Heavy breathing - is this normal?

[K0k0shka]

One of my English Orpingtons does this very disturbing-looking heavy breathing when she's sleeping. Her whole body is rocking. None of the others breathe like that. Is this a sign of a problem? Here's what it looks like:

For context - she's 8 months old and has been doing this for months. She's otherwise healthy, active, cuddly, and lays almost every day. She breathes fine when she's off the roost. What's more, she breathes fine when on the roost when she's just sitting there hanging out during the day, not sleeping. And sometimes she sleeps standing, and then breathes fine, too - like this (she's the one on the far right by the framed picture in this video):

I've noticed that she sits weird on the roost. She's tilted very far forward, with her crop hanging very low and her butt up in the air. That's just how she always roosts (for sleep, not during the day). She has always looked a little saggy on the front, not as exaggerated as pendulous crop, just saggier than her hatch-mates. It doesn't seem to bother her and her crop empties at night (I tested it). Is that what's weighing her down? Why does she breathe like this only at night, and not when perching during the day? She's active, inquisitive and vocal during the day and overall looks like she's getting enough sleep... Should I be concerned? She is a bit of a glutton though, so maybe she loads up before bed and is weighed down by her full crop... Though the others do too, and she's not even the largest or heaviest of them all, and yet they don't do this... I need to set an alarm to wake up before her and check the cam to see how she's breathing towards the end of the night when her crop is empty

This is her, in all her fluffy basketball glory. She's a character and one of my favorites!

The sagginess started early

What do you guys think?

 

[aart]

That is some seriously heavy breathing.
Not sure why it's happening...especially with no other symptoms.
Could be the crop issue.
How does her keel feel?
Maybe she's over weight too?

 

[Aapomp831]

Do you feed your chickens lots of treats? That chicken looks overweight. I’m thinking some avian form of sleep apnea

 

[K0k0shka]

That is some seriously heavy breathing.
Not sure why it's happening...especially with no other symptoms.
Could be the crop issue.
How does her keel feel?
Maybe she's over weight too?
View attachment 2476493

That's a very useful chart, thanks! I'll examine her later today and report.

 

[K0k0shka]

Do you feed your chickens lots of treats? That chicken looks overweight. I’m thinking some avian form of sleep apnea

I give them about 2 spoons of black oil sunflower seeds split between the 5 of them every day, for vitamin E because one of them has mild wry neck. Other than that, they get some scratch maybe once a week. No other treats. I know Orps are prone to obesity so I'm always afraid to give them anything other than their feed, but this one loves her feed, too, and stuffs her face But I know she should have feed available at all times... Should I start rationing their feed? I don't know how to control how much she eats without affecting the rest of the chickens. If I start rationing their feed, she'll just elbow the rest out of the way and eat it all herself. There are two little Barnevelders in the flock who, despite being the same age, are half the size of the Orpingtons and get pushed around a bit so I'm worried they won't get enough if feed isn't available at all times...

 

[aart]

I wonder if she has some trouble with nutrient uptake, so gorges to try to make up.
Might think about crating her for a couple days/nights to assess her intake and output.
Hard to tell if those fluffy birds are overweight or just fluffy.

@Wyorp Rock nd/or @Eggcessive might have some insight with the heavy breathing.

 

[K0k0shka]

I just went and examined all the chickens. The Orpingtons seem to be more fluff than substance, though they are definitely not skinny. All three of them have a very prominent, bony keel that's sticking out enough that I can grab it with my hand before I get to the meat. The Barnevelders feel a lot more compact - I can feel the keel clearly, but I can't grab it the way I can with the Orps, because the muscle begins right at the keel and the whole area feels continuous and firm. With the Orps, there's just a lot of bone and then the muscle begins farther out... Not sure what that means, if it's just a size thing? (the Orps are taller, wider and just overall much bigger birds). So... Does this mean they're not overweight? All of the Orps' keels feel about the same. There was only one way in which saggy boob felt different - her crop was fuller and harder than any of the others'... It didn't feel big or droopy, it was the size of a walnut but felt packed, while the others' felt loose.

I'll take their food away tonight and wait until late morning to bring it back, and I'll examine everybody again before feeding.

There's another thing I was thinking. I don't give them treats often, but I do make a clumpy mash out of their crumble, with hot water, which they LOVE on cold winter mornings. I've been thinking that that's a safe thing to feed, since it's not treats - it's their regular feed that they have available all day anyway. However... They really love that stuff, and I'm wondering if they (and her in particular) consume more of it than they would the dry crumbles...? I could cut the amount I give them in half and see how that goes... Or, even better, I can do an experiment - weigh the feeder with the dry crumbles and the feeder with the mash before giving it to them in the morning and again at the end of the day, to see how much they've eaten, and then on the next day not give them mash at all, and again, weigh the dry feeder before bringing it in, and again at the end of the day. That way I'll know the total amount they consume on mash day and on no mash day, and see if they eat more when I give them the mash....

Here's what it looks like, the highlight of their day:

 

[K0k0shka]

P.S. I've been looking up and reading about how to check if your chicken is overweight, underweight or normal weight. I read that if you can pinch the keel bone between your fingers, the chicken is underweight, and if you feel cleavage, it's overweight. With my Orps, not only can I pinch the keel bone between my fingers, but there's probably 1-2 fingers' worth of space on either side of the bone before I start feeling any meat... But it doesn't feel right to call these chickens underweight. They are clearly not. Maybe they just put weight on differently? On their thighs and butts? I didn't feel around the butts much, so I'll do another exam later today and check that. Honestly, I'm surprised that these weight checks look at the keel. Whenever I've processed a fat chicken, the fat has always been on their butt. A separate, isolated mass of fat all on its own on the butt, and not much fat mixed in with the meat (unlike mammals, which do the whole marbling thing where the fat is in there with the meat). One of my cockerels that I butchered over the summer was HUGE and heavy as a cannonball even at the tender young age of 16 weeks. I didn't think to feel his keel, but he had a fist-sized ball of fat on his butt. No fat elsewhere that was obvious, just on the butt... So I'm confused by these weight check instructions and how to interpret the results of my exams...

 

[3KillerBs]

I have forgotten how old your ladies are.

Some birds grow their structure before they put on muscle and fat and so go through a bony stage -- like a gangly teen boy who goes through that "skeleton connected by rubber bands" stage before filling out his bones.

 

[K0k0shka]

I have forgotten how old your ladies are.

Some birds grow their structure before they put on muscle and fat and so go through a bony stage -- like a gangly teen boy who goes through that "skeleton connected by rubber bands" stage before filling out his bones.

It’s it the first post They are 8 months old. Way past the bony teenager stage.