auntielizzie Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Just went to shut the girls up for the night and I could hear a strange gurgly noise from inside Betty and Bessie's house. I opened the door to have a check and Betty seems to be gurgling/rattling as she is breathing. It sounds like she has got a rattly chest and I think is when she is breathing out. She was fine earlier on, although hasn't laid for a couple of days which I put down to her just coming out of a bit of a moult. I gave her some tuna earlier, thinking it would be good for her and now I am worried maybe that has upset her. The thing is, all the girls had some because its difficult to only give it to one with all those little beaks coming at you. Any ideas on the rattly chest. I'm going to look up local chicken vets in case I need to take her in tomorrow. I'm very worried. I haven't had any chicken illnesses yet, so I am very anxious about it, but what with Bessie as well, who hasn't laid for a few weeks and has been sitting around all puffed up with her eyes closed and looking a bit hunched up (?got a softy coming), I am getting rather concerned about them. Any advice/ideas gratefully received. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs_B Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 When were they last wormed? Were they wormed with Flubenvet? I thought one of my girls sounded like she was weezing (they've been very poorly recently) and they were also stretching their necks and seemed to 'gasp' (they do this in hot weather too) so although I had wormed them 6 weeks before, I automatically wormed them at the double gape worm dose to be sure I wasn't leaving anything to chance. I did get the advice of a vet too. I would take the chicken to the vet to be sure - sadly chickens don't usually like to show they are ill so sometimes something can be missed Good luck! x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HennyPenny59 Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 If it were me, I think I would isolate her immediately in case it was contagious, and get her to the vet asap. If you have difficulty in finding a vet who is experienced with chickens in your area, I can highly recommend Mr Dean at Heathlodge Veterinary Group in St Albans who is very knowledgeable about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I'd take her to the vet as well, when you can really hear the rattle its best to get some antibiotics to clear it up - its likely to be a respiratory infection of some sort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auntielizzie Posted October 4, 2012 Author Share Posted October 4, 2012 She's still the same this morning - although it sounds more like a bubbly chest. She's done the odd cough/sneeze as well. I rang the vets first thing this morning and have an appointment with Mr Dean at 10.45. Decided I would take Bessie as well for him to give her a look too. Fingers crossed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HennyPenny59 Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I do hope they will be ok ... They're such a worry arn't they xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Sounds like Myco or Infectious Bronchitis to me; hopefully they'll get her on antibs and she'll recover. It's best to act quickly when you see this as it's very infectious and can damage their laying ability if left. Good luck at the vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auntielizzie Posted October 4, 2012 Author Share Posted October 4, 2012 So, we saw Mr Dean at St Albans. When I described Betty's symptoms, he gave me that look like builders and electricians give you when they're about to tell you it's a really big job as they inhale through their pursed lips! or in Mr Dean's case meaning that it sounds bad! Anyway, he seemed to think that it is probably a respiratory infection of some sort, so he gave her an antibiotic injection and she needs to go back on Saturday for a check-up and maybe another jab. He says any eggs she lays will have to be disposed of for a month, but other than that he didn't tell me to isolate her from the others or anything Bessie on the other hand he couldn't find anything obvious wrong with. No hard lumps in the tummy, bright eyes, chest clear etc, so he felt best to watch and wait with her. Came back from work just now and they are both fine. Quite happy. Betty seems a bit more lively and I couldn't hear her chest just now, so maybe improving Have to just wait and see now what happens. It is quite worrying really, especially as these two were my two first ever chickens, so have a special place in my heart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auntielizzie Posted October 4, 2012 Author Share Posted October 4, 2012 I can ask the vet this on Saturday, but I am just wondering is it OK to start worming the girls whilst one of them is on antibiotics? They are due to be wormed and I was planning to start this weekend. Update on Betty - just went to shut them in for the night and she is still a bit gurgly, but not half as bad as before although she did do a couple of sneezes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I wouldn't worm if any of them is poorly, on meds or moulting, give it a week after recovery/end of treatment before starting. It is more important that your hens recover than they are wormed on time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auntielizzie Posted October 4, 2012 Author Share Posted October 4, 2012 Thank you Dogmother; my only other concern is that the vet didn't say (and I didn't think to ask at the time) whether I should be trying to isolate her from the other hens if she is contagious - although I am not sure how well I would be able to separate her as the houses are in the same part of the garden next to each other...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Technically, your should isolate the infected hen at the first sing of any bronchial problem; in reality that isn't always done. By this stage the others will have caught it if they are going to and isolation may be counter-productive if she pines for her mates. It's one of those 'background' infections that hang around waiting for a bird to be a bit under the weather before it comes to the for. Moulting and times of stress are when it usually rears its head. I'd just feed them their regular rations, add Life-Guard to the water and use Nutri-drops if she isn't eating. Try not to be tempted to give her treats other than mealworms as trying to digest processed food such as potato, pasta and mashed potato will only put additional train on her system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auntielizzie Posted October 6, 2012 Author Share Posted October 6, 2012 Well I took Betty back to the vets this morning for a second antibiotic injection. Things are looking up I haven't heard any gurgling since yesterday morning and since yesterday afternoon Betty has been eating again. In fact, at the vets today she had even put on a little bit of weight and the vet was very happy with her. She is much much brighter in herself and all would appear to be going very well. Even Bessie has really perked up No eggs from either of them still, but I'm not worried about that as long as they are all good and well. As it's a lovely sunny day today, they are all happily free ranging together, having sunbathes and dustbathing together. Brought them a new tub of mealworms, which they all tucked in to very happily. So all in all, things are on the up. Let's hope it continues Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 That sounds like good news Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
