I appreciate any and all advice that can be given. We have no local vets (an hours drive is closest, and he is not real familiar with treating chickens) and in our area about the only resources we have are liquor stores and churches. I don't think either of those could offer me any helpful advice.
The background information on my Warrior:
1. She is a six month old Red Production pullet. She has been laying eggs for about a month now. She usually lays a small egg every other day.
2. I have five other chickens, all the same age. 3 more Red Production pullets and 2 Ideal 236.
3. All of my birds are healthy. No lice. Eat and drink well. They all free- range in my yard from sun up to sun down. At sun down they go to bed in their hen house where they are secured for the night.The hen house is our shed, re-designed for them. The floor is concrete- we merely sweep the poop up every day and use some stall dry if needed. We use shredded paper in their nest boxes. They are fed layer food that we purchase from Bucheit. The food is good- not moldy, etc. We keep a bowl of oyster shells out for them and they eat them whenever they want to.
Warrior's problem began yesterday morning. Up until then, she seemed perfectly fine and was very active. She laid an egg yesterday morning. After a couple of hours of being out in the yard, we heard an odd noise that sounded like a low moan. We thought something was wrong with our old cat so we went out to look. It was Warrior making the noise. She was just walking around, making this constant low moaning sound. Every now and then she would crane her neck up and make an odd, short, clucking sound. We examined her carefully and could see nothing out of place. No diarrhea. Her eyes were bright and clear. She looked fine. Nothing swollen anywhere. For lack of anything else to do, I gave her a few drops of oil (I didn't have mineral oil so I used cooking oil) and massaged her throat. I know nothing about crops, but I thought perhaps it was a crop problem. She did not have a big lump or anything there. I was just grasping at straws and decided to try a bit of oil.
Last night, the constant sound continued, even after they had gone in for the night. Today she is still making that sound. She still makes an odd cluck that now sounds a bit more like a cough, but not very often. She is not nearly as active. I am not sure if she is eating or drinking- I do not have her separated from the others yet and I just haven't had the time to stand out there and watch her. She seems to be spending most of her time in the seat of the lawnmower (her favorite spot).
Her rear end is clean. Her eyes are still bright and there is no discharge of any kind. I have noticed that her comb now has some black on it. I am pretty sure she didn't used to have black on her comb, but I really couldn't swear to it. None of the other girls have black on their combs.
I am at a loss as to what this could be or how to treat it. It appeared so suddenly that I really thought perhaps she had eaten something that got stuck in her crop. My birds live secluded lives- no new birds have been added, etc.
I appreciate any and all advice. I am completely new to chickens and this is the first illness I have encountered. Warrior's picture is below (I took it today), and I have also posted a link to a couple of videos that I uploaded to You Tube. Within the first few seconds of one of the videos you hear the odd "cough" that she makes, and in the other video you can see her breathing and hear the noise she is making. This is my first time posting a picture or video links; I hope I have done it correctly.
You Tube links:
Thanks for any and all help!
Susan
The background information on my Warrior:
1. She is a six month old Red Production pullet. She has been laying eggs for about a month now. She usually lays a small egg every other day.
2. I have five other chickens, all the same age. 3 more Red Production pullets and 2 Ideal 236.
3. All of my birds are healthy. No lice. Eat and drink well. They all free- range in my yard from sun up to sun down. At sun down they go to bed in their hen house where they are secured for the night.The hen house is our shed, re-designed for them. The floor is concrete- we merely sweep the poop up every day and use some stall dry if needed. We use shredded paper in their nest boxes. They are fed layer food that we purchase from Bucheit. The food is good- not moldy, etc. We keep a bowl of oyster shells out for them and they eat them whenever they want to.
Warrior's problem began yesterday morning. Up until then, she seemed perfectly fine and was very active. She laid an egg yesterday morning. After a couple of hours of being out in the yard, we heard an odd noise that sounded like a low moan. We thought something was wrong with our old cat so we went out to look. It was Warrior making the noise. She was just walking around, making this constant low moaning sound. Every now and then she would crane her neck up and make an odd, short, clucking sound. We examined her carefully and could see nothing out of place. No diarrhea. Her eyes were bright and clear. She looked fine. Nothing swollen anywhere. For lack of anything else to do, I gave her a few drops of oil (I didn't have mineral oil so I used cooking oil) and massaged her throat. I know nothing about crops, but I thought perhaps it was a crop problem. She did not have a big lump or anything there. I was just grasping at straws and decided to try a bit of oil.
Last night, the constant sound continued, even after they had gone in for the night. Today she is still making that sound. She still makes an odd cluck that now sounds a bit more like a cough, but not very often. She is not nearly as active. I am not sure if she is eating or drinking- I do not have her separated from the others yet and I just haven't had the time to stand out there and watch her. She seems to be spending most of her time in the seat of the lawnmower (her favorite spot).
Her rear end is clean. Her eyes are still bright and there is no discharge of any kind. I have noticed that her comb now has some black on it. I am pretty sure she didn't used to have black on her comb, but I really couldn't swear to it. None of the other girls have black on their combs.
I am at a loss as to what this could be or how to treat it. It appeared so suddenly that I really thought perhaps she had eaten something that got stuck in her crop. My birds live secluded lives- no new birds have been added, etc.
I appreciate any and all advice. I am completely new to chickens and this is the first illness I have encountered. Warrior's picture is below (I took it today), and I have also posted a link to a couple of videos that I uploaded to You Tube. Within the first few seconds of one of the videos you hear the odd "cough" that she makes, and in the other video you can see her breathing and hear the noise she is making. This is my first time posting a picture or video links; I hope I have done it correctly.
You Tube links:
Thanks for any and all help!
Susan
