I have a rooster who over the past couple of weeks has presented the following symptoms:
No lethargicness
No loss of appetite
No loss of energy
The best reply I got on here had to do with mites. We went that route, clearing out and treating the coop and the flock. Never seeing even 1 mite during the process within the bedding or coop. That was Sunday. But you know, I was going to clear out and clean coops during spring break anyway, so got it done early.
Today, I started researching respiratory illnesses in poultry. The handful of illnesses mentioned didn't match our rooster's symptoms or behavior at all. But while researching, I came across a mention of Gapeworm. As I kept on reading, looking at images, and videos, it was clear that this is what most matches my rooster's symptoms.
Gapeworms gather in the throat, potentially causing the bird to suffocate. It causes the rattling sound when they breath, causes a runny nose. Although I didn't see any mention of this impacting the crow, it would make sense to me that it would make it hard to crow if ones throat was full of worms. I saw the turning/twisting motion of the neck in a few videos of birds who had Gapeworms, exactly the same motion my rooster is doing from time to time.
I'm taking him into a vet this afternoon so he can be checked by a professional, rather than me, Ms. Google-Vet. I will report back here on what he is diagnosed with.
If you have experiences with Gapeworm in your flock, please add your thoughts here.
- Soft, thinning feathers on his neck with a few sores
- A turning/twisting motion with his neck
- Diminishing crow, would begin to crow and stop in the middle of it, progressing to no crow at all now
- Runny nose, some sneezing
- Rattling
- Occasional mouth breathing
No lethargicness
No loss of appetite
No loss of energy
The best reply I got on here had to do with mites. We went that route, clearing out and treating the coop and the flock. Never seeing even 1 mite during the process within the bedding or coop. That was Sunday. But you know, I was going to clear out and clean coops during spring break anyway, so got it done early.
Today, I started researching respiratory illnesses in poultry. The handful of illnesses mentioned didn't match our rooster's symptoms or behavior at all. But while researching, I came across a mention of Gapeworm. As I kept on reading, looking at images, and videos, it was clear that this is what most matches my rooster's symptoms.
Gapeworms gather in the throat, potentially causing the bird to suffocate. It causes the rattling sound when they breath, causes a runny nose. Although I didn't see any mention of this impacting the crow, it would make sense to me that it would make it hard to crow if ones throat was full of worms. I saw the turning/twisting motion of the neck in a few videos of birds who had Gapeworms, exactly the same motion my rooster is doing from time to time.
I'm taking him into a vet this afternoon so he can be checked by a professional, rather than me, Ms. Google-Vet. I will report back here on what he is diagnosed with.
If you have experiences with Gapeworm in your flock, please add your thoughts here.
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