Gape worms, respiratory or choking?

[BelleoftheYard]

Hi all,

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I have a 4.5 month old ISA Brown who suddenly started gasping/gaping/wheezing this afternoon while out for supervised foraging time.

No one else is showing any signs of sickness.

I’m trying to determine if it is gapeworms, a respiratory infection or if she could be choking on something.

As I said it came on very suddenly. Her crop is full but it is the end of the day. No nasal or eye discharge, no foul smell from her mouth. Not underweight, but she is the bottom of the pecking order and I know that adds stress.

The initial episode was 5-10 minutes of gasping/gaping, stretching her neck, an occasional loud “bwok” and shaking her head and a sneeze/cough sound.

We brought her inside to a dark, quiet, warm room and after 5 minutes she settled down. It’s now about 45 minutes later and she’s no longer gasping but she is wheezing when she breathes.

I have a video but I don’t know how to attach it

Any suggestions/insight would be so helpful!

 

[sourland]

It does sound as if something was caught in her throat and is working its way down the digestive tract. Hope so.

 

[BelleoftheYard]

It does sound as if something was caught in her throat and is working its way down the digestive tract. Hope so.

That was my first thought. Or maybe an impacted crop? I’m keeping her isolated for the night, fasting her to see if her crop deflated over night. Lots of warm, clean water to drink and some water loaded with electrolytes on the side, as well as a bowl of grit (which she was super excited about; making me lean a little more towards a crop issue?).

 

[Stevan]

That was my first thought. Or maybe an impacted crop? I’m keeping her isolated for the night, fasting her to see if her crop deflated over night. Lots of warm, clean water to drink and some water loaded with electrolytes on the side, as well as a bowl of grit (which she was super excited about; making me lean a little more towards a crop issue?).

How's your hen now? Mine got the same thing randomly today and idk what to do.

 

[BelleoftheYard]

She’s completely fine now!

I kept her inside for about 24 hours, fasted her (except for warm water, electrolyte water and grit), and kept her in a warm, dark room. The next morning I gave her some cool coconut oil (so it was firm) as she was still a little wheezy. When I got home from work I gave her a tablespoon of Greek yogurt and some more coconut oil, and by that point she was completely fine - no stretching her neck or gasping, so I put her back in the coop that night. She’s been fine since and no one ever showed any signs of anything similar, so I do think she probably choked on something.

I hope your hen is okay!!

 

[Stevan]

She’s completely fine now!

I kept her inside for about 24 hours, fasted her (except for warm water, electrolyte water and grit), and kept her in a warm, dark room. The next morning I gave her some cool coconut oil (so it was firm) as she was still a little wheezy. When I got home from work I gave her a tablespoon of Greek yogurt and some more coconut oil, and by that point she was completely fine - no stretching her neck or gasping, so I put her back in the coop that night. She’s been fine since and no one ever showed any signs of anything similar, so I do think she probably choked on something.

I hope your hen is okay!!

Yeh mines already good, I guess she just swallowed something too big. Haha.