Honking hen- UPDATE another hen with bubbly eyes

[serendipityfarm]

I have noticed my 7 month Buff Orpington "honking" occasionally the last couple of days. I don't see any other signs of illness in her or any of the other chickens. She is not sneezing or coughing, but may be a little congested. We have had a couple days of significant rain and a drop in temperature here in addition to a couple days of strong winds. I have noticed on here some people have mentioned allergies, pollen, etc, which could make sense with the weather, but I am worried if it is the start of something maybe I should be doing something now. Is it possible woth all the rain she got water in her nostrils? I know that may sound silly, but another post I read said sometimes they honk after getting water in their nose from the drinking water...
What do you all think?

She is laying as usual, energetic and eating well. Was out free ranging with the rest of the flock as normal.

 

[teach1rusl]

Well, if she was MY chicken, and all else was normal (as you implied), I wouldn't worry about her. One of my pullets and one hen occasionally "honk"...sounding more like a goose than a chicken. I'm not sure why your bird would start this all of a sudden though. But I go more on eating, drinking, and activity level more than anything else when it comes to my girls' health. So hopefully it's just a quirk...

 

[Country4ever]

I've had a couple chickens honk when they got some scratch caught in their throats, and it causes a little swelling. I don't feed any scratch anymore.........just black oil sunflower seed. The scratch has caused too many problems.

 

[serendipityfarm]

Uh Oh! I think I may have spoken too soon!!!

Last night I went out to the coop and my broody Silkie (I gave her a few eggs on Friday since she was being SO determined) looked to be shivering. Our coop has one window that hasn't been closed up yet, and it was around 50 degrees, so I thought she was cold. I took her in the barn and put a heat lamp on her and she seemed better. The other thing I noticed was that she had feathers from her head stuck into her eyes which seemed to be stuck shut. I gently opened them and there were little bubbles.
I now seem to remember that the last time she went broody she had the bubbles but a vet friend of mine told me it was OK, she probably was just run down from the stress of being broody. All of a sudden my miind is putting 2+2 together to mean some bad news...

The stress of being broody + lower immue system = flare up of something for which she's a carrier ? Is that what may be affecting my other birds???
She was with them the whole time she was broody last time and there weren't any problems.

I have a friend who was looking to take the chicks when they hatch and possibly a coupl of my adults, too. I guess I should get a vet out to check before I let anybody go just to be safe.

I could cry! I got all my other birds from NPIP flocks but this Silkie was an impulse buy at the local feed store because she and her "sister" were so pathetic! They were in a pen with a bunch of started production layers and were being picked on and stepped on! They were filthy and had lice. I cleaned them up, dusted and dewormed them, and actually got the majority of my birds AFTER these ones and no one ever got sick!

I would love for someone to tell me that it's something else, but now I have this sick feeling in MY stomach.
Should I start them on Sulmet (which I have), or wait to have the vet out? What about the eggs? I do not have an incubator so I guess I would have to "abort" them if I shouldn't hatch them.

Thanks for listening and any advice you might have!

 

[serendipityfarm]

Checked all the other 12 chickens this morning. No one has any nasal discharge, sneezing or bubbly eyes. That makes me fel better, but I guess I will have to see what happens.

If it does end up being something contagious, since my birds free range in the yard, what are the chances of ever getting rid of it? I can't think of a way to disinfect everywhere they've been...

 

[fluffychickens]

Well for the eye thing my chicken had it a couple days ago and I read and it was called [CRD] put it in a seprat cage and if its eye crusts over get a wet warm paper towel and gentle rub it. Other than that feed it and water it and it will soon get better.

 

[serendipityfarm]

Right, but CRD is highly contagious and means my flock should be "closed" right???