Possible respiratory issue

[MaxLevine]

Hello,

I have a hen that seems to have a slight gurgle in her breath. She's been open mouth breathing the last 2 days, but at night it seemed to stop.

I'm in Connecticut, USA, and yesterday it got to about 82 degrees. Today it's still mid 70s and she's still open mouth breathing. I have her separated from the flock, so maybe she's just nervous about that.

I can't seem to upload a proper video to this forum, as my phone doesn't make videos with the proper extension, but it looks like she is breathing heavy and rapidly. If I listen closely, I think I hear some moisture in her breath.

She is still eating and drinking and her poop looks normal. No physical signs of anything wrong with her.

I gave her some sourdough starter yesterday, so I thought maybe that was giving her some issues in her crop, this creating the gurgling sound.

I will try to figure out a way to upload a video here.

Thanks

 

[MaxLevine]

I uploaded my video to YouTube. You can hear her breathing and see it all here.

https://youtube.com/shorts/l-5nSSqU7kQ?feature=share

 

[MaxLevine]

Any thoughts?

 

[LaFleche]

First of all she seemed to be very hot and wanting out of her confinement.

The slight gurgling might well have been started by the sourdough starter. May I ask why you would feed her something like that?

When did you last deworm her?

ETA: How old is she, when did she last lay an egg?

 

[MaxLevine]

She's still laying daily. She's about 6 months. She just laid an egg moments ago.

I've never dewormed her. I got her from a commercial farm just over a month ago. I've never dewormed any of my chickens, I've had my flock for just over a year now.

Sourdough starter is a rare treat and it is probiotic. It was my first time giving it to her, but I've heard other people do it daily and chickens love to eat it. As wheat is an ingredient in her food, I figured it couldn't be harmful.

 

[MaxLevine]

And I'm pretty sure I heard gurgling before I fed the starter, but not positive as I've been paying closer attention to her since feeding her.

After listening to her breath closely with my ear on her chest, she sounds unobstructed. She's definitely hot and she seems hotter than the rest of the flock. Others are showing signs of heat stress today but no other breath impediments.

 

[LaFleche]

She's still laying daily. She's about 6 months. She just laid an egg moments ago.

I've never dewormed her. I got her from a commercial farm just over a month ago. I've never dewormed any of my chickens, I've had my flock for just over a year now.

Sourdough starter is a rare treat and it is probiotic. It was my first time giving it to her, but I've heard other people do it daily and chickens love to eat it. As wheat is an ingredient in her food, I figured it couldn't be harmful.

I have never head of giving sourdough starter to chickens in more than 20 years of chicken keeping and breeding. But maybe that is because I live in Europe, Germany.
Are you sure you don't mistake it for brewers yeast?

Worms can cause nutrient deficiencies which over time lead to all kinds of issues, as it will compromise their immune defence.

And I'm pretty sure I heard gurgling before I fed the starter, but not positive as I've been paying closer attention to her since feeding her.

After listening to her breath closely with my ear on her chest, she sounds unobstructed. She's definitely hot and she seems hotter than the rest of the flock. Others are showing signs of heat stress today but no other breath impediments.

Hopefully, it is just the heat. Some tolerate it better than others, just with people etc.

 

[MaxLevine]

Ah, a baker I once lived with said that starter is like porridge for them. They go crazy for the starter. As with most things in chicken keeping, people definitely argue for it and against it. I'm a baker so I often have extra, and they seem to love it and it adds some probiotic. The older hens never had issues with the starter. It's kind of goopy, so that's why I had the thought about it getting clogged in their throats.

I think it's likely just heat. She seems to be a bit more calm now that the clouds came in. I had her pretty well shaded, but in the video she ran to the non shadey part of the mini-pen. She was distressed from being removed from her flock

 

[LaFleche]

Might be best to let her join the flock again before she succumbs to a heat stroke.