Do chick's yawn or hiccup?

[Mrs. Green Thumbs]

My girls used to do this A LOT but I haven't seen them do it nearly as much any more. WIDE open beaks, and a head bob like movement, quick and then closed beak again no sound nothing. It looks like a yawn but one day I was laying on the floor watching the chicks through the window in the brooder when I saw Rose (our RIR) do this 10 - 15 times in a row. Hiccups? Gag reflex? there was no vomit and they all look very healthy. They are drinking fresh water, eating medicated chick starter, and grit for those yummy snacks of earth worms, cricket's, or meal worms (and the occasional veggie from the garden). What is this. Is it normal?

 

[Blue_Myst]

If they look otherwise healthy, I don't think there's anything to worry about. Maybe she had food caught in her throat. There is a type of worm called "Gapeworm" that can cause excessive use of the yawning motion. I thought it was usually only in adult birds, but don't hold me to that. This thread talks a bit about it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=87267

Hope this helps!

 

[debilorrah]

I had a bird named Hiccups. She was always hiccuping. Cracked me up.

 

[littlestars17]

My golden comets do this

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

Oh yes, my girls did the neck stretch/yawn/gaping mouth thing for awhile and it totally freaked me out! Someone told me that they are readjusting/moving the food around in their crops.

 

[Mrs. Green Thumbs]

Quote:
That makes sense in a way because it's usually right after an eating session and before the nap/cuddle with sister's session.

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

You're hilarious, totally like me when my girls were little, worried about their every move.

How did your little one's umbilical cord heal up?

 

[Mrs. Green Thumbs]

-sigh- still not healed... either she has gotten so much bigger that the bulge seems smaller in comparison or the bulge has shrunk a small amount but the wound is still open, she is lean, but growing and over all alert and normal in behavior. The wound does not seep, it does not have pus or any thing like that the edges are dried and the inside seems dry.... I have no idea what's going to happen with her. Because of the location if Jasmin is a girl then she will have problems with her egg's I'm assuming, if Jasmin is a boy... I have no idea how we will bare letting him go and how we would find him a home.... Were hoping she has a recovery and goes on to be a happy healthy chicken but were not getting our hopes up too high. She is still a chick after all and still has an unknown problem. So we continue to treat her with water soluble (for some stupid reason my brain is farting on that word) med's and keeping her in sight of the other girls in hopes that she will be reintegrated into the flock, but separated for her own safety. And washing the wound with (OMG what is with me today! brown stuff) 1 part to 3 parts water. Thanks for asking.