HELP! Chicken struggling to breathe

[The Nichols']

Just got back from my post work check on the chickens and am very worried about one of the girls.

She seems to be having real trouble breathing. Each breathe is very raspy and her tongue sticks out when she exhales. Comb looks a little pale but not too bad though her tail feathers are down.

Even more worrying is the fact that she refused corn and let me walk right up to her and pick her up. I looked over her feathers for red mite (which we had last year) and fleas but can't see anything.

She has lost some feathers but that was a while ago (they haven't grown back) and we assumed it was because Errol was being a bit too rough with her.

There is runny poo in the run but no idea what chicken that's from.

This one is only about 18 months and laid an egg yesterday. In fact, probably laid 4 or 5 times last week.

Any help or comments would be appereciated quickly!

[Flummery]

Have they been recently wormed? I wonder if it's gape worm? If it is, a course of Flubenvet will help. Or it might be a respiratory problem. Maybe Baytril would help? I'm sure one of the experts will have more idea.

[Snadger]

Only thing that springs to mind is gapeworm? Try googling it!

[Snadger]

You type faster than me Flum!

[vicky]

Could she have overheated?

[The Nichols']

We worm them last weekend of every month so yes, they were wormed and I don't think they could have overheated. There's plenty of shady areas available to them.

Got the allotment expert to come and have a look. He thinks it might be pneumonia and has taken her back to his where she can isolated and he's got some anti-biotics.

[lindyloo]

the two things that came instantly to my mind are gapeworm, and heat. antiboitics wont do any harm ie phnuemonia. i would be inclined to worm them again- as not all worms are always destroyed with a single treatment. i guess it could be phnuemonia, as we had a drop in temperature. whatever it is , i hope she survives it.

[RichmondHens]

If you are worming every month I assume you are using Verm X or similar, which is ineffective against gapeworm (in fact any worm infestation - it is a merely a preventative). You need to worm with Flubenvet for gapeworm.

She could have one of a number of things - infectious bronchitis, mycoplasmosis, a reaction to something she has eaten or breathed in (if it was sudden onset and she was fine the day before). It is important to find out what so you can treat your other birds appropriately as most respiratory problems are highly infectious. How is she today?

[SuzyB]

Sounds exactly like what happened to my Bluebell a few months ago. That turned out to be a respiratory problem, I had to take her to the vets. Unfortunately she didnt make it but the other girls were ok as I separated her as soon as I noticed her symptoms.

[grumblz]

It's also quite possible that she could have picked up something that has got stuck in her airway, although this could be impossible to remove.

If she is important to you? I would advise a trip to your nearest vetinary practice with a farm vet, a quick phone call will tell you if they have one and their consultation fee should be much less than a normal pet. They'll be able to give you some good advice and you can make an informed decision.

You'll feel better for doing it, even if it's not good news....

Hope all goes well.

I suggest this from personal experience as we had a similar thing with one of our own, we suspected Gapeworm but after visiting a vet, it turned out to be a small obstruction that had become infected. As it became swollen her breathing got worse.

[The Nichols']

Thanks everyone. She's been temporarily relocated with someone who knows more than I and has been isolated and kept in the shade.

He thinks she's eaten (or tried) to eat a bee which has stung her on the throat.

Spoke to him last night and she ate some chick crumb and had a good drink which is (to me anyway) a good sign.

Then he said, "oh, she escaped" Luckily their garden is enclosed so after a few minutes chasing they got her back in her isolation but for a chicken that was so still she let me pick her up, I take that as an excellent sign.

[Flummery]

Fingers crossed then!

[vicky]

Glad to hear she seems to be on the mend. I must tell mine to stop trying to eat bees...