Strange Crow/Breathing in Silkie Bantam Rooster

[SunflowerTheBun]

Hi everyone, (this was initially in the behaviours thread but I’ve moved over to here because I’m concerned)

I have a silkie bantam rooster about 1 year old who’s always had a really nice crow.

Recently, it went bad, and sounds more like a strangled cry.
The other day I had a look at him and I can hear his breathing - sounds like he’s wheezing/whistling - maybe he has a cold.
My mum suggested maybe he had something stuck in his throat?

Something to note: He does not look sick at all. He’s acting completely normal, yesterday he had some cantaloupe (rockmelon) as a treat and loved it.

Any thoughts appreciated,
Sunny.

 

[R1V3R20NG]

Hmm, did you look down his throat too see if there are any black streaks in there?? If so those are worms that can affect breathing, crowing issues, and possibly death. Needs to be treated immediately!!!!

 

[SunflowerTheBun]

It was very hard to see down his throat, so i couldn’t see anything. His breathing and crow are still strange. We’ve been googling and i think we have come to the conclusion to go to a vet -

 

[Eggcessive]

You normally cannot see worms in the throat. Gapeworm is a type of worm that is Y-shaped red worms, but they cannot be seen without dissecting the trachea (airway) after death.
A common cause of voice change is a respiratory disease. One type is fungal from mold, and can cause silent gasping and voice change. Others are viral or bacterial, such as infectious bronchitis, ILT, mycoplasma, and coryza. The latter diseases are caused by carriers—either from another carrier chicken, or possibly from local wild birds. Symptoms include wheezing, cough or sneeze, gasping, nasal drainage, and watery or foamy eyes. In severe cases eyelid or facial swelling and pus may be seen. Chickens can harbor these diseases in their bodies, and suddenly when stressed by something like a change in weather or molting, can start showing symptoms. If he is doing well presently, he may shake it off in a month or so. If he gets really sick, I would get some Tylan 50 injectable and give him 0.2 ml per pound of weight twice a day for 5 days. Getting a weight on him would be good. The vet may offer stronger antibiotics or help with a diagnosis.

 

[SunflowerTheBun]

Okay, so we took him to the vet.
The vet diagnosed tracheal mucus and perscribed antibiotics and antifungal (for 9 days). The vet gave him a vitamin a shot too. Hopefully these will fix him!