Chronic Respiratory Disease?

[Tweetypie]

HI Marigold, it has been raining heavily here for the past hour, but now ceased. I nipped out to the coop, as I wanted to check if Barbie was OK. We removed the aubiose and put newspaper down. We also moved the second perch back and added a small and very low perch for Barbie, exactly where she would normally sleep on the floor (to stop her sitting in that place).
I opened up the nestbox and peeped in to discover that Barbie and Cindy were both on the medium height perch

With regard to that crackling noise, that was the first time I have heard her breathe like that, so shall be keeping a close eye (and ear) on her tomorrow. She certainly wasn't like that yesterday. If she showed signs of being ill, she would have already been to the vets.....but I will observe her for another couple of days. Poor thing.

At least now, with a change of bedding, plus the rain removing the dusty atmosphere, I hope things improve rapidly. I can only hope and pray it isn't anything sinister. I do love that bird.

[rick]

Using DE isn't a huge risk, compared to its usefulness against red mite. Applying it as a slurry, that sticks where you want it (at the ends of the perches mainly) and isn't so airborne is a moderate use. I wouldn't put it in the dust bath.
But, if it's an infection, its mycoplasma which is so common it is like a cold in humans (but bacteria not a virus) - ever present but can get out of hand. I wont mention the dreaded anti-B's but your vet will advise. Saline solution is good for wiping beaks as it doesn't help spread any discharged bacteria back into the airways.
It is easily treatable - the decision is whether you let her fight it herself (with help of course. When that turns out well it is always the best way.) Oh for hindsight!

[Tweetypie]

Hi Rick
Thanks so much for replying.
I realised that yesterday, that for the first time since I got her a few months ago, Barbie did not lay an egg!!I know some hens don't lay every day, particularly as she is older, but I note any change in habit or behaviour. As she always lays her egg before 9.30am and she hasn't been to the nestbox today, either, I assume she may not lay today.
When I let them all out this morning, Barbie was sneezing again, but no nasal discharge, her voice still a little cackly. She is still very alert, eating and drinking well and the first for the tomato treat
I don't want to give unecessary antibiotics. Because the others are OK and Barbie is coping well, I think I will sit and wait another day or two....

[Marigold]

Good idea, Tweetiepie. As Hipchick found with Hetty, quite often hens do overcome minor illness, given sensible care - and it sounded as if Hetty was showing more signs of illness than Barbie. So long as a hen seems bright and alert in herself, and is feeding, drinking and pooing normally, then observation is usually the best way to go. Of course this doesn't rule out the vet if things change and she starts looking depressed - but it doesn't sound as if giving it time will be harmful at the moment, and anyway it's Sunday. If she gets really bunged up nose and bad wheezing, and doesn't look her normal cheerful self, then that might indicate a bronchial infection, but as you've removed possible irritants from her home, and it's nice and damp now, she may well just recover naturally.
It's good that the others are normal, that might seem to point to Barbie picking up something that inflamed her throat tract or her nasal passages. A seed or bit of dust stuck somewhere along the line, maybe? In which case we can hope that it will work its way out in a day or so. It's good that she's not laying, will give her the strength to recover that would have gone into making an egg.

[Tweetypie]

I took a new video this morning. It's been raining quite hard today, so they look a bit bedraggled.

Barbie is the one with the white tipped tail who is not camera shy. They were all begging for a cherry tomato at the conservatory door. Note the destroyed hosta plant!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEmShXiQGG8

All in all, she looks pretty happy, despite the rain.

[Marigold]

I didn’t notice any signs of her making that snicking noise, has she stopped doing that? She looks perfectly normal to me, eyes and nose clean from what I can see.

[Tweetypie]

HI Marigold
I can't hear that croaky noise now, either. Well spotted. Also, I hadn't realised that she laid an egg early this morning. The reason I hadn't discovered it, was due to Miss Muffet being sat on the nest laying hers when I looked in at 7.30am. Ten minutes ago I popped the door open and saw 3 eggs in the nest. Cindy then promptly jumped in the nest desperate to lay hers! It's like a carry on film here in a morning...they have 6 large nest boxes and they all have to lay their eggs in one box!

Weather is cool today and raining on and off, so at least it isn't dusty.

I really appreciate having all of you on this forum. If I hadn't discovered this forum, I would have already taken her to the vets and wasted a load of money for nothing, probably worrying unneccessarily. Always good to get advice from real people with real experience, rather than vets with no clue about poultry.

[Marigold]

Sounds all good, then, even down to the egg!
It's the same with all species, isn't it - dogs, cats, children, (especially babies!) we're all worried about misdiagnosing our own, especially now we have Dr. Google to help! I've found friends on here are invaluable when I want to check something out, and I think your idea of videoing Barbie and putting the clip on Youtube was just brilliant - I don't think anyone has done that before, and it told so much more than a still photo would have done. We could see how she was moving and hear her breathing etc.
We all want to avoid the vet, of course, -it's just a case of sensing when it will probably do no harm to let nature take its course, or knowing when the case is hopeless anyway, and when a proper diagnosis is needed when in doubt. Sometimes hens just drop down dead for no apparent reason - like the pullet I had for a few weeks in the Spring that I found dead in the coop one morning. None of us on here are vets, and even if we were, there's no substitute for actually seeing and handling a bird, - though Youtube is a good second best!
As it says at the top of the page in this section;
"Please remember the advice offered by people should not constitute a diagnosis and does not replace the advice of a qualified vet."
They're not all useless!

[hip chick]

Hi Tweetypie, sorry to hear Barbie's unwell. On the plus side it seems like she's still quite active, and eating and drinking well, which are all good signs. One thing that became apparent to me when Hetty was poorly, was how she isolated herself from all the others, and her reluctance to walk around. It also appeared she had been knocked down the pecking order, as she would get pecked at by all the other girls, and was waiting until last to go in the coop at night, and a reluctance to come out in the morning. So I'd say Barbie is showing all good signs really, and maybe it is something in the nasal passage causing an irritation.

[Tweetypie]

Hi all

Yes she does seem OK in herself, so maybe it is some irritant in her nasal package as Marigold and you suggested.

I could not believe my eyes tonight... I always leave them to go into their coops, bearing in mind I have two separate coops at either end of the attached pen and two little staircases up to their "bedrooms".

Tonight, I saw Cindy stood in the dark, in the door way of her coop she shares with Barbie. I picked her up and put her inside the coop and looked in to discover that Barbie wasn't there. I opened the coop where Mabel and Miss Muffet sleep and discovered Barbie sat in the nestbox, like Queen Elizabethe II sat on her throne. Because Barbie sleeps on the floor in her own coop, I got OH to make her a low perch, which she did use last night, but obviously it wasn't good enough for her. She likes comfort

I don't like the thought of Cindy being alone, so will have to think of something else for Queen Barbie. Why she doesn't sit in her own nestbox, I don't know. These hens do make me laugh and I know I pander to them, but I need to know they are cosy and warm.