4 week old chirps every breath

[stevedickson]

Hi! My wife and i have 3 baby Cream Legbar chicks and all seems to be well except that one of them chirps with every breath. i.e. if you watch her closely you can see that the chirps coincide with the timing of her breaths. She seems to still be eating and drinking, and the temp of the brooder is in the low 80's. Any thoughts?

When she's not laying down you can't necessarily see her breaths, so the chirping just seems like a lot of random chirping.

Her breathing seems to be more labored than the other two, but I'm not positive.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Make sure nothing is stuck in it's airway. Could it have been exposed to any older chickens with a respiratory disease such as infectious bronchitis? Sneezing and chirping can be symptoms. MG can also be common. Also look around your brooder for any moldy areas where water has spilled into the bedding and feed. Aspergillosis or brooder pneumonia from mold fungus can be common. If it is acting chilled, respiratory diseases can cause a need for increased heat. Although antibiotics such as Tylan or LS50 won't treat a virus or fungus, they may help to prevent a secondary infection. Here is a good link about the respiratory diseases: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[stevedickson]

Thanks for your reply, I will have to see if I can inspect it's airway. That is a great link for respiratory diseases, and this chick in particular doesn't have the other symptoms listen for the ones you mentioned.

Do differences in personality ever account for one chick chirping more than the others?

It was laying down next to one of the other chicks and it was a good chance to compare their breathing. The chirpy chick did not seem to be breathing harder than the adjacent chick.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Eggcessive]

With a very young chick chirping would indicate that it was cold or hungry, but in a 4 week old, your temperature should be warm enough unless it was sick. Hopefully, it was just a temporary problem. Good luck with the chicks.