gapeworm?

[geprgiawc]

I have a chicken that silent yawns and shakes her head...no other symptoms. she's been doing this off and on for a while now (months)...I look down her throat but don't really know what I am looking at. How do I tell if it is gapeworm or something stuck in her crop? I'd appreciate any advice - and pictures too! CeCe is a lovely nervous girl, would hate for her to be sick if I can help her.

 

[Eggcessive]

She may be adjusting her crop, but you could feel of her crop to see if it may be impacted or sour. Gapeworm is pretty rare, and the chicken would be in great respiratory distress--think of a little kid with a severe croup attack. The chicken will be making a noise with each breath, and cannot eat or drink. You can only see gapeworm on a necrospy by dissecting the trachea, as it can't be seen in the throat or by swabbing it with a Q-Tip. Treatment of gapeworm is SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer 1/4 ml per pound of weight, given for 3 to 5 days. Valbazen, and levamisole may also be used.

 

[geprgiawc]

Thanks for the information! Can you tell me a bit more about feeling her crop. how to do that and what I am feeling for? IF her crop is impacted or sour what do I do for that?

 

[Eggcessive]

The crop will feel full at bedtime, then should be mostly empty by early morning. If the crop is full and hard, it may be impacted. If it is full and squishy like a balloon, it may be sour crop. Sour crop usually has a sour odor from the beak, and it can result from impacted crop that has been ongoing. It can be a bacterial or a fungal infection. A friend here on BYC has also suggested that your hen may have an ear infection, possibly due to mites. You can check with a Q-Tip into the ear canal. If you see ear mites or suspect them, you can put a dropper fullof olive or vegetable oil into the ear and it can smother them. Here is some info on crop problems:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/702383/impacted-crop-symptoms

 

[Fancychooklady]

Here's some information on gape. It is apparently quite rare if you could get a pic , looking down the throat and enlarge it on your screen they should be visible .

http://www.sprcentre.com/sprc/Worm_Control_in_Poultry.htm

 

[geprgiawc]

Okay - thanks you for all of that and for the links as well. I will check her crop first thing in the morning and compare her to the others. I didn't notice any smell when I looked down her throat, so I'm thinking it is not sour. I'll let you know what I find out.