Chickens spitting up and gasping while eating but otherwise healthy

[StrawHatHolly]

At the beginning of the month I noticed my rooster was sneezing, mouth breathing and had a rattling and gurgling sound when he breathed. The day I started him on medication he wasn’t interested in eating and was kind of just standing in the same place most of the day. I talked to some people and they said it seemed like a respiratory disease so I started him on a Oxytetracycline injection, separated him and started the rest of the flock on a water soluble Oxytetracycline. They fasted with only access to the water every day until 4:00. After a few days my rooster got better, was eating on his own and lively again. He lost all the symptoms he previously had. Only one another hen got sick with the same symptoms but she never stopped eating and also got better. But other than her all my other hens were fine the whole time. I cleaned the whole coup and run area and replaced the bedding. After 14 days I stopped the treatment and everyone was healthy. After 10 days off the medication I noticed my rooster is sneezing quite a bit and rattling/gurgling but only when I pick him up. He isn’t mouth breathing yet and he is still eating and acting fine. My hens though have started to spit up liquid and are occasionally sneezing. The liquid is runny, kind of sticky, and pretty clear. When they spit up they shake their heads and are also gasping when they eat. None of my hens are making rattling/gurgling noises when they breathe like my rooster though. Everyone is still eating perfectly fine and acting normal and it seems like all my hens are laying. Their eyes are clear, combs and wattles are bright red, and the yellow color in their legs is still there. About four days before the medication was finished I separated 3 chickens from the flock and put them into a separate run because they were picking badly on one of my docile hens, and they are still separated. These 3 chickens don’t seem to be sick at all. I haven’t noticed them doing anything the other chickens have. I’ve been trying to figure out what might be wrong. Could they have gapeworm since they are gasping and spitting up? I’ve never wormed my chickens before but I feel like I should. Could they be getting sick again? Should I start them on antibiotics again? Can I worm them and treat them with antibiotics at the same time? I appreciate any advice anyone can give, I’m kind of at a loss.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What do you feed including treats?
Do they have grit?

Check to make sure their crops are emptying (should be flat) in the morning before they eat/drink, look inside their beak for any lesions or yellow/white pasty material.

 

[StrawHatHolly]

What do you feed including treats?
Do they have grit?

Check to make sure their crops are emptying (should be flat) in the morning before they eat/drink, look inside their beak for any lesions or yellow/white pasty material.

They eat layer pellets, fermented 4 days a week and not fermented the other 3 days. They have grit available and free range for about 5 hours most days. They get treats like sprouted gains and sunflower seeds but always only 10%. Occasionally food scraps like the leftovers of vegetables. I checked their crops and inside their beaks in the morning a day after posting and everyone had flat crops and clear throats. I started providing them with some tea along side their AVC water after reading some holistic chicken remedies online because I couldn’t make it to the feed store to buy more medicine. Made the tea with parsley, oregano, cinnamon sticks, and garlic. They drank it up better then their regular water. Nobody got worse so I just kept doing it and it’s been almost a week since I saw any of the hens spit up or sneeze. The rooster isn’t rattling anymore, he just occasionally sneezes. But everyone is perfectly fine now other then him squeezing sometimes. The weather here was very cold and rainy when I posted so maybe that could have had something to do with it?