HELP - Weird Noise and not eating - WHAT'S WRONG

[fatcatx]

My SS is is about 15 months old. Yesterday she started acting oddly and making strange noises she never made before and arching her neck each time at the end note. She was otherwise active and walking around so I thought she was just having an odd moment. Today the noises continue and she is showing almost no interest in food and her crop is empty. (Of course this happens on a holiday!)

We are kind of hot today so she has a slight pant, but no different then our other birds. Her behavior indicates mild distress. We jump to the 100+ mark in two days so I am worried whether she is drinking enough too. (The bald spot on her neck from another bird picking on her but no skin damage or mites.) Does ANYONE have a guess what might be the problem? My only guess is she has something caught in her throat? (THEN what?)

 

[iwiw60]

Uh.....from viewing the video I'd say 'she' is a 'he' and getting his voice! Check out those wattles and comb...definitely ROO.

 

[ZoeS95423]

Trying to cock a doodle doo!

 

[Eggcessive]

She is a hen. I don't see any saddle feathers, and her neck feathers look thin. Someone else posted just the other day with their hen doing the same thing. Could you get a still picture of her total body from the side. I really don't think she is a he. I'm thinking she may have something in her crop, or that she may be getting ready to lay. Look at the difference of the hen and rooster below side by side:

 

[fatcatx]

She is definitely a hen unless a roo has figured out how to fake an egg! Her noise is very crow like though.

We have gone over her. She appears to have some nodule or swelling high in her throat just below what looks like her epiglottis. (Not sure if chickens even have an epiglottis but that's what it looked like looking down her throat.) It is not completely blocking her throat - less than half- but it is clearly bothering her. We got her to eat some watermelon and a little hamburger but not much. She turned down the applesauce and yogurt. We're stumped why she is barely eating when given things that should go down with no problem.

Has anyone had throat issues before (now I wish I could change the title of this thread!) My DH thought maybe she got ahold of a stinging insect that got her on the way down? Can Chooks tolerate Benedryl so we can see if that is the trouble? My only other guess is a cyst or tumor. Any thought would be appreciated. Meanwhile, I will continue to search the forums for insight...

 

[Basskids08]

She is a hen.  I don't see any saddle feathers, and her neck feathers look thin.  Someone else posted just the other day with their hen doing the same thing.  Could you get a still picture of her total body from the side.  I really don't think she is a he.  I'm thinking she may have something in her crop, or that she may be getting ready to lay.  Look at the difference of the hen and rooster below side by side:

X2

 

[fatcatx]

Oh - and how many days can she go with just minimal eating? We will be getting a dropper to make sure she is getting water and put some nutri-drench in it. At what point should we force some other liquid nutrition down her and what should it be?

 

[Eggcessive]

A few things can cause blockage in the airway: canker, a protozoan infection, wet avian pox, and a respiratory disease. Although I haven't treated any of these, canker will have whitish, yellow, or gray patches and can be seen around the beak or nasal passages. Wet pox can be inside or outside, and is sometimes hard to distinguish fro canker. Respiratory diseases such as MG, coryza, and ILT, can cause mucous plugs to block the airway. A stuck object in the airway that she tried to swallow would be another concern. Her noise sounds like stridor from a partially blocked airway, but there have been threads on BYC where people have seen this, and nothing major was wrong. Below is an article about canker from the Chicken Vet:
Oral Canker

​

Oral Canker is a condition which can be found in a wide variety of birds and most commonly in pigeons.
Causes

It is caused by a motile protozoal parasite called Trichomonas gallinae.
This parasite can cause caseous lesions of the mouth, pharynx, oesophagus and in certain circumstances, further down the digestive tract. These lesions can become extremely extensive.
This causes the birds to stop eating and drinking, in severe cases the extensive nature of the lesions combined with not eating and drinking leads the chickens to die.
Diagnosis

Diagnosis is often based upon clinical signs but wet smears can be examined under the microscope to confirm clinical suspicions. Speak to your vet.

​

Treatment

The treatment traditionally involved the use of a drug called Dimetridazole, however, this drug is no longer available or licensed for use in the UK.
The affected chicken in these photos was treated with Metronidazole, this is a UK licensed medication but is not used in poultry therefore it had to be prescribed under the rules of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate cascade. This also means that any eggs the chicken may lay during treatment and for a specified period after treatment would need to be discarded. Her eggs must never be sold for human consumption. The owner of the hen was extremely pleased with the outcome and has supplied us with plenty of photos to monitor the hen’s progress.

 

[fatcatx]

Thanks for all the info. We do not have a visual of it because it is blocked by the larynx (?). (I called it the epiglottis above but I think it is the larynx.) The swelling is a rounded area about the size of a small pea and is slightly maleable and squishy. It is causing breathing issues as well as feeding problems. I've brought her in the house due to the heat so she is not trying to battle heat stress when ehr beathing is compromised.

DH had a thought - we attributed her feather loss to being picked on but now we're wondering if this growth has been causing her to pick her own neck feathers out. We have not seen any of this behavior but maybe it's more than a coincidence.

 

[Eggcessive]

It would be great if you could get a vet to check her out, and look into her throat. Do you think she could have gapeworm? Do you have any fenbendazole (SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer) or the equine paste? Gapeworm dosage is 1 ml by mouth daily for 4 days.