Chicken sounds like he has stuff in his lungs & some clear liquid coming out of mouth — no other symptoms

cluckingheck

i wanna be a cowboy, baby ( HELL YEAH )
Jun 15, 2020
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TyCo, West Virginia
Rex, cuckoo maran mix, turned 30 weeks old today and since yesterday, he’s had this kind of gurgling when he crowed, sometimes has a rattling when he breathes ( doesn’t happen all the time ), and seems to breathing a little heavier than usual. I separated him from the rest of the flock and when I was catching him, he stressed himself out and this clear liquid came out of his mouth and the rattling when he breathed was worse/flared up. He seems to be eating and drinking fine, all things considered, and was calling the hens over when i gave him food even though they couldn’t get to him. His clucking & chittering sounded normal, it’s just been his breathing and crowing. other than that, his eyes are clear and not puffy, his nostrils don’t have any discharge, his appetite is fine, his poop looked normal, and none of the other chickens are displaying any symptoms ( yet ) that I’ve noticed.
 
Have you had him long, and have you added any new birds to your flock recently? When you caught him, could you have accidentally pressed on his crop where the crop contents might have been regurgitated into his throat? He doesn’t sound that sick if he hasn’t got any bubbles or foam in his eyes or nasal drainage. Have you heard any sneezes or coughs? I would keep an eye on him for any more symptoms. Check his crop in the morning to make sure that it is emptying normally overnight.
 
Have you had him long, and have you added any new birds to your flock recently? When you caught him, could you have accidentally pressed on his crop where the crop contents might have been regurgitated into his throat? He doesn’t sound that sick if he hasn’t got any bubbles or foam in his eyes or nasal drainage. Have you heard any sneezes or coughs? I would keep an eye on him for any more symptoms. Check his crop in the morning to make sure that it is emptying normally overnight.
He’s apart of the original flock, so he isn’t new. However, i did add two new chickens to the flock, but i quarantined them for two weeks before introducing them and they’ve been in with the rest of the chickens for a week now.

i didn’t think I pushed on his crop when I caught him, but I could have. I don’t know, he crowed twice yesterday and they sounded gurgly then he had a few rattling breaths and his breathing is heavier than normal. i haven’t heard any coughing or sneezing, either. he hasn’t lost weight or anything, so I’m kind of at a loss. he seems healthy other than those few things.
 
Normally, I would normally keep the new ones in quarantine for at least a month. It is always a gamble bringing in started birds from others. Watch your others for any signs of respiratory infections. If you see any watery or bubbles in eyes, nasal drainage or other symptoms, I would try to get an antibiotic from your vet to treat MG. Sometimes you can get those online.
 
Normally, I would normally keep the new ones in quarantine for at least a month. It is always a gamble bringing in started birds from others. Watch your others for any signs of respiratory infections. If you see any watery or bubbles in eyes, nasal drainage or other symptoms, I would try to get an antibiotic from your vet to treat MG. Sometimes you can get those online.
Oh, well, I take it 2 weeks is the bare minimum for quarantining new birds? Could they have been carriers for something and brought it to everyone else? I hope not, I don’t want everyone to get sick. It’s just Rex that seems like he has something wrong. Could it be gapeworm or some other parasite? Is it possible the weather could’ve caused it too? It was staying in the 50s-60s the past few weeks but jumped up to the 80s in a day’s time. Could that fast of a shift in the temps. cause something like this?
 
A change in temperatures or sometimes other stressors, such as molting, moving to a new home, can bring on symptoms. But since you recently added new birds, that should be suspected that they may have been carriers. It happens often when bringing in new birds to a flock, to accidentally bring in a disease. You can try to get testing by your state poultry vet lab or through a lab, such as vetdna who senda you swabs to collect tracheal secretions from the throat. If you use one of those antibiotics and it gets better, it is most likely MG. There are several other respiratory diseases.
 

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