Two of my chickens have something respiratory going on...

[Donna]

Has anyone successfully nursed a sick chicken back to health?

 

Two of our chickens are sounding wheezy and making cow sounding noises with what sounds like coughing and sneezing. One has a weepy eye. We separated them from the others and started them on antibiotics which both did drink a bit before dark. They are otherwise acting fine as far as eating, drinking, and walking around.

 

Anything else we should know?

 

[gaillardia]

Maybe the chicken ladies will read this within the next 24 hours. I know nothing about raising chickens. Quarantining them is a good start, antibiotics too. Other than that, I've got nothing, but bumping this up.

[WishboneDawn]

I think you've done what you can.

[momto10blessings]

Sounds like you've done everything you possibly could. We've had some chickens recover from "colds" and some just got worse. I'm not an expert though. Hopefully someone who knows more will chime in

[fairfarmhand]

Sounds like you've done everything you possibly could. We've had some chickens recover from "colds" and some just got worse. I'm not an expert though. Hopefully someone who knows more will chime in

 

yes, this is pretty much it. Chickens are very fragile animals.

 

They get cold or wet or don't have good ventilation, they get these things. How old are the chickens?

[zaichiki]

yes, this is pretty much it. Chickens are very fragile animals.

 

They get cold or wet or don't have good ventilation, they get these things. How old are the chickens?

I don't agree that chickens are fragile.  We have had about 80+ fowl (including ducks, turkeys, a peacock, and guineas) over the last 6 years, and my experience says otherwise.  True, many misfortunes can beset them, however, compared to barnyard mammals they seem to pull through misfortune so much better.  The thing is, once a chicken LOOKS sick, it is often too far gone to help.  They have that "prey survival - don't look sick until you're nearly dead" thing going on.

 

It's not the temperature.  Our chickens get cold and stay cold all winter b/c they free-range.  Most of them roost in the unheated barn and yet we've had no deaths due to any respiratory sicknesses.  We, knock wood, haven't had any respiratory symptoms in any of our birds over the years.

 

Drafts can be a problem for chickens, but the OP keeps her chickens in a draft-free coop.  Ventilation could be the culprit.  I recently saw some information online (a youtube video and read something in a chicken magazine) about the amount of ventilation needed for chickens in winter and I was AGHAST!  Something about how much moisture a bunch of breathing chickens produce... Can't remember exactly.  But a buildup of moisture can lead to problems, too.  Bacterial?  Viral?  Fungal?  Can't remember.

 

Good luck, Donna.  Let us know how it goes.  Good show to get them on the antibiotics and quarantine right away.

[Isabella]

Garlic is also good to give them....crush a couple of cloves a day and let them pick at it.  Or put it in their water with some apple cider vinegar.  It should complement the antibiotics. 

 

Sometimes they survive and sometimes they don't.  It's really hard to tell how its going to go with our chickens.

[fairfarmhand]

I don't agree that chickens are fragile.  We have had about 80+ fowl (including ducks, turkeys, a peacock, and guineas) over the last 6 years, and my experience says otherwise.  True, many misfortunes can beset them, however, compared to barnyard mammals they seem to pull through misfortune so much better.  The thing is, once a chicken LOOKS sick, it is often too far gone to help.  They have that "prey survival - don't look sick until you're nearly dead" thing going on.

 

It's not the temperature.  Our chickens get cold and stay cold all winter b/c they free-range.  Most of them roost in the unheated barn and yet we've had no deaths due to any respiratory sicknesses.  We, knock wood, haven't had any respiratory symptoms in any of our birds over the years.

 

Drafts can be a problem for chickens, but the OP keeps her chickens in a draft-free coop.  Ventilation could be the culprit.  I recently saw some information online (a youtube video and read something in a chicken magazine) about the amount of ventilation needed for chickens in winter and I was AGHAST!  Something about how much moisture a bunch of breathing chickens produce... Can't remember exactly.  But a buildup of moisture can lead to problems, too.  Bacterial?  Viral?  Fungal?  Can't remember.

 

Good luck, Donna.  Let us know how it goes.  Good show to get them on the antibiotics and quarantine right away.

 

perhaps different climates affect them differently? We have  damp cold here and we live on an exposed hillside facing the west. The wind is brutal. Our chickens do pretty well in the winter, outdoors in an unheated barn, but any time they've been exposed (like to wind or rain when they accidentally got shut out of the henhouse) they can get droopy.

 

Ventilation is crucial for chickens. Their respiriatory systems are fairly fragile, is what I should have said. Like you, we've had very few deaths due to those illnesses, but I do know people that do have those issues. I think it has more to do with our coop design, maybe?

 

You are right that once a chicken looks sick it's pretty much dead.