Hi team!
I have a hen, about a year old. She's the largest in our flock. Not sure of breed, though I suspect Australorp.
Her behaviour is generally normal, but she will semi-regularly shake her head and make a strange sort of sound. We thought she was choking at first, coughing? Sneezing? Do chickens do that? Not sure.
We noticed it yesterday evening, and thought it was strange. It has continued on today. We took a closer look at her. There doesn't seem to be any mucus around eyes or ears. She definitely is breathing through her mouth, and sounds sort of wheezy I would say.
Not totally sure about the eating and drinking, although tonight when we were sort of checking her (while not really knowing anything about what to look for) her crop did seem to have food in it. There is a chance that she injested some mouldy bread. My boys put a bunch of food into the chicken coop that was intended for the compost and had been sitting for a few days.
It doesn't seem like any of the other birds are exhibiting the same symptoms. We have a flock of 6. They share a raised coop, but spend only sleeping hours inside. Otherwise they're in a run with wire sides but a covered roof. Flooring in the coop is pine chips. On the floor of the run is a mulch from some trees we had removed on our property. Pine and something else.
We haven't given any treatment at the moment. We can call the vet in morning if necessary, but thought we'd try here first.
Video 1:
Video 2:
Any advice you can give us would be amazing. Thanks so much!
I have a hen, about a year old. She's the largest in our flock. Not sure of breed, though I suspect Australorp.
Her behaviour is generally normal, but she will semi-regularly shake her head and make a strange sort of sound. We thought she was choking at first, coughing? Sneezing? Do chickens do that? Not sure.
We noticed it yesterday evening, and thought it was strange. It has continued on today. We took a closer look at her. There doesn't seem to be any mucus around eyes or ears. She definitely is breathing through her mouth, and sounds sort of wheezy I would say.
Not totally sure about the eating and drinking, although tonight when we were sort of checking her (while not really knowing anything about what to look for) her crop did seem to have food in it. There is a chance that she injested some mouldy bread. My boys put a bunch of food into the chicken coop that was intended for the compost and had been sitting for a few days.
It doesn't seem like any of the other birds are exhibiting the same symptoms. We have a flock of 6. They share a raised coop, but spend only sleeping hours inside. Otherwise they're in a run with wire sides but a covered roof. Flooring in the coop is pine chips. On the floor of the run is a mulch from some trees we had removed on our property. Pine and something else.
We haven't given any treatment at the moment. We can call the vet in morning if necessary, but thought we'd try here first.
Video 1:
Any advice you can give us would be amazing. Thanks so much!
