hen's voice seems off...

[asteria01]

i think our hen may be wheezing, but im not sure. i woke up this morning and heard her making a strange sound.... it sounds flatter than her usual buck buck and more drawn out. as the day went by it stopped. now shes clucking but her voice may also be a bit more crackly than before. she still acts normally and eats/drinks, but her voice seems off. yesterday she just sang her first egg song, so we are expecting eggs soon. i did some research and saw that it may be a respiratory issue or gapeworms, to which either tylan or fenbendazole would work....? she has no other symptoms, just her voice is off. my mom is convinced that the change in sound is because shes supposed to lay soon.... but that sounds iffy to me. we have been doing construction in our backyard building the coop for the past couple weeks, maybe it got a bit too dusty for her?

 

[KayTee]

A change in your hen's voice can be due to a respiratory illness (or very rarely gapeworms), but it is also perfectly possible for a chicken to 'lose its voice'! I know because it happened to one of my girls not too long ago. She is a natural complainer, but one day she just went on and on and on - non stop, really loud. The following morning she was hoarse! It lasted a few days, but has now returned to normal.

If your girl recently sang her first egg song, then that is already a louder, longer noise than she usually makes. Add in the building dust, and you have a perfect recipe for a croaky voice!

It is good that you are concerned about your flock, and notice any changes in them, but although you may be worried, I wouldn't rush out and get medication for her yet - wait a few days and see what happens. If she is still active, eating, drinking and running round then it is probably just a sore throat and nothing worse. If she starts to sneeze, have bubbles in her eyes, or lose her appetite and energy then she probably has some sort of infection and will need treatment.

Good luck to you both, please let us know what happens.

 

[asteria01]

thank you! i did an injection of tylan on her last night. we will see how she does. she seems sad that we had to put her in the house.

 

[asteria01]

A change in your hen's voice can be due to a respiratory illness (or very rarely gapeworms), but it is also perfectly possible for a chicken to 'lose its voice'! I know because it happened to one of my girls not too long ago. She is a natural complainer, but one day she just went on and on and on - non stop, really loud. The following morning she was hoarse! It lasted a few days, but has now returned to normal.

If your girl recently sang her first egg song, then that is already a louder, longer noise than she usually makes. Add in the building dust, and you have a perfect recipe for a croaky voice!

It is good that you are concerned about your flock, and notice any changes in them, but although you may be worried, I wouldn't rush out and get medication for her yet - wait a few days and see what happens. If she is still active, eating, drinking and running round then it is probably just a sore throat and nothing worse. If she starts to sneeze, have bubbles in her eyes, or lose her appetite and energy then she probably has some sort of infection and will need treatment.

Good luck to you both, please let us know what happens.

okay thanks! i was just worried since her sounds in the morning were just so strange... like they part of her breathing because the sound seemed like it came out with every breath and lasted for hours. now i dont hear it as much. ill be sure to watch her. its also been a bit hotter these couple days so im adding a vitamin/electrolyte supplement into their water to help them out a bit.

 

[asteria01]

ohhhh no i just heard her breathing, and it seems crackly/gurgly. im not sure if its the nasal area or the throat area, but when she breathes its making a sound as if its congested. it was easier to hear at night, when they dont have to get up and around. no discharge as of now and eyes are clear. she was also still eating tonight. she doesnt have a distinctive smell, so maybe its not coryza. the symptoms as of now are wheezing (?), and gurgles/crackles while breathing, occasional sneezes, and a hoarse voice. I havent heard her wheeze during the day though, only the morning, but she may have when i wasnt around. any ideas what it could be? i can go grab some meds at tsc tomorrow if needed, i just dont want lose her as i have lost her previous flockmates due to predators and she was the baby that lived through it all.

i did do a stupid thing and try to introduce a hen with respiratory issues last week. found out after introductions that she had issues and promptly culled her.... and did not send her in for necropsy since i didnt know until after she was disposed that i could do that...

....yeah i know. its dumb. regretting it so hard right now. definitely learned my lesson. i just want to try and save her before its too late.

 

[asteria01]

now she also has a snotty nose.

 

[KayTee]

That changes things a lot. If she has had recent contact with a bird suffering from respiratory problems and is now showing the same symptoms, I would strongly suspect that she is infected. Isolate her if you can, and medicate her. My vet has recently prescribed amoxycillin at 10 mg per kg live weight for 6 days for my girls that have developed a respiratory infection, but it depends what you are able to get.

 

[asteria01]

That changes things a lot. If she has had recent contact with a bird suffering from respiratory problems and is now showing the same symptoms, I would strongly suspect that she is infected. Isolate her if you can, and medicate her. My vet has recently prescribed amoxycillin at 10 mg per kg live weight for 6 days for my girls that have developed a respiratory infection, but it depends what you are able to get.

can i get tylan? we have a tsc nearby and i can get that. i think we have a few other types of medications also but im not sure what to use. im thinking shes probably exposed to MG or ILT (except she isnt sneezing or coughing blood), since exposure was about a week ago, and those are the common illnesses they can get with that amount of incubation time for the disease. also how do i give meds to a chicken??

 

[asteria01]

i think shes getting worse.. her face is starting to swell.. still eating/drinking and walking. thoughts anyone? what could it be?

 

[KayTee]

It definitely sounds like a respiratory infection. Tylan would be ok if you can get it. There's good information about it here: http://www.drugs.com/vet/tylan-soluble.html

but if you just want a quick summary then I copied this from the page:

Chickens: As an aid in the treatment of chronic respiratory disease (CRD) associated with Mycoplasma gallisepticum in broiler and replacement chickens. For the control of CRD associated with Mycoplasma gallisepticum at the time of vaccination or other stress in chickens. For the control of CRD associated with Mycoplasma synoviae in broiler chickens.

CRD indications: 2,000 mg/gallon (528 ppm) in drinking water.
Administer medicated drinking water for three days; however, medicated water may be administered for one to five days depending upon severity of infection. Treated chickens must consume enough medicated water to provide 50 mg per pound of body weight per day. Only medicated water should be available to the birds.

Personally I don't like treating in water - it's a bit hit and miss, especially if a chicken is sick and not drinking as much as normal. I tend to measure out the required quantity of medication, sprinkle it onto a treat like scrambled egg or rice (or mix it with a teaspoon of water and use it to soak a piece of bread) and feed it directly to the bird. That way you know they have got enough medication. As a guide an average chicken is around 4 - 5 pounds (2.5kg) so you would need 250mg of Tylosine per day. The label should tell you the strength of the powder or liquid, so you can work out how much you need to get a 250mg dose. If it's a really tiny amount then measure out enough for three or five doses, mix it with 30ml or 50ml of water, then give 10ml to your bird and throw the rest, because it doesn't keep more than 24 hours once mixed with water.

I would be inclined to treat your whole flock's drinking water - if one has been infected then the others may soon follow - but keep your really sick bird in isolation for 5 days and hand feed her meds.

Best of luck with the treatment.