Urgent: Airway/breathing obstruction or just Heat Stroke?

[NorthFLChickenChick]

Hi all: This just happened this afternoon with my 15 week old Easter Egger hen Hazel. When I let the flock out for their daily afternoon free ranging I noticed her breathing and wheezing(?) like this. We live in Northern Florida and we have a severe heat index (around 111) but this has been going on for the past month or so and the girls are pretty much used to it. They have a tarp covered run and they usually go into the 10x10 coop during peak afternoon heat because there is an exhaust fan and a window and lots of ventilation keeping it cool on the floor and lower roosts. They get ice water/rooster booster slurries at noon to help cool them off as well and up until this afternoon, they seemed to be handling the heat pretty well. The video shows how my EE presented once she came out of the run, and she actually ran back into the run instead of going off with her buddies, obviously in distress. I’m a human ER nurse, but the only thing that came to mind was that she was overheated, so I took her down to our covered porch and turned on the fans and got ice water and started rubbing her legs and comb. That’s what you hear in the middle of the video. She eventually calmed down, but still makes this squeaking noise from time to time. The last part of the video is appx 25 minutes after the episode when she goes back to the run, I did massage her crop a bit, couldn’t really tell if there was anything there, but she seems to be eating and drinking. Should I be concerned about something more serious or was this just heat?? Thanks in advance!

 

[SmiYa0126]

How is she eating, hows her poop?

 

[NorthFLChickenChick]

How is she eating, hows her poop?

Hi there thanks for your response. I checked on her last night after we had a severe thunderstorm lasting 4 hours and she was completely calm with beak closed, crop was soft as compared with her other three egger clutch mates, I could not palpate a discernible difference in size or distention among the four of them. As shown in the video, she was eating and drinking normally about 30 minutes after the acute episode, and this morning, she came out with the flock as per usual and was irritated that I interrupted her for a check-up and went about her usual feasting on crumbles and scratch with her flock mates without any audible wheezing. Of note, the storm dropped out temps considerably to 71 degrees last night and this AM, so no panting observed in any of the gals. As far as poo is concerned, when she was huffing and puffing during the episode yesterday, she did have one explosive liquid HOT stool, looked light brown and seedy in consistency…I only know that it was hot because she was sitting on my lap and it hit my leg. I looked under the roost where she slept last night and all poos looked uniform cecal fecal w urates…I do morning checks under all the roosts daily for abnormalities and keep corid on the shelf for suspicious poos.

Thoughts?

 

[Eggcessive]

She probably is just reacting to the heat, and panting. Do you have any shaded areas when they are outside? I usually put a strong fan aimed out a window to pull air through the coop from the other windows. Keeping water cool by changing it a few rimes a time. I wouldn’t massage her crop unless she has an impacted or doughy crop. Massage can cause crop contents to come back up into the airway and cause choking. Young pullets can be very vocal at times, and occasionally one can be vocal and frantic for whatever reason.

 

[NorthFLChickenChick]

She probably is just reacting to the heat, and panting. Do you have any shaded areas when they are outside? I wouldn’t massage her crop unless she has an impacted or doughy crop. Massage can cause crop contents to come back up into the airway and cause choking. Young pullets can be very vocal at times, and occasionally one can be vocal and frantic for whatever reason.

Hi, thank you! It really did look like a panic attack but it was super hot and the more she huffed and puffed u was worried that she was going to stress herself out and become critically dehydrated. Thanks for the advice on the crop…I had done a quick search on airway obstruction and crop had popped up , since her beak was wide open and I saw nothing in her airway…I will note that about 5 nights ago when they went to bed I observed her spit up(??) when she hopped up on her roost. Never seen a chicken do that. This is my second flock, had another one for two years that we had to rehome due to relocation, and fortunately they were healthy birds, so this is throwing me for a loop! As for shaded areas, yes, half of their outdoor run is covered in tarp and their 10x10 attached coop has ventilation under the roof with an exhaust fan as well as open windows so it stays much cooler in there and they hang out in the peak temperatures on the low roosts.

 

[Leatherworker]

Hi all: This just happened this afternoon with my 15 week old Easter Egger hen Hazel. When I let the flock out for their daily afternoon free ranging I noticed her breathing and wheezing(?) like this. We live in Northern Florida and we have a severe heat index (around 111) but this has been going on for the past month or so and the girls are pretty much used to it. They have a tarp covered run and they usually go into the 10x10 coop during peak afternoon heat because there is an exhaust fan and a window and lots of ventilation keeping it cool on the floor and lower roosts. They get ice water/rooster booster slurries at noon to help cool them off as well and up until this afternoon, they seemed to be handling the heat pretty well. The video shows how my EE presented once she came out of the run, and she actually ran back into the run instead of going off with her buddies, obviously in distress. I’m a human ER nurse, but the only thing that came to mind was that she was overheated, so I took her down to our covered porch and turned on the fans and got ice water and started rubbing her legs and comb. That’s what you hear in the middle of the video. She eventually calmed down, but still makes this squeaking noise from time to time. The last part of the video is appx 25 minutes after the episode when she goes back to the run, I did massage her crop a bit, couldn’t really tell if there was anything there, but she seems to be eating and drinking. Should I be concerned about something more serious or was this just heat?? Thanks in advance!

My one hen did this last week. It was so hot here and she was getting chased by another hen. She is always hotter then my others. I brought her inside in the air conditioning in a dog crate and stayed with her, fed her snacks water with electrolytes in it for several hours. When she cooled off and calmed down she started breathing normal and wings went back flat again. I took her back out with the others at nesting time when it had cooled off. I keep water everywhere for them in the heat. I found if I don't let them out in the yard where they run back and forth in this heat, they do much better. We had a heat streak of several days so I keep them in a smaller area where they could forage, but not run the distance all the way through back yard. This made all the difference. I also went out several times a day and ran the water hose in their area to let them walk in it and keep them cooler. I think some must have much denser feathering then others. She is one of my wyandottes which are really bred for cold weather.

 

[NorthFLChickenChick]

My one hen did this last week. It was so hot here and she was getting chased by another hen. She is always hotter then my others. I brought her inside in the air conditioning in a dog crate and stayed with her, fed her snacks water with electrolytes in it for several hours. When she cooled off and calmed down she started breathing normal and wings went back flat again. I took her back out with the others at nesting time when it had cooled off. I keep water everywhere for them in the heat. I found if I don't let them out in the yard where they run back and forth in this heat, they do much better. We had a heat streak of several days so I keep them in a smaller area where they could forage, but not run the distance all the way through back yard. This made all the difference. I also went out several times a day and ran the water hose in their area to let them walk in it and keep them cooler. I think some must have much denser feathering then others. She is one of my wyandottes which are really bred for cold weather.

Yeah, I have two Brahmas and two Orpingtons who I thought would have more issues with the heat than my Eggers, but so far this has been my only episode. These are still pullets and it’s my first time owning chickens in Florida. When I lived in Maryland with Golden Comets and Cuckoo Marans, they did ok even when we hit temps in the high 90’s w God awful humidity…but their run was under a massive oak tree as well so it tended to keep them well shaded. We built this house and run with the summer heat in mind and their coop has great air flow with four inches between the siding and roofline open (cover w hardware cloth) for cross ventilation and an exhaust fan that stays in 24/7 to move air below the roofline, plus a window that backs to their run which is covered from direct sunlight. We don’t let them out usually until the evenings before out daily thunderstorms once the sun is off the property and it’s breezy…but the heat index was super high yesterday. Fortunately we live in that part of Florida that has seasons, it was 19F on Christmas Day, so they don’t have to suffer like this forever!! Thanks for the advice!

 

[dawg53]

It's the heat. Consider putting a box fan or two in the pen. It helps.
It was a heck of a storm yesterday for sure. I thought it would never end. Deluged.

 

[NorthFLChickenChick]

It's the heat. Consider putting a box fan or two in the pen. It helps.
It was a heck of a storm yesterday for sure. I thought it would never end. Deluged.

Holy cow, only 200 people live in Glen! Small world…nice to meet ya!

 

[dawg53]

Hi, nice to meet you! Welcome to the Glen lol. We live a few miles just north of Glen off hwy125, then just off Bob Burnsed Rd.
Got any old roosters you dont need?