Gaping rooster - gapeworm? respiratory issue? nothing?

[chickchickie]

I have a 7 year old rooster who I've noticed has been gaping occasionally. Not a lot, but a few times a day, especially if he is just sitting or standing around and not doing anything, he will start gaping, and will do it anywhere from just once or twice, or many times for the next few minutes. He used to eat slugs, and so I thought it might be gapeworm. When I listened to his breathing, it sounded a little heavy, like the kind of breathing you might hear if one has a stuffy nose. Wasn't sure if this is considered the "rattling" breath that is characteristic of gapeworm, but one of his nostrils also looks like it might be a little clogged, so this may be the cause of the heavy breathing? Will try to clean it out later today, though I somehow don't think the dirt in his nostril is the cause of this. Other than the intermittent gaping and the breathing, he has no other symptoms.

My 7 year old hen who lives with him has none of these symptoms, which is what is making me think it is not gapeworm. I started using diatomaceous earth in our coop after suffering several heavy mite infestations, and have been using DE for the last 4,5 years maybe. I also recently added a sandbox with some sand and DE mixed in for my chickens to dustbathe in, though I always see my hen hogging the box and have never seen my rooster using it. I've heard concerns over sand and DE use (especially food grade DE) causing respiratory problems like silicosis in chickens, and so am wondering if my rooster might be developing silicosis from DE? Is this even a thing that can happen?

Should I be worried about my rooster at all? Is this gapeworm maybe, or a respiratory problem? Should I remove the sand and DE? Or am I putting too much thought into this? Any advice or thoughts from anyone with experience in anything similar would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[chickchickie]

update: the nare is definitely clogged. however, he is not letting me remove the clog as I think it is hurting him when I try. He's had a clogged nare before that he wouldn't let me remove and I was scared to use hydrogen peroxide because he kept eating the moistened paper towels I was using so I ended up having to leave the nare be and it eventually, after a very long time, unclogged itself.

 

[dawg53]

Try using an eyedropperful of warm water to moisten/loosen the debris in the nare. Let it soak in and then try using a toothpick or opened paper clip to remove debris. It would be best to tie his feet together with shoe string and then snugly wrap him in a towel when removing the debris.