 others of this group. Im pretty convinced she inhaled something. i hate this... early last winter, mareks hit my little silky flock, they came down with it 1 by 1. i did necropsies on the ones that starved or dropped dead, those all had the tumours all up and down their guts, all the rest had the paralysis variety. And this year, i needed some young gals so got some wellsummers for the main flock replacements and now the darn mareks is in the main flock. inevitable really. what really hacks me is that I read somewhere that the silkies r THE most prone to mareks and their choice for 2nd most prone was welsummers. RATS.
Tommorrow, if my girlie is stll going on with breathing probs, im going to try the massaging whole neck again, and then a large squirt of water to half drown her and see if it can be dislodged or kill her, one. I can only get on the net when i go to my sisters house. thats why i dont answer rite away.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Did you check the crop? Check it first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks, it should be empty/flat.
Just feel down to the right side of her breast, you should be able to tell.
I would not squirt water in her beak she may choke.

I'm sorry to hear about your losses. If you have Marek's in you flock, then this girl may be suffering from tumors or something else.

 

[Grace11]

I have checked her crop, several times, its bigger when shes eaten and nothing really there in the morning. she hasnt lost any weight and she poops good, i weighed when i brought her in just so i would know if she was slowly starving. she eats good in front of me. the one thing i really worry is if she has something stuck in her airway it could cause an infection. the cough is much less at nite, i darken her area and she settles to sleep, she seems to cough only 1 or 2 times an hour. and when i hold her and make sure she eats, she keeps trying to pry my buttons off my shirt! shes spunky and seems fine in every way xcept for this darn cough whatever it is. I dont know any more to do than just support her with good nutrition and keep her calm and quiet, but she would be happier with all her buds. dang chickens!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If her symptoms are not worse and she is happier with the flock, not being picked on, is eating/drinking on her own, etc. then it may be best to put her in the flock and see what happens. Just monitor her.

 

[Grace11]

Miss pullet seems to be slowly getting over whatever this is. She finally started talking chicken to me Saturday, the harking is much less. eats well, I had a thought this am, that maybe this is an atypical mareks presentation, possible a tumour in the upper neck area, or maybe she had a scare that made her leap and she hit her neck on something. Ive felt her neck several times over the days and it seems to me her neck is decidedly thinner than it was. Talking chicken seems to make her have episodes of the wheeze/cough/whatever.... She will either get over it or not. I will take care of her until...

 

[silkiemother]

how is she doing?

 

[Grace11]

I put her down on Saturday. She began with a ramping up of her symptoms until she was litterally harking every few seconds. after 24 hrs of that i decided that was best for her. i saved her neck/head to do a necropsy on, its in the freezer so i can do it later. i got a good look down her throat, couldnt see anything.