gurgley pullet

[rosiekitty94]

my Rhode Island White turned 15 weeks on friday. A few days before that, she stopped making little squawk noises and started making quiet gurgling noises. Her sister, an EE, has none of these symptoms and neither do any of the other chickens in the coop of varying ages... yet. Could this be a symptom of something abnormal, or is this ordinary hen behavior.

 

[chicknmania]

Sometimes hens "gurgle" or it sort of sounds like that, when they are happy, as in when they are sunning or dusting.
But if she is doing it all the time, it could be a sign of illness. Can you give more info? Does she do it all the time, and does she
have other symptoms, runny nose, discharge, poor appetite, swollen eyes, diarhea, lethargy?

 

[rosiekitty94]

She does do it all the time now and seems lethargic. Her eyes seen kind of swolen

 

[chicknmania]

OK, you need to separate her from the flock right now. She needs antibiotics. And disinfect anything you possibly can. Waterers, feeders, the coop, the birds. If you can get some oxine, you can mix it with water and use it as a mist in a spray bottle. It's a powerful disinfectant and you can mist the birds with it too and also put a few drops in their waterers. If you have a feed store, I would at the very least go there and ask them for injectable Tylan, tell them what you want if for and ask how to use it. In addition to injecting it into the bird, you can use it as a nasal flush by tipping her beak down and squirting a bit through her nostrils so it runs into her mouth. This will not hurt her and chances are she won't even mind. Make sure she gets started on eating well. Offer her goodies such as chopped fruit or veggies, cream of wheat, oatmeal, yogurt, scrambled eggs. Put a little on top of her regular food. She must eat to survive, and drink, also. That is the most important thing to remember. If you can get her to a vet, I would, but if not, at least do the Tylan. You can get supplies at several sites on here, and
www..firststatevetsupply.com offers advice at a small cost, and supplies such as various antibiotics. AND the Oxine.

Your bird has a respiratory infection, hard to say which one, there are several types of diseases they can contract. Some are fatal, some not so much. But don't wait! All are contagious! Watch the rest of your flock closely.

 

[rosiekitty94]

Can I give the rest of the flock the tylan injection too even if they don't have it?

 

[cafarmgirl]

Most chicken respiratory diseases are viral in nature, the antibiotic's only helps prevent secondary bacterial infections and pneumonia, those are what usually kill the birds rather then the disease itself. So, I would NOT treat the rest of the flock until, or if, you start seeing symptoms. Then treat accordingly. Just watch and listen closely. Sometimes it may take a week to see further symptoms.

Tylan 50 is probably your best bet. It can be injected or given orally at a rate of .5 ml per day x 5 days. Injections are best but not everybody is good with needles!

I agree with getting some Oxine and fogging the coop, it's good stuff. When we had an outbreak of infectious bronchitis I fogged the coop, with the birds in it, twice a day. Just make sure you use it as is, do NOT buy and use the activator.

 

[chicknmania]

I agree, don't treat the whole flock unless you see multiple birds beginning to show symptoms.
Also, although fogging is a good way to use Oxine, if you don't have the means to fog it, you CAN mix it with water and just spray everything in sight.
Have you added new chickens to your flock recently?

 

[Erica]

Most chicken respiratory diseases aren't viral; one of the commonest (mycoplasma) is bacterial. If a bird develops only mild gurgly symptoms, it could well be an underlying case of mycoplasma gallisepticum that the bird has been harbouring since hatch. Stress causes the bird to show symptoms. (On the other hand it could be viral, or it could be something caught in the throat.)

I agree that it's not a good idea to treat all birds with Tylan or other antibiotics -- apart from anything else that's a waste of medicine. It would be wise to separate this bird and treat her immediately (if that's your choice) or at the very least give TLC and see what happens. However remember that, if it is a genuine respiratory disease, treated birds remain carriers, and will quite likely get sick next time they're stressed. They may also produce infected eggs.

Whatever the case, lowering yard stress can help reduce the number of birds who show symptoms -- good quality food, fresh water, clean roost areas, no moving chickens from pen to pen or acquiring new ones. Unfortunately once a respiratory disease is there in the flock, it tends to stay there, no matter how often you medicate (or how clean your pens). This is why some people choose antibiotics as a revolving door approach while others take the drastic approach of a total cull, cleanout and start again.

Good luck, whatever you do.

Erica

 

[chicknmania]

I think it depends on every flock whether illness recurs or not. We've been lucky, and I hope I'm not jinxing myself.

I do think it helps birds to stay healthier if they can free-range,
but that's a matter of opinion and preference for everyone. I hope you will not cull this bird unless you absolutely have to, because there are so many things they can have wrong with
them, and a lot of them, they seem to recover from uneventfully and there's no recurrence.

Please let us know how it goes, and good luck.