- Apr 22, 2019
- 49
- 23
- 97
Hello,
My oldest chicken is about 7 years old and a couple of years ago, we noticed her losing her voice. No other changes whatsoever, except now when she vocalises, it sounds squeaky, like she's lost her voice. It is only in the last couple of months that I have noticed sometimes her breathing is now raspy too - most of the time it is normal, but after some activity or vocalisation, I can hear rasping/wheezing when she breathes.
She has zero other symptoms - no watery eyes or nose, no trouble moving around or running, no trouble eating or drinking. She has never been injured. She once had a respiratory infection several years ago where her nose got runny, but after antibiotics it cleared up completely (it didn't cause the raspy voice, it was several years before).
It's like she has asthma or something. I did recently hold her chest to my ear to see if I could hear anything - I heard one or two small popping/cracking sounds in the first minute, but that could have been crop activity/digestion, and i didn't hear any popping after that.
Does anyone know what this could be, and whether it is life threatening? The vets in our area have no experience with chickens, so treatment for anything that isn't a basic issue might not be an option. We often joke that she is our invincible bird, so I would hate for her to be taken down by a cold or something.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
My oldest chicken is about 7 years old and a couple of years ago, we noticed her losing her voice. No other changes whatsoever, except now when she vocalises, it sounds squeaky, like she's lost her voice. It is only in the last couple of months that I have noticed sometimes her breathing is now raspy too - most of the time it is normal, but after some activity or vocalisation, I can hear rasping/wheezing when she breathes.
She has zero other symptoms - no watery eyes or nose, no trouble moving around or running, no trouble eating or drinking. She has never been injured. She once had a respiratory infection several years ago where her nose got runny, but after antibiotics it cleared up completely (it didn't cause the raspy voice, it was several years before).
It's like she has asthma or something. I did recently hold her chest to my ear to see if I could hear anything - I heard one or two small popping/cracking sounds in the first minute, but that could have been crop activity/digestion, and i didn't hear any popping after that.
Does anyone know what this could be, and whether it is life threatening? The vets in our area have no experience with chickens, so treatment for anything that isn't a basic issue might not be an option. We often joke that she is our invincible bird, so I would hate for her to be taken down by a cold or something.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
