One of my year old hens drools. Not abundantly, but often enough when her head is down (like pecking at the floor). The sticky mucus flies around her mouth and makes for a messy eater, leaving her beak more often than not soiled and sticky with pine shavings, grain and dirt. She also has visible difficulty gobbling up her food sometimes, but because this is a mix of unknown parentage I can't tell with precision how much she may be underweight. I've felt her numerous times for crop impact, checked her eyes and nose for respiratory infections, and kept a very close eye on her poop in case parasites are hiding in there. All were fine and normal. At one time back in January she stopped laying though, so I knew something was affecting her and that I had to intervene.
At a loss for words over what might be wrong with her, I followed a friend's advice and treated her back in February with Febendazole when they said throat worms could be behind my hen's incessant drooling. I've given her the solution directly in the beak five days in a row to ensure the buggers got it solid. She's regained a bit of weight and has been laying consistently since early March, but she still drools just as consistently. The eating difficulties are also still present.
Looking at her as time passes, I'm starting to doubt that throat worms were the real culprits behind my hen's drooling. If they were so then her sister should be drooling too, as she's more than happy to help clean the soiled beak of her sibling several times each day. But said sister is fine, heavy, doesn't drool and looks overall healthy. None of my other chickens ever caught throat worms either.
Just... what I am missing here? Does anyone have an idea what might cause a hen to drool persistently if parasites are not behind her state?
At a loss for words over what might be wrong with her, I followed a friend's advice and treated her back in February with Febendazole when they said throat worms could be behind my hen's incessant drooling. I've given her the solution directly in the beak five days in a row to ensure the buggers got it solid. She's regained a bit of weight and has been laying consistently since early March, but she still drools just as consistently. The eating difficulties are also still present.
Looking at her as time passes, I'm starting to doubt that throat worms were the real culprits behind my hen's drooling. If they were so then her sister should be drooling too, as she's more than happy to help clean the soiled beak of her sibling several times each day. But said sister is fine, heavy, doesn't drool and looks overall healthy. None of my other chickens ever caught throat worms either.
Just... what I am missing here? Does anyone have an idea what might cause a hen to drool persistently if parasites are not behind her state?
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