Is this something to worry about?

[Year of the Rooster]

Ok, today I let the chickens out of the coop. I decided to open the door to the run to see what they'd do(snow was everywhere). So, one of my golden sebright cockerels decided to take flight and flew straight out of the run and did a sharp turn to the left. I went over to him to make sure he was ok. When I picked him up he was breathing pretty heavily and I could here some weezing when he exhaled. Is this something that I should keep an eye on? I opened their windows this morning to get some fresh air flowing through the coop (the windows are just hardware cloth covered in plexiglass covers). He is about 18 weeks old.

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[Year of the Rooster]

ok.... anyone???

 

[congdon476]

Hmm... if he wasn't doing it before he left the coop I would think he was overly excited to get out and was panting from the quick flight... add to that you said it was cold. Going from warm coop to cold air and breathing heavy sounds like what would happen to me if I ran outside all crazy into cold air. Unless he's showing any other signs (like continued labor breathing and wheezing) he's probably out of shape. Anyone else?

 

[spook]

Sounds like an anxiety attack- I would have wheezing too!

its not an everyday event for our poultry to fly distances. I have a hen that when she gets into snow 2" deep and she will not move! I have to go pick her up and carry her back to the coop.
Keep an eye out, but I would not worry about it.

 

[congdon476]

Quote:

I can just see your poor hen "frozen" in the snow with a panicked look in her little eyes!

 

[RockyToggRanch]

I have picked up my rooster after he was being picked on and the panting/ wheezing was very disturbing. He was scared. Same with one of my sumatra hens today. She lost a toenail last week and ever since she's low on the totem pole. I was doing horse chores outside in the snow, when all of a sudden she came flapping out of the barn, landed on my back panting. Like EEHHHH, EEEHH, EEHHH!
I had to cuddle her to calm her down. She was telling me she was scared. Someone was picking on her and she was tattling.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Quote:
That's basically what he did! He flew out of the coop right from the pop door, and landed in the snow! He wouldn't move until I went to pick him up. I couldn't tell if he was doing the same thing in the coop, it's not big enough for me to fit into comfortably. Every once in a while I will here a sneeze, but I can't tell who it is.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Quote:
My rooster may have been scared of the snow, that's probably why. I just hope it's not something that I have to worry about...