small, falls asleep alot standing up, constant picking, watery…

Hello & welcome, I am Dr. B, a licensed veterinarian and I would like to help you with your wee one today.

I am quite concerned about Lucy.

Furthermore, if you just got this bird and have not isolated for 7-14 days before introducing it to the flock, I'd strongly advise separating her from their airspace (so not just out of their pen but not in the same building where air currents can potentially lead to respiratory agent spread).

Now in regards XXXXX XXXXX's signs, I do suspect the poor appetite is a side effect of her feeling unwell. And while we cannot rule out that her loose stools are not an opportunistic infectious agent (ie parasite, protozoal, bacterial or viral), the biggest issue for wee Lucy is the respiratory signs she is showing. The reason is because neck stretching/extension and yawning are early stage signs of a bird struggling to breathe properly. And as I am sure you can appreciate, since chickens are a prey species they often will hide that they are unwell for as long as possible (since telling everyone that you are ill will make you a target for predation). That means the signs we are seeing now are likely to be associated with this issue progressing and starting to get serious here. Therefore, first thing, is to isolate this bird from the others (because while I am glad there is no other signs of other birds being affected, airborne pathogens can spread within the airspace quite easily)

Now when a bird demonstrates difficulties in breathing, we do have a few considerations. With one bird affected, we do often need to consider diseases of the individual that are not contagious (like heart disease or partial throat obstructions, etc). That said, in Lucy's case I would be worried that these may be less likely and that infectious agents a real concern since she has recently been under the stress (which leads to elevations in immune dampening stress hormones) of being adopted.

Therefore, with that in mind, we need to also consider that we can see respiratory signs with respiratory disease agents like Infectious Coryza, Acute Fowl Cholera (Pasteurella multocida), Influenza, ILT IRT, infectious bronchitis, Chlamydiosis, and mycoplasma (Mycoplasma gallisepticum). Furthermore, we can see localized throat based disease due to Trichomoniasis (canker), Fowl pox (wet form causes canker lesions in the throat) and Syngamus trachea (gape worm) infestations.

In this situation, if you are comfortable handling your bird, then you can potentially narrow down a few of these differentials at home. If you are comfortable doing so, you may consider having a peek down her throat to rule out you gapeworms and any upper airway obstructions. If you look down the throat, you may be able to see one of the other causative agents (ie the plaques of Fowl Pox or discharge of canker, gapeworms, or if something is stuck). If you can't see anything, since you can only look down a chicken throat so far, then you can try the "Q-tip test". To do this, you need to place the bird in your lap, gently open her beak, and swab a Q-tip down her throat (twirl it as you do this). Twirl as you bring it back up, and if she's got gapeworm, you'll see thin, red strings on the q-tip. This way you will know if this is the cause. But if you end up with a cheesy discharge then canker or pox would be higher on the differential list. If there is any other discharge, the bacterial causes would be suspect. And of course if you did note an obstruction, then this would need to be potentially removed (carefully) by either yourself or a vet depending on what was present and how it was stuck. And once you have identified what is present, you will be in a better position to know if you are treating her appropriately.

Otherwise, further measures to pinpoint the causative agent and increase your treatment success, you do want to consider involving your vet. They can rule out foreign bodies caught, listen to her lungs, examine her airway, and help you determine the disease local and therefore rule out some of these agents. Furthermore together you can collect some respiratory secretions from this bird to be cultured. This will tell you what agents are present and what treatment will actually clear it. As well, you might consider having a fecal exam performed as well to tell you if upper airway parasites are playing a role (directly or via compromising the immune system) as well as tell you what is triggering her loose stools (and whether you need to treat something specifically there as well like coccidia) . And of course, if this bird is struggling, they can put her on oxygen therapy to help her to breathe easier while being treated.

Furthermore, once you have samples for culture, you can consider a broad spectrum treatment to try and tackle as many of the bacterial causes as possible. There are a range of options that would include, erythromycin, oxytetracycline, or macrolides. Other options may be tilmicosin, tylosin, spiramycin, or fluoroquinolones (especially useful if Mycoplasma is suspected).

Otherwise, in the meantime, supportive care is that key facet that we need to make sure to be are addressing. If you think she is sounding congested in the upper airway, you can consider a bit of steam treatment here. You can achieve this by putting her in a carrier in the bathroom while you run a hot shower. Or if you have a nebulizer/humidifier you can set up a wee steam tent for her (by putting her in a carrier and covering it and the humidifier with a bed sheet). This can just help reduce some of those airway clogging secretions.

If her fluid and nutrition intake is on the decline, then we do want to initiate tempting, hand feeding or even syringe feeding at this stage As I am sure you can appreciate, dehydration can weaken a bird and contribute to worsening illness and cause additional issues.

In regards XXXXX XXXXX intake, we want her water intake to be ~ ½ a cup daily. While you are keeping an eye on this, you also want to monitor her for signs of dehydration (skin tenting or sunken eyes). To maintain hydration, in a drinking bird, you can offer water with electrolytes (as you are) instead of plain water. There are readily available electrolyte solutions available on the market (ie. Vi-tal) or you can use Pedialyte or diluted Gatorade (diluted 50/50 with water). If she isn't keen to drink, then you may need to carefully hand feed the water (but do take care since respiratory compromised birds can get stressed with handling and with being hand fed).

Feeding wise, offer favorite foods. You can also get Nutrical paste to supplement her diet (either mixed in food, water, or via syringe) which will provide extra calories or nutrition. Offer fresh foods, high in nutrition and water content like cucumbers, Romaine, grapes, melon, oranges, etc. Hard boiled eggs mashed shell and all are extremely nutritious and delicious to birds and cooked brown rice is good for them too.

If you are comfortable hand feeding birds you can make a handfeeding paste with handfeeding powder (ie Nupreen Hand Feeding Formula) and your electrolyte solution. Ideally, if you haven’t hand fed a chicken before, you should have your vet show you how to do this safely (as aspiration is a serious risk that is best avoided). Do monitor the crop by gently palpating to make sure its emptying into the gut, (normally 2-3 hours post eating). If it feels more like a hard tennis ball, that is an indication of dehydration and crop impaction or crop stasis. Give fluids and massage crop. But if it doesn’t improve, then veterinary intervention may be required.

Overall, there are a range of agents that can be to blame for the signs you are seeing. Therefore first thing is to isolate Lucy from the others. After that, you need to consider taking diagnostic steps to determine which is to blame to make sure you treat as effectively and economically as possible. Otherwise, broad spectrum antibiotics can be tried and supportive care coupled with isolation/strict hygiene are important to get her through this illness and prevent spread to any other birds.

I hope this information is helpful.

If you need any additional information, do not hesitate to ask!

All the best,

Dr. B.

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