Honking hen!

[5littlehenzz]

Hello all,
My 8 month old Rhode island Red is honking as she eats. She lifts her head up and swallows slowly then let's out a high pitched honk. She shows no other signs of illness, is very active as usual, Has no vent issues and has always been very healthy. I have however seen her shake her head to get feed out of her mouth a few times, but not constantly. Her crop felt normal as well, so I'm completely stumped! Anyone experienced this before?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @aart @Swbertrand1

 

[Swbertrand1]

I'll start by offering that veterinary diagnosis, if possible, is your best bet for your birds' health. With that said...,

Check her crop to be sure it's emptying in the morning. At 8 months, it's not likely you're dealing with gape-worm, but it's possible.

What are her living conditions like (wet, dry, cramped, etc)?
I see you're in CA - do you have smoke from wildfires that might be affecting her respiratory system?
What do you feed her? How's her appetite?
What do her stools look like?
Check inside her mouth too and look for anything abnormal.

Report back, and someone here may be able to assist in your diagnosis of your bird. We've had at least one bird do this before, but we were never able to isolate the cause...

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you look into her beak and throat with a flashlight for any mucus or yellow gunk? Does she have access to food at all times? Could she be having stridor when she eats, a sound made when a small piece of feed gets stuck in the airway. It also happens when the airway swells or there is mucus from a respiratory infection.

 

[Myrshine]

If she’s not showing any other respiratory related symptoms, then she’s most likely eating too much at once and is coughing it out of her throat or it’s the dust from the feed causing her to do that.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here in post 1 is a video of a silkie having stridor:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/silkie-w-possible-stridor.1218528/

 

[Swbertrand1]

Can you look into her beak and throat with a flashlight for any mucus or yellow gunk? Does she have access to food at all times? Could she be having stridor when she eats, a sound made when a small piece of feed gets stuck in the airway. It also happens when the airway swells or there is mucus from a respiratory infection.

That's where I was going with that too...