Pullet's beak opening and closing, but no sound coming out

[Back2Roots]

I recently took pity on a lone 8 month old bantam Wyandotte mix pullet at an auction, and bought her.
It's my first chicken. I know, not a smart move, but there it is.

Although she seems healthy enough, eats and drinks and poops, there is one behaviour that has me stumped: in the evening, sometimes after she's eaten some limestone grit for digestion, she opens her beak wide and closes it several times as if to "talk", but no sound comes out. This is not a very vocal hen anyway: she rarely makes any sound, and when she does, it's usually just a short "beep".

Another thing: she hasn't laid an egg yet, since I've gotten her, and I've read that comb and wattles are generally not pale, but bright coloured pink or red if a hen is laying. This hen has barely any comb, and the tniest of wattles, both are very pale. Is it possible that the previous owner put this bird in the auction because she doesn't lay? Or is it just because of the stress of new surroundings? If so, when should I expect her to start laying?

 

[chooks4life]

Posting a pic would help. She sounds ill to me. She definitely didn't end up in the auction because the previous owner/breeder thought she was worth her feed, that's for sure. I would check her crop. The gasping she's doing can be symptomatic of pain or trouble swallowing or breathing for whatever reason.

There's a lot of potential reasons for such an issue, such as an impacted crop, tumor, disease, etc. Hopefully this is nothing; maybe she's dehydrated and/or has been living on a diet low in necessary oils so she's not swallowing easily.

But I'd check if her abdomen or crop are hard, or even if they're bloated and soft but you feel a hard lump around the base of the crop... For a beginner it might be easier to watch her to see if she empties her crop overnight, i.e. don't give her more food to keep filling up so you know whether or not she's actually eliminating. Even a walnut sized indigestible item in her crop can kill her over time by slowing down food processing so it over-ferments.

Best wishes with her.

 

[Back2Roots]

Thank you for replying so quickly.
I don't really have a good picture of her yet, but will get one tonight.
You have basically confirmed what I was afraid of: that she may be ill. :-(
I checked her crop a few days back - and by "checked", I mean just felt around but didn't know what I was looking for really. It did seem hard and not very full, but I really have no basis of comparison. Also, she seems skinny to me.

Do you think that I should feed her some olive oil? Would that help to move something in her crop along? She doesn't seem at all interested in any of the green veggies that I'm offering her, just dry stuff like corn, her feed, millet, that sort of thing. She did exhibit some interest in a grape I gave her, but I don't think she took more than a few "mouthfuls". She does go to her feed dish regularly and she drinks a good amount of water. I have been adding Stress Aid to her water since I got her, thinking that might help her to acclimatize better.

I feel bad for being such a newbie at this and not knowing what to do.

p.s. Just noticed that you live in Australia ... I lived in Canberra for almost a decade in the 60s-70s. Loved it there and still miss it.