Is this gapeworm? VIDEO INCLUDED

[yellow_store]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forums so I'm not sure if I'm doing this right! We have a chicken showing some respiratory symptoms, I'm not sure if it could be gapeworm or something else? Here is a video of the gaping behavior she has been doing:

I've called around to a few vets and have not found anyone willing to do a fecal float test. We've noticed her sneezing for the past couple of weeks, and her other main symptom is refusing to drink. We've been watering down her food and trying to feed her apples to get some liquid into her. I've also seen her do some head shaking and a little open mouth breathing. She sometimes has a little discharge from her nostrils. I would appreciate any thoughts on what we're most likely dealing with!

 

[Eggcessive]

It looks like she is adjusting her crop. Can you feel of her crop in the early morning before she eats or drinks, to make sure that it is empty. Gapeworm is rare. But respiratory infections are more common, and may cause sneezing, nasal drainage, and head shaking. Do you see any bubbles or foam in either eye? Any swelling of the face? Respiratory diseases can be viral, bacterial, or fungal. If you want to treat for gapeworm anyway, Safeguard liquid goat wormer 0.25 ml per pound given for 3-5 days orally will treat it.

 

[yellow_store]

Her crop has felt okay but will try to check it again tomorrow morning. We haven't seen any bubbles or foam in the eyes or swelling of the face, but will pay more attention to checking for those symptoms. I'm not really sure where to start for a respiratory disease since there are so many possible causes. We'd like to avoid antibiotics. We've thought about trying corid and Safeguard just in case but haven't just because it seems more like a respiratory disease.

 

[Eggcessive]

Antibiotics will only treat symptoms of a bacterial disease, but not a virus or fungal disease. Viruses, such as infectious bronchitis and a few others have to run their course over time.

 

[micstrachan]

She is adjusting her crop. Is that the only issue? If so, I would not worry about it yet. And I’m a worrier!

 

[yellow_store]

It looks like she is adjusting her crop. Can you feel of her crop in the early morning before she eats or drinks, to make sure that it is empty. Gapeworm is rare. But respiratory infections are more common, and may cause sneezing, nasal drainage, and head shaking. Do you see any bubbles or foam in either eye? Any swelling of the face? Respiratory diseases can be viral, bacterial, or fungal. If you want to treat for gapeworm anyway, Safeguard liquid goat wormer 0.25 ml per pound given for 3-5 days orally will treat it.

We checked her crop this morning, it felt empty to us.

She is adjusting her crop. Is that the only issue? If so, I would not worry about it yet. And I’m a worrier!

Unfortunately it's not the only issue but thanks for taking a look, that does make me feel a bit better. We became really concerned about her because she did not come off her roost one morning and even when we took her down she just sat in the coop and looked like she was breathing heavily. She seemed to get better after that one day and since then the only main issues have been the gaping and that she is not drinking. Her poop has had yellow urates too but I've been thinking that's due to not drinking?

 

[tizabel_]

I’ve been looking for answers before posting my own thread and this is almost exactly what my chick is doing. Two of them actually.
I have eight of them, 7 weeks old, and i’ve noticed two of them doing this over and over when they were sitting on my lap. They don’t tilt their head down quite as much but the rest of the movement is identical. There’s no sound.
Did your hen stop doing this?

 

[yellow_store]

Yes I think so, at least I haven't caught her doing it at all lately. We ended up treating her with Safeguard and corid just in case then returned her to the flock. She's seemed to be okay since then. I caught a different one of chickens doing this about a week ago, I'm a little worried about it but we treated her with Safeguard not too long ago because she was seeming sick. So I'm just hoping the commenters on here are right and it's just adjusting the crop. I don't have much chicken experience

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I’ve been looking for answers before posting my own thread and this is almost exactly what my chick is doing. Two of them actually.
I have eight of them, 7 weeks old, and i’ve noticed two of them doing this over and over when they were sitting on my lap. They don’t tilt their head down quite as much but the rest of the movement is identical. There’s no sound.
Did your hen stop doing this?

The hen in the video is adjusting her crop.

If you have concerns about your 7wk old chicks, go ahead and start a thread. Include a video if you wish. Give a description of what you feed including treats, grit, etc. along with behavior. Photos are always welcome too.