Chicken Ate Bee?

[nikadoodle]

Our easter egger isnt sounding too good, I will break it all down here.

We have bees about 50 feet from our chickens. Its been this way for months now and weve had no problems.

Today our easter egger is making a strange noice when she talks. Her breathing is labored, she sounds like she is gasping for air, but also being very loud. Much louder than normal.

We attempted to catch her to see if we could take a closer look, but she is being stubborn atm so once she settles down I will try again.

She is about 5 months old. Still active, hanging out with her 6 sisters. But certainly looks like something is wrong.

I will attach a video to see if that helps too.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=227843778190456

Thank you for any help provided!

 

[Eggcessive]

The sound that she is making is called stridor, and happens when something is partially blocking the airway. That could be a piece of food, mucus from a respiratory infection, swollen tisse, or a foreign body. The bee theory could be possible, but I would watch her and offer some water and if you have watermelon or a watery vegetables, that might help. Many chickens who get stridor, will stop making the sound within a few hours, if it is just something they need to cough up. If they don’t then I would look at the respiratory infection possibility.

You could offer 1/4 to 1/2 of a Benadryl 25mg tablet one time only if you think it is a bee. If she were really struggling, I think that she would slow down and let you catch her. Perhaps when she is caught or on the roost this evening, you could get another pair of hands, and have a look inside the beak with a flashlight.

 

[nikadoodle]

Thank you so much for the reply. I will get her some watermelon right away and see if she improves. Thank you again!

Amber