Best liner/ bedding for drop tray

[Luvachicken]

Matilda seems to be fine in all other ways, apart from a bit of a limp, except that she breathes different to Charlotte - she seems to breathe alot faster and it seems a bit laboured to me. I'm not sure if I saw her shiver today or if she was just cross I interrupted her sitting in the egg hole.

She doesn't seem to have a runny nose or eyes but does have a bit of a dirty botty

She does seem to sit in the egg box quite a lot - but then Charlotte often joins her for a chat but doesn't stay so long and still no eggs. I haven't had eggs since just before Christmas.

She eats fine and I've nearly finished worming them, the problem I have is that hubby thinks most vets don't really know enough about chickens so he thinks there may not be much point in going and it's expensive.

Any advice on what could be wrong or what I could do next would be much appreciated.

Thank you

Edited March 2, 2011 by Guest

[Chucky Mama]

Is it just when you are handling her or when she is stressed? Some chickens will breath faster or 'mouth' breath when they are stressed or frightened.

[Luvachicken]

She does it too when she is just sitting around. I have only just got in so I will go and check on her in a bit to see how she is doing.

[Luvachicken]

Well, I went and tried to spy on her while she is in the run.

Her neck is a quite a good area to watch and it does seem to move more compared to Charlottes,- kind of like where our own neck meets our shoulders - if you get my drift.

I also think she did a sneeze while I was watching but you can definitely see her breathing more than you can Charlotte.

 

Am I making a fuss over nothing ?

How serious is a cold in a chicken ?

 

Thank you

[Luvachicken]

Last night I took Matilda to the vets.

Thankfully he did say that she is generally healthy apart from she does have a wheezy chest and so he gave her antibiotics - the usual Baytril that most small animals have.

 

He said she could take them for 10 days and hopefully she will be better.

 

Unfortunately he said that we couldn't eat the eggs for 3 weeks after but I said we haven't had any for ages anyway so another 3 weeks wouldn't make any difference

 

Fingers crossed she gets better

[Plum]

That's good, treatment not no eggs. Well done spotting it.

[coco]

Two of my girls had rattly chests, after 10 days of Baytril they were fine.Its good that you acted quickly.

[Luvachicken]

Thanks plum and coco for your concerns and I'm pleased that you think that she will be ok.

[Plum]

Couple of mine had it in January was advised to give 10 days of antibiotics to make sure it was gone. Also given some just in case but fortunately not had to use it.