Rattling hen

[dominique]

Hello, my dutch pullet has rattling breathing and is very unresponsive. She has been like this for 2 weeks now (another person gave her to me and I didnt notice then) and was eating and drinking but has now deteriorated and is chirping very unhappily.
I don't want to do it, but sahould I put her down?
Any advice much appreciated.

Dominic

 

[snifter]

If she is unrespnsive it might be best to.

It could be with the right treatment she would recover, but unless you are more definate about what is wrong with her, its hard to know. Could be a number of things. Maybe a trip to the vet if you want to spend the money on her (and if not a poultry vet it may well be barking up the wrong tree treatment wise).

If it were me I'd say enough and not try to treat further unless I was sure what was wrong and she was responsive enough to at least take whatever I was trying to give her.

 

[Tim]

Chickens are very prone to respiratory problems = Rattling breathing is common with Mycoplasma infection.

Take a look at this. Mycoplasma info

Your vet will probably provide an antibiotic to clear the infection - Baytril or Tylan

Snifter is right, most vets don't know much about Chickens - this is quite a common problem though and in the past I have taken enough information in to some vets to put them on the right track. They will need to listen to their breathing and decide if it's worth prescribing. It sounds like she's pretty bad.

Tim