Chick is "gaping" what are reasons for this?

[Lady of McCamley]

Thank you for the information! She is isolated now and I will keep her away from the others and watch her. I have been giving her Poly-Vi-Sol due to an issue with her hock joints (which is slowly improving) so I am wondering if this one is just a weak chick or something? I got this batch from someone who hatched out eggs from a hatchery. They are English Orpingntons.
On top of her health issues, when I have put her with my other ladies all she wants to do is peck their eyes and start fights.

I am starting to wonder if it is worth it at this point! I am worried about the health of my other birds. Is the rooster booster something that you give once a month or what? Does it help prevent a variety of issues?
Thanks!!

I'm glad you've got her separated. Joint issue AND sneezing/gaping/nicking? Hmmmm...something is going on with this chick. I'd definitely not reintroduce her until you know she is fine and not contagious.

It COULD be all benign, non-related things...such as a vitamin deficiency producing deformity in the hock joint...that does happen. I had a chick walking on its toes that was caused by a vitamin deficiency. Coccidiosis can cause a vitamin deficiency as it uses up Vitamin B...but I've also suspicioned the medicated chick starter with amprolin (which inhibits Vitamin B absorption to destroy the bacterial cell wall if coccidi) also can cause Vitamin B deficiency. I took my chick off the medicated chick starter and added the Poly-Vi-Sol. It showed notable improvement within a few days and was walking fine within a week.

Sneezing/gaping/nicking as we've discussed is likely some sort of illness...and if the joint symptom is related to THAT....you could have one of the major illnesses (check symptom chart below)...most likely CRD.

Good news is she is fiesty and picking on the other chicks. If a chick is weak and poorly, usually it is the others that are picking on it to the point of bloodiness as the others can sense its weakness/disease. (Could it possibly be a roo?)

Rooster Booster did wonders for my birds after their bout with IB (brought in by a gently, cutely "cooing" 6 month old Delaware I bought from a lady who bred them). Hygromycin B is a dewormer (FDA/USDA sanctioned for layers, if that matters to you) with Bacitracin which is an antibiotic specifically used for CRD. Commercial growers add Hygromycin B and Bacitracin in the daily feed for control of CRD and worms.

It is not cheap for us little guys. About $30 for a canister (if I buy it at the local feed store) that lasted my 16 birds 1 week, so I treat them with it about every 3 months to keep worms and CRD at bay, using herbal methods in between. I have found it cheaper here http://www.abetterchicken.com/product/50101

I honestly do not know how young you can treat with Rooster Booster. I am giving it to mature hens, and have never given it to a chick. The Rooster Booster site says it includes "chicks" in poultry, but you may want to contact them to see how early you can give it. The chick would have to be able to eat the pellet...and I should think 6 weeks would be old enough. If so, I would treat daily until all symptoms were gone...again contact the company. http://roosterboosterproducts.com/

Again, don't panic. Remember taking care of chickens is like taking care of a garden, there is always something to do to keep them healthy or to weed out some pest or illness....and many symptoms can indicate anything from relatively harmless things to major illness. Unfortunately it is only time and experience that will help determine which is which.

Good Luck,
Lady of McCamley

From this chart, CRD is a possible disease that would include joint swelling and gasping/nicking/sneezing, and Rooster Booster might be a good all around care approach...at least it wouldn't hurt.

• Mycoplasma (CRD – Chronic Respiratory Disease)
MG – Mycoplasma gallisepticum
MS – Mycoplasma synoviae
Symptoms: none to nasal and eye discharge, rattles, sneezing, birds stunted and unthrifty;
lameness, swollen joints, weight loss.
Transmission: from hen to chick through the egg; direct bird to bird contact from respiratory
secretions with can contaminate bootwear, clothing and equipment.
Prevention/Control: Eradication is the best control, maintain mycoplasma-free breeders, practice
strict isolation; appropriate antibiotics to stop outbreak, but can create carriers.
http://www.clemson.edu/public/lph/ahp/disease_links/images/poultrydiseases.pdf

 

[katelk]

I ordered some rooster booster. Hopefully that will make some progress. I had been suspicious of CRD after doing research online, but she is SO feisty I just couldn't believe it! She acts like she runs the place yet she is half the size of the other chicks. I am almost certain she isn't a roo. Her comb is almost nonexistent and has no red in it at all, plus her feathers are quite rounded.
When I give her the rooster booster should I stop the Poly-Vi-Sol? I noticed the RB has a lot of B vitamins and I do not want her to overdose or something :/

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I ordered some rooster booster. Hopefully that will make some progress. I had been suspicious of CRD after doing research online, but she is SO feisty I just couldn't believe it! She acts like she runs the place yet she is half the size of the other chicks. I am almost certain she isn't a roo. Her comb is almost nonexistent and has no red in it at all, plus her feathers are quite rounded.
When I give her the rooster booster should I stop the Poly-Vi-Sol? I noticed the RB has a lot of B vitamins and I do not want her to overdose or something

Yes, I would stop the Poly-Vi-Sol, you can overdose on a number of the vitamins which would be toxic. (I learned a lot because my daughter is a Vet Tech and she helped me through a number of my bird matters.)

Now that you mention she is very small as well, I am even more suspicious of CRD. Failure to thrive is a symptom of that. The fact that she is fiesty is a very good sign. She probably will be able to throw it off.

Just be aware that she could become a carrier and take future precautions if need be. Truly the only way to know for certain what you are dealing with is to take her to a Vet and have proper tests, but that is expensive and not all vets are familiar with chickens nor chicken care. Industry standard is to simply cull them for a lot of diseases, and many small breeders cull any and all sick birds.

If all goes well and she recovers, read up and make an informed decision about her long term risk to other birds. Your other birds have likely already been exposed and thrown it off being stronger in constitution. If you keep a closed flock, no worries. If you plan to show her, then you would have to know what you are dealing with and the risk you might cause another bird.

One last warning...again from hard won knowledge and probably something already obvious to you....be careful to not handle her and then handle your other birds or trade non-disinfected water or food dishes between the two cages. It's important to not carry serious disease from one pen to the next. (Devoted breeders go through an extreme sanitization process between pens including all hair, clothes, boots, etc.) I am not that fastidious, and if it is viral you'd have to have a bubble tent. But you can do a lot to keep transfer of disease down by washing your hands, seeing the sick bird last in your rounds, wearing a special coat just for handling her, disinfecting anything that would be used again by another bird. (The vet clinic uses Lysol Disinfectant spray as a good topical disinfectant for cage surfaces, bleach for utensils and food dishes.)

Good luck. Post how she is doing in time.
Lady of McCamley

 

[GD91]

I have mine in a good sized "small" coop in my dining room

The chick I am talking about, however, has been separated from the others because they were pecking at her. She is a bit smaller than them. She has since pretty much gotten free reign of the house and seems to think she is a lap dog lol. She will run around outside and eat and play, but try to act like you are going to relax and she MUST be in your lap! Quite inconvenient for my 35 pound border collie who is terrified of her...

We have a 5 stone Rottweiler that's in the same boat except she's not terrified.... She has gone broody, follows them around, tries to pick them up, licks them, lies down & doesn't take her eyes off them! They bounce all over her! It's really funny!
Yesterday she chased a cat away from them while they were outside

so I have an unpaid chick sitter. She stays within five feet of the chicks at all times.
The staffordshire bull terrier is not bothered & just ignores the chicks. They are not important enough to pay any attention to apparently.

I found giving mine food & drink stops the gaping to. Maybe its just what they do to signal to mum that they want something.

 

[katelk]

Well I have now noticed that the chick has some loud breathing. It is hard to describe, I suppose it would be called wheezing? I hate to think this is a new development, but I can't imagine having not noticed it before.
I started the chick on rooster booster yesterday.

I am trying to decide whether or not I need to cull. Can someone explain to me the consequences of keeping a chick with chronic respiratory disease or some other respiratory issue? From what I understand it is transferred through the egg to chick and even if a bird gets well, they will always be a carrier and infect other birds. I am attached to this chick but want to do the best thing for my whole flock. If this can infect my other birds and make them miserable, I do not want that. However, I have also heard it doesn't effect adults symptom-wise but don't know if that's true. I am trying to wrap my mind around the whole poultry disease and illness care/prevention thing and its overwhelming! Lol