Quiet crackle/pop noise when massaging crop

[TheWeeBee]

I have a 4 year old BQ hen who has been sitting on some dud eggs for the past few weeks to get the broodiness out of her system. I've noticed an odd sound coming from her when I hold her, it sounds like a quiet pop that you have to have her right up to your ear in order to hear it. Her energy, appetite, water intake, and typical cheerfulness seem to be normal, but it concerns me because I've never heard this from her before. No sneezing or discharge from her nares. It seems to occur when I massage her crop/chest area. Air in the crop? A joint popping? She has done prolonged stints at egg-sitting many times. Her bedding is a base layer of doggie pee pad topped with corn cob and 1.5" of aspen shavings.

 

[DK newbie]

Sorry, I don't have any better theories than you. But at long as she behaves normally otherwise and doesn't loose weight, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Pork Pie]

Could it be an embolism I wonder? Just a stab in the dark

Ct

 

[TheWeeBee]

I don't think it's an embolism of any sort. Air sac mites? Or is that something that only afflicts psittacines and soft bills? My quail are all housed indoors and my budgies are outside on the porch with no signs of illness.

 

[dc3085]

a 4 year old button quail is what i would consider elderly. Does she otherwise seem healthy?

Spelling edit

 

[TheWeeBee]

Oh yes, she's happily stuffing her face with a mix of gamebird crumble, finch seed, and gravel as I type this. Her father is going on 7 years old. She's still laying eggs without any sign of problems like calcium deficiency or deformed eggs, no straining, no prolapse, etc. I let her go broody at intervals so she'll take a break from laying blanks for several weeks to a month at a time. I know that constant laying can contribute to a shortened life span for BQ's

 

[TheWeeBee]

Okay, I think I've determined what the sound is based on where it's coming from. I believe the noise is my hen's pin/pubic bones clicking as she adjusts herself to get comfortable.

 

[dc3085]

If shes moving healthy and acting healthy its likely something of the sort. I pay more attention to behavior than anything, when diagnosing quail.

 

[TheWeeBee]

This morning I noticed her gasping for breath so she may have a URI. I took her to the vet's and am waiting for them to give me a call. I hope it's nothing that a round of antibiotics won't take care of

 

[DK newbie]

When you say 'gasping for breath', do you mean 'breathing audibly with her mouth open' or do you mean 'every now and then she opened her beak and made a strange forward going movement with her head and neck'? I'm curious, because I noticed several of mine doing the latter about a month ago and then one of them again yesterday. I was thinking it could be some kind of parasites in their airway, or trouble digesting the millet seed I'd been giving them for entertainment (they only had sand for grit). I didn't do anything but giving them a bit of grit and making sure they had crushed oyster shell and then I didn't notice it again till yesterday - and I haven't given them millet recently. They look and feel healthy though. But I'm curious to hear what your vet finds