Can a chicken 'lose her voice'

[KayTee]

Thanks for your post Teila - I have had the same thing in one of my girls this morning, and was beginning to worry. However, now I feel very much reassured.

White-Toe (aka Mabel) is the moaner of the flock on any standard day, but yesterday she was going overboard due to the fact that I let the 6-week old chicks free range for the first time, and my broody had four newly hatched day-olds in the coop. Add to that the fact that the strawberries are all in season, shiny ripe and red but just out of reach in the planters on the balcony, and we aren't sharing enough of them with the chickens (in Mabel's opinion, at least!) So many things to complain about all in one day - and boy did she complain!

My husband and I both commented that she was much more moany than usual. This morning I went out to give them treats and she came running up to shout that I was late - all that came out was a little squeak!

It was so funny I had to call my husband to come and listen!

Other than that she seems in normal health - eating, running around and trying to complain, but doing it much more quietly. It was actually a very pleasant change, although I really hope she's back to normal tomorrow!

Mabel yesterday - clearly not happy about something everything!!!

 

[Teila]

Hey there KayTee, sorry, somehow I had managed to unsubscribe myself from this thread and missed your post

I am glad Mabel is OK.

When I researched with Dusty I was able to find lots of things that it could be, which also freaked me out

, but nothing to say that “Yes, they can just go hoarse from being too vocal”.

I hope this thread helps others also.

Again, I cannot stress enough “Of course, I am not saying to not be vigilant if one of your hens loses her voice but if it happens to be on a day when she has been out of character excessively vocal, she may just have overdone the talking.”

Mabel is adorable!

This is Dusty …. Bambrook Bantams' chief whinger:

 

[KayTee]

Dusty is gorgeous too!
I have a theory that every flock has to have a union representative - to carry the complaints, gripes and moans of the working girls to the management's ears. Mabel fills that position perfectly! She's not completely back to normal today, but she's a bit better, and just laid for me, so I'm not too worried. I'll keep an eye on her anyway though. Just in case

 

[KayTee]

A quick update on Mabel. It's been 3 days since she lost her voice. This morning she stationed herself under my bedroom window at 6.30am and shouted, full volume and non-stop for almost 5 minutes until I got up - I think it's safe to say that she's got her voice back ! Although I'm going to have to dig out some earplugs for tomorrow morning, I'm quite pleased to be obliged to do so - normal service has been resumed!

During the day she has had the odd croak, but nothing too bad - she obviously did exactly the same as Dusty and just over-exerted her vocal cords with day of non-stop moaning. Who would have thought that chickens could shout themselves hoarse!

 

[Teila]

Howdy KayTee

I am so pleased that Mabel is back to her normal self.

It has been 2 weeks and 4 days for Dusty and she is a picture of health.

Mabel and Dusty are living proof that chickens can, in fact, shout themselves hoarse

 

[Teila]

Well, it has been 18 months or so since I started this thread and Dusty is still the flock’s chief whinger.

The majority of the time she walks around muttering under her breath but yesterday, for reasons unbeknown to me, she decided that she needed to up the ante and was shouting about something for most of the morning.

As I had a meeting to attend, I left hubby in charge of working out just what she was complaining about and we still do not know for sure. The only thing we think it could possibly have been was the fact that there was some squabbling going on over the favourite of 3 nest boxes and they were all a bit antsy about it. I have 5 x gals and 3 x nest boxes but apparently only I can see 2 of the 3

When I got home from the meeting, Dusty sounded like a baby dinosaur with laryngitis

Yep, she had lost her voice again!

Today she is back to normal.

So, for future readers, I can, once again, vouch that chickens can lose their voice.

 

[KayTee]

As I had a meeting to attend, I left hubby in charge of working out just what she was complaining about and we still do not know for sure. The only thing we think it could possibly have been was the fact that there was some squabbling going on over the favourite of 3 nest boxes and they were all a bit antsy about it. I have 5 x gals and 3 x nest boxes but apparently only I can see 2 of the 3

So I'm not the only person who has invisible nest boxes!

I have at least 4 places where my 10 girls could lay their eggs, but guess what - they can only see one nest box in the whole coop. Once this box is occupied they just don't know what to do - they wander round in the coop, walk in front of the occupied box, and even try to boot the nesting bird off before she has even had a chance to lay! They walk straight past the empty boxes, even though there are fake eggs in them. Max and Mabel in particular are so obsessed by the only 'visible' nest box that every time I go into the coop they have to follow me in and start to complain loudly about the lack of nesting spaces!

 

[Teila]

Lol KayTee! Cilla, our matriarch, doesn’t just pace the coop if someone is in her nest box, she tells the whole neighbourhood about it. Thing is, even if she does not want to lay or has already laid makes no difference, that is her nest box and any time someone uses it, she is not amused!

That is Cilla on top "Mine! Mine! Mine!"

 

[Teila]

So, time for another update on this one .. Dusty has once again lost her voice

It was a bad day in Dustyville yesterday and apparently absolutely nothing was going right …

“It’s too hot!” … “She’s in my nest box” .. “That was my worm!” .. ‘When’s Dinner?!” … “I was going to roost there!” .. “Ouch! She pecked me!” .. “Move over!”

End result: baby dinosaur with laryngitis again

 

[KayTee]

So, time for another update on this one .. Dusty has once again lost her voice

It was a bad day in Dustyville yesterday and apparently absolutely nothing was going right …

“It’s too hot!” … “She’s in my nest box” .. “That was my worm!” .. ‘When’s Dinner?!” … “I was going to roost there!” .. “Ouch! She pecked me!” .. “Move over!”

End result: baby dinosaur with laryngitis again