Golden Sex Links Hen open beak breathing but only at night - and it's not hot

[ChickensRsmart]

An update on my hen. She's still open beak breathing at night. She has lost some weight - I've removed corn from her diet and she's been getting layer crumble in the morning (with some game bird mix, and then nothing until the early evening. - with the usual green veggies, fresh green grass and the occasional treats like sweet potato or a piece of melon or some shredded apple - And she's always had access to oyster shell - which she does consume.
Her color still looks bright and she's still laying eggs. I have also noticed that she feels very warm - her legs and feet and even her comb. By comparison her rooster does not feel nearly as warm (and his comb is cool by comparison).
I am thinking she's got an infection in her reproductive tract, but she's still laying nice eggs? Or perhaps she is warm because she's eating a lot more than her rooster (he's a bantam). Even with reducing her food intake, she still manages to go to bed with a fair amount of food in her crop - and it's always gone by morning...she will produce a very large poop first thing in the morning, and then produce more normal size stools through out the day.
I have been waiting for her to start sneezing or to see discharge from her nose - but so far nothing...She had IB (most likely) last year and I successfully treated it with antibiotics...I am wondering if some of the infection remains in her oviducts...she is displaying symptoms consistent with infection of the reproductive tract - the open mouth breathing (but only at night), and she also drinks a lot of water - again at night - and like a camel...and she did this before changing her diet to mostly layer crumble (which is dry, compared to her previous diet).
In short, I am thinking her weight is not the cause...but what is the cause? I don't recall if I mentioned it or not, but when she is open mouth breathing, she will also lower her wings out a bit as if she is too hot - even when it's not hot...

 

[azygous]

What is the air flow like in her coop? Just as humans can feel much warmer when we are in a stuffy room with poor air circulation, so do chickens. Check your venting and air flow, and you might consider installing a fan, not to blow on the two chickens, but to move the air through the coop.

 

[ChickensRsmart]

What is the air flow like in her coop? Just as humans can feel much warmer when we are in a stuffy room with poor air circulation, so do chickens. Check your venting and air flow, and you might consider installing a fan, not to blow on the two chickens, but to move the air through the coop.

Thanks azygous.

I will try using a fan to pull air out of the coop - thus creating indirect airflow. Their coop does have 2 large windows (with galvanized wire screens), but both of these large openings do not face the prevailing winds where I live...I also have heavy plastic covers that I use to close them up when it's cold outside...they're open now of course.

I felt her comb and feet and under her wings this morning...she is still warm to the touch, but much cooler than last night. I am now thinking that the heat she's creating might be coming from digestion. I found this article:

https://poultryperformanceplus.com/information-database/broilers/125-heat-production-of-broilers

She's not a broiler, but she's pretty close to being a broiler I think... And she's definitely cooler when her crop has emptied out and she's no longer digesting food. It may also be that she's getting too much protein? Layer crumble is supposed to be 16% which is what they're supposed to get. I checked the game bird mix and it contains only 13% protein - no corn for her lately (I've been removing it from the game bird mix) but corn is relatively low in protein.

Apparently, chickens produce more heat when digesting protein - and less heat when digesting fat....maybe she would be cooler if I let her eat corn? lol...

I am pretty much still at square 1. I did find a bit of pink tissue in her stool last night - just a little bit. I may be nothing, but it could also be a sign that she's getting (or still has) a reproductive infection. When she had her respiratory illness, nearly every poop she produced contained some of this pinkish intestinal type lining material - and her vent was inflamed. It may be coming back? Perhaps it's a localized remnant of the previous virus (or bacteria) in her oviduct?

In short, her symptoms don't make her diagnosis clear... But I will find out what the cause is!

 

[azygous]

The tissue may be intestinal shed which is normal.

Yes, it's absolutely possible her hot body may be from foods and metabolism. Calories directly produce heat. Type of calories produce different metabolic effects.

Heat in the coop can come from radiation of heat from the chickens' bodies, but also from steamy air created by their respirations. Enhanced sir flow can mitigate this heat.

Have we discussed her behavior? None of this should be a real issue as long as her behavior is normal.

 

[ChickensRsmart]

Thanks azygous!

I haven't mentioned much about her behavior - it's mostly normal. I have noticed (other than looking as if she's too hot at night with the open beak breathing and the slightly lowered and slightly spread wings) that she does seem to sit down a lot during the day...she will sit down and then close her eyes - as if she's tired. That and she drinks a whole lot of water (again, only at night as far as I can tell).

Otherwise, her appetite is solid (too solid) and her comb and waddles are pretty bright...maybe not as bright as they have been in the past - but still her color is very good.

And in spite of her feeling extra warm all over last night (I was worried she had a fever), she still laid an nice egg this morning.

I also put some fresh garlic in her water yesterday and she drank a lot if it last night... When I eat raw garlic, my back pain goes away...LOL. And I've seen garlic make hens (and ducks) that were not laying, start laying eggs again... I figure if it can do that for a chicken (and a duck hen), then what can it do for me! I think a little bit of raw garlic (every day) will reduce inflammation in the body...

 

[azygous]

Yes, garlic has a lot od wonderful properties, and it makes food so much more interesting.

I have a huge Cuckoo Marans hen who has always been very sensitive to when the coop temp gets a bit high. She gapes ans holds her wings out as your hen does. It's their way of dissipating excess body heat.

As long as her behavior and body functions are normal, this may just be her default behavior to warm weather. When the temp gets up there, you might give her a little electrolyte water until the weather mitigates some.

 

[ChickensRsmart]

Thanks again azygous.

If you can stand it - try eating a little bit of raw garlic every day. lol. I peel 2 cloves of the stuff every morning and then just eat them (before eating breakfast) - chew them up and chase it with a glass of water...it takes getting used to, but it keeps the back pain away - I'm pretty sure I have arthritis of the spine - an inflammatory cause for back pain. In any case, the garlic definitely works...plus it's good for your digestive system and the liver too. And I think it also reduces insulin resistance - helping to prevent diabetes. I have tested garlic consumption on myself - it is definitely not the placebo effect.

It may be that my bird is too hot from eating (last night she seemed to "heat up" soon after she filled her crop) - even when it does not feel hot to me...she will do her nightly panting with spread wings even when the temperature in her coop is as low as the lower 40's F... I've read that Golden Sex Links chickens are good cold weather birds, so maybe the low 40's is balmy to them?

In any case, I will just keep watching her - and I have medications if she needs them - But so far so good.