Hen Panting, even at night, no others are

[adcgroup]

I've got a hen that I've noticed panting for the past 3 days. No other chickens are. It's been hot, so I thought maybe she was just hot. Made sure they had fresh water and moved on.

After noticing her panting while none of the others are, I decided to check her out. She seems to be acting normally in every other way. Fresh water is readily available. I waited until tonight when the temperature had finally dropped into the 70's and she is still panting.

I've put some ACV in the water. She's not showing any other signs of illness at the moment, but using that much energy to breath fast can't be good.

Any ideas?

 

[Delaneygraces]

I’ll be watching this thread. I have a hen doing that too.
My guess for mine is that’s she’s hotter than my others, as she’s a VERY heavy/thick feathered hen, while everyone else is smaller and thinner feathered. It might also be, has she gone though moot yet this summer? Some of my bantams will pant, then stop eating a lot, molt, then start eating and acting normal again.

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

I was wondering if hens get hot flashes like women do.
I've got one that roosts with her wings out and pants as well, even when the temp is in the 50s. She's one of my older hens, so that made me wonder about henopause.

 

[adcgroup]

LOL - henopause.

If she had her wings out, I'd feel better about it just being heat. It has been hot here - and humid. But, she's not holding them out even at the top of the afternoon. But, she acts normal in every other way. I tried to catch her and she was sufficiently difficult to catch and moved nimbly. She's first at the door when I let them out to play. She scratches around and seems to eat a variety of things and be normally active.

 

[coach723]

Some of my older hens have more difficulty in hot weather, especially if it's humid. I do all the normally suggested things for helping them stay cool, providing ample shade seems to help the most. If I see one really having trouble they get brought into the a/c for a while until they've cooled off, I've got one that honks when she gets overheated. I would try to examine her, take her off the roost after dark when she'll be calmer, just do a going over to make sure there is no illness going on that might be contributing, look for bloating in the abdomen or crop abnormalities and the like, make sure there are no lice or mites. And try to get a look at her droppings. It may simply be the heat, but better to not miss anything.

 

[adcgroup]

Day 4 and she's still seemingly normal in every other way. Haven't seen anything raise flags in an examination. It has been hot. Today, the other chickens in her flock were also panting. I was out in it and soaking wet with sweat. She's just over a year old (born Apr/May '17) and had her first brood earlier this summer. Maybe it's the first molt.

 

[adcgroup]

Nearly a week later and she's still poking about normally. Early this morning, while it was still cooler, she wasn't panting. Back to panting this afternoon. Must be that she's just taking the heat harder than the others.

 

[coach723]

Glad to hear that it seems nothing else is going on with her. I'd just suggest, since you know that this bird in particular may struggle more in high temps, that you keep an eye on her when it is hot so that you can take steps if necessary to avoid heat stroke. Hopefully that never happens.