Chicken sporadically gapes.

[BrooketheChook]

Hi. I have a 6 month old Belgian D'Uccle who gapes. Although she would do this very occasionally when she was a baby chick, she has started to gape more often now. There is no rasping, discharge from eyes, beak or nostrils, she runs, dances, eats and drinks and her sister has never had this problem. The frequency increased after a hot bout of weather in which she didn't seem to cope well, so I brought them inside for a couple of days and sat their box in front of a fan (which they'd fight over sitting in front of, hahaha). I have been adding wormer to their water, because I was scared of gape worm and I have put antibiotics in their food for the last couple of days incase it was a virus, but she still does it for a couple of minutes a few times a day and then she is okay again...

Any thoughts?

 

[justplainbatty]

Hi. I have a 6 month old Belgian D'Uccle who gapes. Although she would do this very occasionally when she was a baby chick, she has started to gape more often now. There is no rasping, discharge from eyes, beak or nostrils, she runs, dances, eats and drinks and her sister has never had this problem. The frequency increased after a hot bout of weather in which she didn't seem to cope well, so I brought them inside for a couple of days and sat their box in front of a fan (which they'd fight over sitting in front of, hahaha). I have been adding wormer to their water, because I was scared of gape worm and I have put antibiotics in their food for the last couple of days incase it was a virus, but she still does it for a couple of minutes a few times a day and then she is okay again...

Any thoughts?

Are you sure it's a girl?

 

[BrooketheChook]

I'm pretty sure? Lol. There have been no rooster noises and seems too affectionate to be a boy. She purrs when I pat her and is the snuggliest one. If she is a he....how would I be able to tell? I have tried to look for 'lumps' around the vent area and can't see anything...

 

[justplainbatty]

I'm pretty sure? Lol. There have been no rooster noises and seems too affectionate to be a boy. She purrs when I pat her and is the snuggliest one. If she is a he....how would I be able to tell? I have tried to look for 'lumps' around the vent area and can't see anything...

Here are some pics https://www.google.com/search?q=picture+of+belgian+D'uccle+cockrel&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

 

[BrooketheChook]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm positive she is a she....as she laid her first egg the other day

.
Although, one of her ears is quite swollen and she shakes and scratches her head a bit and closes that one eye....I have tried looking for mites. As I have said, no rasping, or noises when she gapes, so I don't think it is respiratory.....I put olive oil on it, incase of ear mites...but I haven't noticed any obvious discharge....this is so frustrating, I just want her to be better.

 

[justplainbatty]

Sounds like she may have an ear infection. She may be trying to relieve pressure in her ear by gaping. I recommend looking in her ear to see if it's full of crud and infection. Compare with her other ear or ear of different chicken.
Read here, post #4 https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/767500/ear-infection