Gurgling sounds from hen

[Jkazzie]

I'm so sorry. I had a similar situation with an ISA brown that had 'water belly'. Aka ascites.

Old girl was a 4 yo ISA brown. She‘s had issues off and on for about a year with her crop but always seemed to pull through, except this time. Seems silly to get so attached to a chicken but she was my pet. She died in my arms.

 

[Jkazzie]

I'm so sorry. I had a similar situation with an ISA brown that had 'water belly'. Aka ascites.

Old Girl was a 4 yo ISA brown. She’s had problems off and on for a year with her crop and always responded to treatment, except this time. Seems silly to get so attached to a chicken but she was my pet And I’m sad. She died in my arms.

 

[Happy hen lover]

Sorry about your hen we can get very attached to these girls.

 

[Jkazzie]

Sorry about your hen we can get very attached to these girls.

Yes we can and thanks.

 

[Lizzy733]

So sorry to hear of her passing.

Unfortunately chickens are very good at hiding illness and can degrade quite quickly. At the point you mentioned she was having difficulty with falling over, a hen is generally pretty far gone at that point.

Might be a good time to give everyone a good check-up. Weigh them or check their condition by feeling the breast around the keel bone. It should not be prominent, though may be less developed on hybrid breeds. Note anyone that seems lighter than everyone else or doesnt seem bright, alert and responsive.

I would worry about a possible viral cause for that gurgling, so keep an eye out for that symptom in your other hens.

If it was sour crop, this is caused by a yeast infection - typically, a slow emptying crop will cause, be caused by, or perpetuate this issue.

The crop may feel swollen or doughy, may contain air, may be visible in the back of the throat as a white growth (or by the vent), may smell yeasty or like a sourdough starter.

It will be accompanied by a lack of appetite and, as mentioned, slow crop emptying.

Ive had a hen get sour crop due to slowed digestion and seen it in wild kereru, but have never heard a bird gurgle from it. Hopefully, its not something that will run through your flock. Be vigilant and seek veterinary diagnosis if you start seeing symptoms in other birds.

 

[Jkazzie]

So sorry to hear of her passing.

Unfortunately chickens are very good at hiding illness and can degrade quite quickly. At the point you mentioned she was having difficulty with falling over, a hen is generally pretty far gone at that point.

Might be a good time to give everyone a good check-up. Weigh them or check their condition by feeling the breast around the keel bone. It should not be prominent, though may be less developed on hybrid breeds. Note anyone that seems lighter than everyone else or doesnt seem bright, alert and responsive.

I would worry about a possible viral cause for that gurgling, so keep an eye out for that symptom in your other hens.

If it was sour crop, this is caused by a yeast infection - typically, a slow emptying crop will cause, be caused by, or perpetuate this issue.

The crop may feel swollen or doughy, may contain air, may be visible in the back of the throat as a white growth (or by the vent), may smell yeasty or like a sourdough starter.

It will be accompanied by a lack of appetite and, as mentioned, slow crop emptying.

Ive had a hen get sour crop due to slowed digestion and seen it in wild kereru, but have never heard a bird gurgle from it. Hopefully, its not something that will run through your flock. Be vigilant and seek veterinary diagnosis if you start seeing symptoms in other birds.

Thanks, Lizzy. Gurgling was the first time I‘d heard that from her as well. At times her crop would empty if I massaged it but there was a diarrhea smell rather than a yeasty odour. Today it seemed as if her food and water was flowing back into the crop. It kept puffing up. She was contorting her neck constantly trying to adjust her crop though she had been doing that for many days, and constantly scratching around her waddle and ears. She had runny poo as well. She lost the ability to walk or stand about two hours before she died, that’s when I picked her up and cuddled her in my lap. She slept mostly but would wake periodically to contort her neck and then she squealed and spontaneously vomited as she died. A lot of brown fluid was expelled from her crop out her beak but it didn’t smell. I had given her a couple of doses of Nilstatin used to treat oral thrush in infants because it was the only thing I could get to treat what I believed was bad sour crop but it didn’t seem to help and I only hope I didn’t make her condition worse. I took her to the vet but he was useless - didn’t know anything about chickens. I will check my other chickens as you advised. Regards, Karen

 

[Lizzy733]

Thanks, Lizzy. Gurgling was the first time I‘d heard that from her as well. At times her crop would empty if I massaged it but there was a diarrhea smell rather than a yeasty odour. Today it seemed as if her food and water was flowing back into the crop. It kept puffing up. She was contorting her neck constantly trying to adjust her crop though she had been doing that for many days, and constantly scratching around her waddle and ears. She had runny poo as well. She lost the ability to walk or stand about two hours before she died, that’s when I picked her up and cuddled her in my lap. She slept mostly but would wake periodically to contort her neck and then she squealed and spontaneously vomited as she died. A lot of brown fluid was expelled from her crop out her beak but it didn’t smell. I had given her a couple of doses of Nilstatin used to treat oral thrush in infants because it was the only thing I could get to treat what I believed was bad sour crop but it didn’t seem to help and I only hope I didn’t make her condition worse. I took her to the vet but he was useless - didn’t know anything about chickens. I will check my other chickens as you advised. Regards, Karen

Yeah, hard to find a good vet with avian experience. NZ is all about its native birds and even here, it's rare.

We did have a kereru one time that had an internal crop injury - they had a hole in it which opened into the chest cavity and was so severely infected that the skin on her breast turned black. I would think there'd be a smell though.

It sounds like she'd had a seizure or maybe heart attack there wt the end. Ive had two die like that, one in my arms. It can be very upsetting. In the end, they are such fragile creatures.

Had she had crop emptying issues before? It could have been an intestinal blockage or impaction somewhere along the digestive system. - this would be good in your case, because its unlikely to be contageous.

 

[Jkazzie]

Yeah, hard to find a good vet with avian experience. NZ is all about its native birds and even here, it's rare.

We did have a kereru one time that had an internal crop injury - they had a hole in it which opened into the chest cavity and was so severely infected that the skin on her breast turned black. I would think there'd be a smell though.

It sounds like she'd had a seizure or maybe heart attack there wt the end. Ive had two die like that, one in my arms. It can be very upsetting. In the end, they are such fragile creatures.

Had she had crop emptying issues before? It could have been an intestinal blockage or impaction somewhere along the digestive system. - this would be good in your case, because its unlikely to be contageous.

Yeah, off and on for a year she had crop and egg laying issues. She’d pretty much stopped laying but occasionally she’d try and that would cause her other problems. Mostly she recovered from the sour crop episodes and she’d eventually pass a shell-less egg, but in the end I think her entire digestive and reproductive system was just overwhelmed with impaction and disease issues. I loved her and formed a real attachment to her (that’s her photo on my avatar) but I refuse to get ISA Browns now. The French didn’t do the breed any favours when they bred them to be such prolific egg layers. I think she was lucky she lived to the age of about 4. Most are done at about 2 or 3 yo. I’m only going to buy Australorps from now on; I have 5 - lovely hens and good layers at 4-5 eggs per week rather than 7 per week Like the ISA. They’re generally healthier hens with a longer life span and friendly too. The white leghorn I have is a good layer as well but high strung.

 

[Lizzy733]

Yeah, off and on for a year she had crop and egg laying issues. She’d pretty much stopped laying but occasionally she’d try and that would cause her other problems. Mostly she recovered from the sour crop episodes and she’d eventually pass a shell-less egg, but in the end I think her entire digestive and reproductive system was just overwhelmed with impaction and disease issues. I loved her and formed a real attachment to her (that’s her photo on my avatar) but I refuse to get ISA Browns now. The French didn’t do the breed any favours when they bred them to be such prolific egg layers. I think she was lucky she lived to the age of about 4. Most are done at about 2 or 3 yo. I’m only going to buy Australorps from now on; I have 5 - lovely hens and good layers at 4-5 eggs per week rather than 7 per week Like the ISA. They’re generally healthier hens with a longer life span and friendly too. The white leghorn I have is a good layer as well but high strung.

I couldn't agree more. 3 of our first 4 were brown shavers and I've lost them all this past winter as they reached their 'expiry date' and we had health problem after health problem all season. Seemed like as soon as their true moult was over, they were doomed.

Heritage breeds from now on.