wheezing / long moult

[kitty]

Hi all, I am concerned about one of my speckledy chooks which appears to have a breathing problem is making a rasping sound. She does not have bubbly eyes or a runny nose and is alert, eating, moving and laying well.
Due to a lack of space and having just the one chicken house, I am unable to segregate her from my 3 other birds which are 2 x blackrocks and another speclkedy who all appear to be free of this problem.

On another track, both of my blackrocks chest areas are completely bare and have been so for 6/7 weeks now, which I believe is moult, but it seems to be an awful long time and there are no apparent growth of new feathers at present.

I would appreciate any advice on both the above problems and thanks in advance

 

[Davidd]

Hi, i would try and get a course of Tylan or Baytril from your vet-as for the baldness- they shouldn't be moulting at this time of year - are they picking each other- is there one hen in with them who is fully feathered? Try to observe them and see if one is feather picking- a habit caused by boredom but can become very adictive.
regards, David

 

[Annschooks]

Have you treated for fleas/ticks/mites these also cause feather loss.

 

[kitty]

Sorry for delay, but been extremely busy lately, however just a quick update. I gave the wheezing chook (plus the other 3) a course of worming in case it was gapeworm she had and ther has been a significant improvement in her condition and her breathing has certainly improved a lot, but she does still sneeze occasionally but nowhere near as much as before.
The bare chests on my 2 rocks are still bare but there appears to be some small new feather growth appearing.
I don't think that they were being pecked by the other birds and have never noticed during the day but suppose it could have happened in the coop at night. i have thoroughly checked the birds and the house for mites but have found nothing but will give the hous a good clean /dusting this week.

Thanks for help