Help - my chicken is making gurgling sound

[djforsythe2025]

One of my hens is making a gurgling sound and I’m becoming quite concerned. Any idea what it could be and what i need to do? Thank you. I guess I can’t add a video here.

 

[Eggcessive]

Videos can be uploaded to YouTube or a similar site with a link made public. A picture of her showing her chest may also help. Can you check her crop and tell us if it is full and squishy, firm or is it empty? The crop should be empty first thing in the morning, and fill up with food and water as the day goes on. If there is. Crop problem such as impacted or especially sour crop, she might have crop contents come back up into her throat and cause gurgling. If the crop is accidentally pressed on when handling her, that can cause crop contents to come back up.

 

[Ponypoor]

One of my hens is making a gurgling sound and I’m becoming quite concerned. Any idea what it could be and what i need to do? Thank you. I guess I can’t add a video here.

So sorry to hear your girl isn't feeling well.

- how old is she?
- are you in a hot humid location? or is it cool dry or damp?
- does it sound like wheezing, coughing, sneezing type of gurgle?
- any nasal, or eye discharge, or swollen face?
- do you notice a 'sweetish' odour in the hen house when it's closed up, in the morning when you let them out?
- is she eating and drinking still?
- is she active or scrunched up off by herself?

If she is eating, drinking and still active I would keep an eye on her. She may be brewing something but as long as she is acting normal she should be fine.

I have had my chooks make gurgling sounds roosting in the hot hen house during extremely hot humid weather - totally freaked me out! But she was fine - I put a large box fan in the hen house.

If there is nasal and eye discharge and a swollen face it could be Mycoplasmosis. If your chooks are in a hen house (coop) at night closed in, can you smell a sweet odour in the morning before you open it up? This is an indication of Mycoplasmosis. This can be treated with Tylosan. It's highly contagious and it's been said almost every single flock on the planet likely has been exposed to this pathogen.

Coughing, sneezing, wheezing etc can also be indicative of other infections, esp when accompanied with discharge.

The take away from all this is, if your gal is eating, drinking and acting normal just keep an eye on her. If she isn't then I would try to encourage her to eat and drink - offer tasty stuff like sardines, fish, bread, meat, potatoes - anything you can think of to just get calories into her.

If you can take her to the Vet I would do this if she is not eating, or if you have limited experience with poultry/livestock.

Good luck with your feathered friend - I sure hope she just has the sniffles - after all chickens are not much different than we Hoomans, they get ill and have arthritis just like we do.