Unknown cause nonstop gasping yawning

[PartiPoodles]

Anyone have any ideas as to what may be the cause of this in the video? Cockerel is approx. 4-5 months old Serama. He has been doing it for over 50 minutes now nonstop. Strange thing also is that his tail feathers normally sit at a vertical position. Now they seem unusually off to the side.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

It looks like gapeworm but @Eggcessive will probably know

 

[Eggcessive]

He is gasping for air. Can you look into his beak and throat for anything stuck or any yellow canker? You canntreat for gapeworm (which is rare) with SafeGuard Liquid Goat wormer 1/4 ml per pound of weight for 5 consecutive days. I would suspect something stuck in his crop or throat though. What do you feed him? Does he have granite poultry grit?

 

[PartiPoodles]

Thank you so much @Rose the Legbar and @Eggcessive !! I’ll have my sister hold him while I check his crop and throat as advised. He’s still doing it this morning, so whatever the cause may be is still there.

All of my chickens and quail the Nutrena Naturewise 20% Protein All Flock pellets. The pellets in this mix seem to be about 1/3 smaller than the normal pellet size. The crumbles were done before, but it seemed like too much was getting wasted or powdery etc.

The only time the chickens and quail were given granite grit was when they were in the brooders. Otherwise I’ve never done so thinking they probably get plenty of grit through the endless sand we have here in FL that they are pecking around in all day.

The Serama are in a mobile 4 x 8 pen that always has sand on the ground. The other stuff is just grass clippings or other greens that get tossed in there for them to enjoy.

I’m more than open to accepting and being grateful for any advice contrary to, in addition to, etc. regarding granite. A large part of me is hoping this pitiful, miserable excuse for what we call soil here in FL (sand) could actually be good as chicken grit. Lol.

Lastly, I’ll be sure to post an update of what was found and what was done, etc. Thanks again!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Anyone have any ideas as to what may be the cause of this in the video? Cockerel is approx. 4-5 months old Serama. He has been doing it for over 50 minutes now nonstop. Strange thing also is that his tail feathers normally sit at a vertical position. Now they seem unusually off to the side.

Can you feel of him all over to make sure he doesn't have what feels like an air bubble or pocket under his skin?

Chickens have 9 air sacs located on the body. Feel around these locations to see if you feel air trapped under the skin.

 

[PartiPoodles]

My sister was a vet tech for 20+ years, but has very little avian experience. I asked her to help examine him since that is still far more experience than mine. She checked his throat and crop while I held him and she said it’s definitely clear. Though she did say she wouldn’t know what gapeworm looks like. His breathing did sound like maybe there was mucous deep down his throat further down than what could be seen. It had that nasally type of sound, but it wasn’t coming from his nostrils. Going on the picture posted by @Wyorp Rock it sounded like it might be as far down as where the red interclavicular air sac is. It does feel sort of like a grape there (in feel, not size) and when it was massaged it made him sneeze each time.

 

[PartiPoodles]

@Wyorp Rock Thanks for sharing that pic. I had no idea they had all those air sacs. I had thought the air sacs were limited to the lungs and wing portions of skeletal sections

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If he doesn't improve, I'd try treating with an antibiotic and deworm him too.
With him going around like that he's probably exhausted and also having a hard time getting to eat/drink.

 

[PartiPoodles]

Well, we were able to get 2 days of medicine in him, and then sadly I found him deceased this morning. Thank you all for your help. At least I can be at peace with doing the best I could and now I’m that much more equipped with knowledge to care for the existing flock, thanks to you. Passing on your knowledge and experience to us newbies is so much appreciated!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Well, we were able to get 2 days of medicine in him, and then sadly I found him deceased this morning. Thank you all for your help. At least I can be at peace with doing the best I could and now I’m that much more equipped with knowledge to care for the existing flock, thanks to you. Passing on your knowledge and experience to us newbies is so much appreciated!

I'm sorry.