Chicken not breathing right!!!

[FriendlyNeighborhoodPeeps]

When I went to check on my chickens as I usually do, I was looking in the coop and heard what I thought at first to be a seagull! I later found out houwever, that It was our 6-6 1/2 month old Easter egger pullet, Bean. She’s breathing with her mouth open and it sounds raspy. This is definitely not normal for her and she’s the only bird in our flock of 15 who is breathing like this. She doesn’t have any discharge from her nostrils or mouth right now, and she’s attempting to eat, a little clumsier then usual. The weird breathing noise is accompanied by coughing(?) and she sometimes shakes her head. The coughing is the seagull noise, I suppose it could be sneezing, but it’s lower pitched than a normal chicken sneeze. Could she have something stuck in her throat? I tried to look and didn’t see anything, but she wasn’t being very cooperative either. If she has something in her throat, how would I go about getting it out? Would she need veterinary assistance? It does anyone know what else may be going on with her? A sickness maybe? Should she be quarantined? Any help or advice is much appreciated!!

 

[AltonaAcres]

Is it hot where you live? Does she have access to water?

 

[NatalieP]

Check her crop before they go up to roost and in the morning to see if things are processing. I had a similar issue and treated my lady for worms and respiratory infection. She was the only 1 of 5 to have symptoms but she is the smallest of my flock.

 

[FriendlyNeighborhoodPeeps]

Is it hot where you live? Does she have access to water?

No, today wasn’t very hot, since it’s fall. And yes, she has access to water all day.

 

[FriendlyNeighborhoodPeeps]

Check her crop before they go up to roost and in the morning to see if things are processing. I had a similar issue and treated my lady for worms and respiratory infection. She was the only 1 of 5 to have symptoms but she is the smallest of my flock.

Thank you! I will definitely check her crop tomorrow, we hade another Pullet a while back who we suspect had sour crop or an impacted crop and treated for it(she’s fine now!), but she acted much different then this. I’m not too familiar with crop issues though, so I’ll take your advise!

 

[Chold05]

is she opening her mouth and tilting her head back? I've read alot about gapeworm, previously. If they freerange, they could have eaten a slug or earth worms which are big carriers. From my research, they implant into the chickens throat causing them difficulty breathing, and eventually can't eat.

I hope she's okay!

 

[Eggcessive]

Chickens can get small particles of feed, mucus plugs or swelling of the airway from a respiratory infection, all of which can cause a sound called stridor. They can sneeze or cough as well. Many times stridor disappears in a few hours if the cause was feed. I would continue to observe, and look for any bubbles/foam in an eye or nasal drainage.