Silkie Hen Making Strange Strangled Howl For No Reason

[MillieBantam]

About 3-4 months ago my Buff Silkie Bantam, Puff, started making this strange Screeching/Sneezing/Howling noise every so often for no reason. I didn't take it very seriously back then, as it was few and far between. At first. After about 1 month of this, it started to get louder and more common. I originally thought she was coming down with something respiratory related (As a few of my hens were recently affected by this and had similar symptoms) I picked her up and checked her, and she was breathing fine, she was eating, drinking, there was nothing stuck in her throat or crop, and no bad smell. Her nose wasn't leaking and she had normal poops.... Just making that really loud, really painful-sounding noise.
But as of recent (About 2 weeks ago 'til now) She's been doing this ALOT after she eats, and cocking her head to the side, with a secondary cackle at the end. I picked her up to check her breathing, and it sounded a little raspy... But only for about 20 seconds after this 'episode'. Then it was back to normal. She smells just a tiny bit, but she's laying eggs fine and keeps her place in pecking order still. Everything's normal except the screech, the breathing afterwards, and the strange head-cocking. I'm just concerned that it's a parasite or something slow-setting but deadly... Or contagious.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Some birds will screech as an alarm call. Could just be her thing, especially if she can't see well. In general silkies are odd birds.

The head cocking sounds like she's adjusting her crop contents, especially if you see it after she eats.

 

[MillieBantam]

Thank you so much! This makes sense now. I'll tell my parents about your post and hopefully she'll just be a rather annoying and loud bird. As long as she's feeling fine.

 

[Eggcessive]

A video of her doing this would really help, and you can post a short one to YouTube with a link so that we can see it.
It sounds possibly like she may be sneezing, and could have a respiratory disease, such as infectious bronchitis or mycoplasma (MG.)
Some of these such as MG can become a chronic disease, coming back during a stressfull time when it gets cold or when they are molting. Bronchitis or MG and others will last from several weeks to months.

 

[MillieBantam]

I'll try to upload a video sometime soon. I'm gonna keep an eye on her in case any other symptoms pop up or current ones worsen. Thanks for help!