My chicken cant squawk ???

[Just Horsinaround]

Hi all
Im worried there might be something wrong with my 7 month old Plymouth Rock Hen. She cant seam to Squawk ! she will open her beak stretch her neck up like shes trying to squawk , at first no noise comes out but then a faint high pitched type of squawk will squeak out. (its hard to explain the noise but its not normal)
She really looks like she is struggling to squawk. Is there something wrong with her ?

There doesnt appear to be anything stuck in her throat (that I can see). she appears to be eating and drinking ok (they free range during the day, but i have been trying to keep an eye on her to make sure she is eating and drinking) I do notice she sits around (not hunting for food) more than my other 6 hens. ?? I feel bad for her as she really looks like she is struggling to squawk and am worried there is something wrong ! ???
Appreciate any advise anyone can give
Thanks

 

[PunkinPeep]

I would get someone to help you to really do a thorough check of her throat with a flashlight. No, she won't like it.

If you don't see anything, like a feather or piece of grass stuck in there, try sticking a q-tip down as far as you can and rubbing it around the inside of the throat. If it comes back with some little red things on it, it could be gape worm.

I'm just throwing out some guesses here. It's really hard to say what might be going on.

 

[Just Horsinaround]

gape worm

yikes that doesnt sound very nice ! will do my best to do what you suggest and see what happens.
Thank you for the reply

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Horsinaround, what you described is very much like what one of our hens did a couple weeks ago. Her actions looked like something was stuck in her throat, and she had a very high pitched breathing sound and she couldn't cluck like normal.

She was fine the next day, just to assure you, but whatever you do, don't stress her. I stressed my hen something terrible by grabbing her and massaging her belly and throat. She panicked so I let her go, but she got so much worse I though she was going to die. She could hardly breathe and her comb turned purple. Her beak was straight up in the air while she was gasping.

We put her back in the coop and thought we'd find a corpse there the next morning, but she was fine, although has been on the quiet side ever since. She used to be top hen.

Best of luck.