What would cause this?

[gogoalie]

My neighbor called me tellin' me that his hen (9 weeks old) was not makin' any noise, & you couldn't see it's tounge anymore, & would open it's mouth & you could see right down into it's gullet, he told me that it was slowly dyin', lethargic & not moving around like it would, but still eating...it would open it's mouth & try to make peeping noises, but nothing would come out.

Anyone know what would cause this?

Thanks in Advanced...