Wheezing / moaning.

[SamLockwood]

This afternoon I noticed one of my 18 week old Cream Legbars was making an odd moaning / wheezing kind of noise. I thought she was distressed but when I looked at here it seems to be a sound she's making while breathing (kind of like if she swallowed a kazoo).

She's not showing any other symptoms: she eats, runs and flies around with the rest of the flock, and otherwise does normal chicken things.

I don't know if it's related, but a couple of days ago there was an incident where one of the largest of my new legbars hopped off some deck furniture without paying attention and landed on one of her smaller flockmates. I'm not entirely sure it's the same bird but "wheezer" is one of the smallest of the youngsters.

I pulled her out of the coop while she was roosting tonight (I find it's way easier handling them when they're half asleep). I can't find any external trauma or anything that feels swollen or abcessed. She did balk a bit when I was prodding around he region of her upper left breast. I don't see any discharge but there is a bit of a rattle in her chest along with the kazoo sound when she takes a deep breath. Comb and wattles look normal, eyes are clear.

When I got her settled in her temporary home and turned the lights out she settled down a bit and she stopped making that wheezing sound.

That's all I've got so far.

 

[nuthatched]

Might be just a bit of feed in the respiratory tract, I wouldn't worry unless it gets worse.

 

[Eggcessive]

It might be stridor, a sound made when a small piece of feed gets into the airway. Also mucus or swelling in the airways can cause it. It usually goes away within a couple of hours. I would return her to her roost with the others. Here is a video of a chicken with stridor to see if this is what you witnessed:

 

[SamLockwood]

That's pretty much the sound she's making.

It might be stridor, a sound made when a small piece of feed gets into the airway. Also mucus or swelling in the airways can cause it. It usually goes away within a couple of hours. I would return her to her roost with the others. Here is a video of a chicken with stridor to see if this is what you witnessed:

 

[Eggcessive]

Let us know if it goes away completely by morning.I had a hen who used to inhale her feed sometimes, and she made that sound a couple of times. Once she coughed up the tiny piece of feed,,she was back to normal.

 

[SamLockwood]

Let us know if it goes away completely by morning.I had a hen who used to inhale her feed sometimes, and she made that sound a couple of times. Once she coughed up the tiny piece of feed,,she was back to normal.

When I checked in on her she was sitting patiently on the little roost in the "infirmiry." The only sound she made was a slight coo when I opened the top of the brooder. No wheezing as she ran to join the rest of the flock as I let them out for the day.