Hen Cawing Constantly, Every Minute Or So Fluffs Wings/Chirps FEVER??

[frankie088]

She is a RIR, not sure of age, around a year old, she was a pullet when we got her about six months ago. She's probably about 2-4 lbs. She's been laying for a couple of months now.

She is cawing (honking actually) continuously, every minute or two she fluffs her wings and makes a chirping/clucking sound, almost like a puppy. She just began this behavior this afternoon. None of the other birds are acting this way. No signs of trauma, injury, rooster abuse, or distended/impacted crop. Not interested in food or water (at this time -- she ate earlier). Haven't seen any poop -- we have a flock of about 13 which free range during the day and are cooped at night. We thought perhaps it was an impacted crop issue so we gave her a small dropperful of olive oil but that's the only treatment thus far. Oh and her feet seem really hot, so we ran about 1-2" of water in the bath and placed her in it. Seemed like her "honking" changed from an in/out cadence to just an "out" rhythm and calmed down a lot. We would like to treat her ourselves, if possible. We have a fantastic vet, but I'm a single homeschooling mom with lupus, so we really cannot afford a vet visit, but will if absolutely necessary. Thanks all, hope to hear from you soon!!

Added Note: Spoke with friends who are longtime chicken owners -- they suspect pneumonia. We're giving her some colloidal silver (10 cc but probably only half got down her throat) and now she has eaten a bit and seems a little calmer (or weaker, not sure which) and has pooped -- which appears normal. Going to the farmers co-op in a bit to see about some antibiotics and/or electrolytes and/or Nutrical. Any other suggestions are welcomed, especially in regards to types of antibiotics as well as recommended dosages for antibiotics and electrolytes so I don't have to figure out where I found it again, *LOL*

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

How is your girl doing?

I wish I had an answer for you but I am not sure what is happening.



Is she eating? Does she walk around or is she staying in one spot (standing or laying?) Any discharge from her eyes or nostrils?

 

[frankie088]

She is doing just fine now. The consensus was pneumonia or some other type of upper respiratory infection. We gave her colloidal silver almost immediately and made an electrolyte sugar/salt solution and put it in for her water....but then we went and got antibiotics just in case. When we came back we mixed a 250 mg capsule of amoxicillin with colloidal silver and gave her about 5cc of it (not sure of the amoxicillin content since it's not a suspension but just mixed in for dispensation purposes) but she had already stopped carrying on with the wheezing, etc, after we gave her the silver. A little while after giving her the silver/amoxi mixture, she laid an egg and shortly thereafter it was dark so she went to sleep. She was fine the next day -- not a hint of her former malady. Not sure if it was upper respiratory or pneumonia that it would have cleared up quite so quickly, but she didn't act like she was eggbound and her crop didn't seem distended or impacted either. Sure gave us a scare though because we are rather new to having chickies (maybe 6-8 months now), so we're trying to be careful. She's been eating and drinking just fine and enjoying free ranging with the rest of the flock ever since, though I am going to give her some yogurt this afternoon to help rebuild any lost gut bacteria....I'm really glad she's doing well, everyone we talked to thought she was pretty much a goner! Thanks for asking!!

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Was this, perhaps, her first egg?



I have had first time layers, who for the day or two before laying their first egg - act "off" and sometimes vocal - like a pre-egg song.


Any way, I am very glad that she is back to herself

 

[frankie088]

Well, admittedly she WAS a pullet when we got her in the Fall, but I think she's been laying close to a couple of months now -- we probably wouldn't know this for sure, except she is our "late layer." She always lays in the late afternoon....while the others usually lay in the a.m. That is really neat about the "pre-egg" song because we have about half dozen pullets we bought a couple of months ago, right before the snowstorms, a few of whom are just now starting to lay....we'll have to keep our ears open for that! Right now it's only 3-4 of them laying, that we can tell, and they are small. Funny -- we were told last night at a small animal auction (where we sold two mean roos who also came in that "straight run") that these first eggs are called "wind eggs" -- it's like the hen passes wind and "Ooops, what was that??" as out pops an egg. Anyway, I'm open to all possibilities, so please post them if you have any ideas/suggestions! I'm really glad she's ok now too -- we lost a dear bantam rooster we loved right in the midst of the snowstorm in spite of taking all precautions (even bringing him inside during the worst of it) plus albino red-tail hawks ate one two days in a row and then our big 105 lb. dog got out and decided to play with a couple of them too. Our flock would have already been 20 strong by now, but we're working on building it back up....it's so much fun and I really enjoy them a lot not to mention love eating the fresh eggs. We can't wait until some of them start getting broody -- we just had lionhead bunny babies and my daughter is really excited about baby chicks. Oh heck, who am I kidding -- so am I!

 

[frankie088]

By the way, my daughter LOVES Breyer horses, though she only has a few....she also has a Mille Fleur hen....we tried to pick her up a boyfriend last night, but they only had one mille fleur and it was a hen too. We saw the prettiest little OE rooster though but he went for a little too much for us. They are so much fun!!