Hoarse guinea fowl - dust? Gapeworm? Something else?

[SuiladMellon]

Hey guys, so I've got a few guinea fowl who've gotten hoarse over the last month or so- I have one hen who is *really* hoarse & can barely make any noise (not for lack of trying), and a few others (also hens) who are a little squeaky but otherwise fine. I had one male who similarly got very hoarse a few months back when they were young, but recovered on his own within a few weeks, but now its cropped up again in different birds. My initial thought was it could be dust causing respiratory issues, as their old temporary coop was not that well ventilated and got somewhat dusty at times, but they've been in their new much airier and dust-free coop for over a month now and the hoarseness is coming back. They eat, drink, run around, yell (or try to yell) and otherwise act completely normal. They're just hoarse so, I'm at a bit of a loss.

My second guess was maybe gapeworm but I'm skeptical that's what this is, since they don't really display any of the other symptoms. I sort of want to treat just in case but I'm not really sure how to go about it since there's so much conflicting info. Is there something else that could be causing this, like a respiratory infection, etc?

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be a respiratory disease going through the flock. Symptoms can vary but virus or bacterial infection can include nasal drainage, gasping, rattly breathing, and sneezing. Swollen eyes and a bubbly/foamy eye cannbe feom mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) or coryza, especially if it has a bad odor. Make sure there is no mold, as it can cause disease as well. Make as much ventilation as possible.

 

[SuiladMellon]

It could be a respiratory disease going through the flock. Symptoms can vary but virus or bacterial infection can include nasal drainage, gasping, rattly breathing, and sneezing. Swollen eyes and a bubbly/foamy eye cannbe feom mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) or coryza, especially if it has a bad odor. Make sure there is no mold, as it can cause disease as well. Make as much ventilation as possible.

I had briefly considered a respiratory infection back when the male first came down with whatever this is, but since he just kinda got over it pretty quick on his own once we moved them & none of the others seemed affected at the time I didn't do anything about it. In both his case and the really hoarse hen now, they both have a sort of mild wheezing sound that occured if they were breathing hard, like on an especially hot day or if they'd been running around a lot in the sun. They sound like a little motorboat engine almost, like an audible put-put-put sound as they breath. But that's the only real symptom they show, besides the hoarseness.

If it is some sort of respiratory thing, is there much I can do about it without really knowing exactly what it is, or is my best bet just to let it run its course for now & treat if it starts getting worse/causing other problems?

Also, I hadn't really considered mold, I'll have to check for it. Their new hooch is really well ventilated but its definitely worth checking!

 

[SuiladMellon]

Well, unfortunately the one very hoarse hen passed away overnight last night. I cleaned out their coop thoroughly and I've been keeping it as clean as I can this last week in case it was mold or something like that causing problems, but she didn't show any improvement in the hoarseness. I had not noticed any further symptoms or deterioration with her either, and she otherwise was eating, drinking etc & not having any breathing issues so I was a bit surprised to find that she had died. But, I'm not there to observe them for much of the day, so perhaps there was something there that I missed.

I'm leaning more towards this being some sort of respiratory infection now, but I'm not finding much online about treatments so any advice would be appreciated in that regard. The others who were a little squeaky are pretty much back to normal and there are no new ones, but I will be keeping an eye on them in case whatever this is makes a comeback. Definitely not the outcome I wanted from this

EDIT: Okay... another quick update the next day and I think I may have figured out why she died and, it may not actually be disease related after all.

I've had what I think is a raccoon make an attempt on my coop last night, didn't get anyone but I've got one girl missing a big chunk of feathers and another limping a bit on a sore foot, so now I'm wondering if that same raccoon is also responsible for killing my hen the night before.

The top of the coop is chicken wire covered with what I thought was a pretty secured heavy-duty tarp, but I think he managed to get the edge loose to get up under the tarp and make a grab through the wire at the guineas on the top perch. I've moved the perch first thing this morning so that it is much further away from the low end of the roof where I think he got to them, and I'm going to add some additional wood strips along the edges today to further secure the tarp. But now I'm suspicious this might've been what happened to my dead hen from the previous night, if perhaps he managed to grab her head or something and pulled her off the perch and she died from the stress or a damaged neck. I didn't see any visible damage on her body but I am far from experienced with this sort of thing so maybe there was something I missed.

Regardless, coop is getting some more predator-proofing so hopefully this won't happen again, & I'll be keeping an eye on everybody.