Gurgling sound when breathing and labored walking

[kandea]

i have a nine month old half buff orp half cochin that is having trouble breathing. she's walking slow and wobbly. when i listen to her breath i can hear her gurgling a little.. if i try to look into her throat i can't see anything, but then she will make a weird click and then shiver. her eyes are bright and she's holding her head up. we've separated her from the other two girls (siblings, same age) for the night as it was getting late when we noticed her acting odd. i checked her crop and don't feel anything.. we attempted to feed her some olive oil soaked bread.. i think a bit of the oil got down her throat and she seems to be breathing better. i'm hoping she just swallowed something odd. i haven't seen her eat anything today OR drink any water.. when i tried to give her some water from my hand she seemed uninterested and gurgled.. i didn't want to force the issue and risk drowning her. we have her crated in a spare bedroom with some water so that we can control temp/stimuli as her comb seems extra hot.

if any body has any ideas or could give me any pointers i would appreciate the help. i'm kinda at a fingers crossed holding point until morning.

 

[mljohnson05]

Keep her isolated until you know what is wrong with her...and keep an eye on the other to make sure they are not, or do not get sick.
Sometimes weather changes can give them a "cold". There are also URI (upper respiratory infection) that birds can get that can be contagious....does she have any mucus, drainage, sneezing of any kind?
Have you also checked or considered Gape Worm?
Here is a simple test you can do to check for Gape worm, but first make sure that there is no obstruction that you can see with a flash light, and you may want to have 2 people to do this.
Here's what you do.... Use a Q-tip and stick it 1 inch down the chickens throat, gently swab and remove the Q-tip. If you see a red in color "Y" shaped worm on the Q-tip, you have gape worms.
Hope this helps a little, and please keep us posted.
Best Wishes, and God Bless,
Laura

 

[mljohnson05]

Any updates? Were you able to test for the Gapeworm or is she getting better?
prayers go out to you guys...