Hen Keeps Opening Her Mouth

[cdeans]

I have a hen that I noticed today is walking around and continually opens her mouth. It looks like she is trying to crow with nothing coming out and then shuts it and opens it again.. We tried getting her to drink but she wont. Any ideas? Sorry for the way I put it I know shes not a Roo, but its the only way to describe it. Thanks!

 

[ruth]

Have you looked in her mouth and throat to see if she is choking on something or has something caught in there? Also check to see if she is congested and perhaps having to breath through her mouth. Finally, there is something called Gape Worm that can cause that reaction - it is a worm that lodges in their throat. There is a medicine to treat it and I believe I read that you can see the worm in the throat. Do a search on here for gape worm and you may find more info.

But start with a thorough exam of her mouth and throat to see if you can see any reason for her doing what she's doing.

 

[PeeperKeeper]

I had one last week doing this. We treated with antibiotics and Safeguard worm med for 4 days and she seems fine now. Still don't know what caused it. Did not see any worms. She refused to eat or drink the first day otherwise acted fairly lively. Coughed and wheezed for 3 days. High pitched whistle on day 3. Check my posts for coughing and wheezing.

 

[silkiechicken]

She was probably choking on something or has something stuck.

Treating with antibiotics if it is not bacterial, and worming if there are no worms, does more long term harm than good.

Bacteria probably won't cause gaping, but a gape worm could.

 

[cdeans]

We checked her throat inside and out, and there was nothing in there. And she i not congested should would breath in her nose, and then out her mouth like she was screaming. But nothing would come out. Besides that she is lively like normal. We checked on her tonight and she seems ok, so I will keep a eye on her maybe shes just a good actress..

 

[chicken280201]

I have a nearly 2 year old chicken who is displaying the same symptoms and 5 others, at the moment there's a heat wave and due to experience I'm pretty confident it's because of that. They have all taken to a shady patch and the one who is opening her mouth, sitting under a tree. We have given them more water and symptoms seem to have improved. Hope this helped

 

[Alaina00]

This is happening with my hen too. She got pecked in her beak and it started bleeding. It is scabbed over and now she is opening her mouth and shacking her head and wiping her beak on the ground. Any ideas?