Wondering what's wrong with my pullet.

[MsChickenMomma]

I have a 7 month old Buff Orpington pullet that lives in the house. Yesterday I started to notice some strange behavior from her.

She doesn't have a tongue (because of something that happened when she was young), and she has trouble eating some foods. At first I thought maybe she got some tiny pieces of her grit stuck around her windpipe, because that's what it sounded like. But then I noticed her crop is kind of soft, and she did throw up a tiny amount of mucus/liquid, but her beak doesn't have any bad or funny smells.

When she chatters, she makes a weird groan/wheezing sound instead of her normal noise. Her eyes and nostrils are clear, she isn't breathing out of her mouth, and she's eating, drinking and pooping like normal.


A better analysis of her symptoms.

1. Groaning/wheezing when she chatters
2. Vomited a tiny amount of liquid a few times yesterday.
3. Her crop is squishy/soft, but there is no bad smells coming from her beak.

Does anyone know what's wrong with her?

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[Eggcessive]

I suppose without a tongue she might be prone to choking easily, and she could wheeze if she aspirated something. I would look inside the beak and down her throat with a light just to make sure she doesn't have any yellow or gray material that could be canker or wet pox. She also could have something stuck.

 

[gander007]

Well first I would ask what is she eating ?????
with out a tongue I would only feed a ground
food like Turkey Starter ...........

gander007

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Okay, I'll try and check her throat.

She eats layer pellets. That is the only thig we have found that she can easily get down. She also eats a bit of cracked corn a few times per day.

I was listening to her just now, and she does sound better than yesterday, but her crop still feels a bit squishy/soft. Yesterday her crop was quite large, and this morning it was almost empty, so I don't think she's having trouble digesting. I looked up the symptoms of sour crop, and that doesn't seem to be what she has. I did give her some yogurt mixed with a little water today, just in case.

 

[gander007]

I have one Road Island Red who has the front of her beak tor off because she ran into a
fence running from a fox and I watch her most of the day or when I see her as she is not
a problem at all to catch most of the time and she eats a little corn but mostly laying
crumble and some rice and what bugs she can catch on her own and once in a wile I get
her some worms ....
The one thing I do have to do is put some sugar in a small amount of water to get her to
drink and keep her air way moist this I had a problem with several months ago ......

gander007

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Sunni (my pullet) has a really hard time eating anything smaller than a piece of cracked corn. It all clogs up in the back of her beak and causes her to choke. Which is why we give her the pellets instead of crumbles.

She has no problem keeping her beak moist, because she can drink water. It took her three and a half months after losing her tongue to learn how to drink, and those few months were hard. I had to feed her watered down feed through a syringe, and I had to go out several times per day and give her a little water to moisten her beak.

When she was first learning to drink on her own, I worried about her aspirating, but it never seems to have been a problem.

She seems normal now, still a little wheezy, but her crop is firm again. I don't know what was up with her. Maybe she got some grit stuck in her windpipe, and drank too much water trying to get it down. That would explain the really squishy crop.

 

[gander007]

Yes I could understand how the crumble could clog up her wind pipe
your are an increasable person taking all that care to make sure she
makes it good job...
Keep up the good work ........

gander007