Rock cockerel open mouth, stretching neck.

[HoolieNJulie]

Other than the occasional mouth-breathing, he seems pretty normal. He was doing it a lot yesterday, but less in the evening and again a bit today. He is active, vocal and eating and (I presume) drinking. It's pretty hot and sunny here, but he sits inside with me and it's cool enough indoors, in front of the fan with good circulation and still has his mouth open. And then he sometimes stretches his neck upward with his mouth open and I am assuming those are related. I don't feel anything in his neck, but I am not very experienced, either.

I might be crazy or it could be dirt but I think the very front tip of his comb is a bit darker. But it's warm and he likes it when I rub it.

Here is a photo of him sleeping on me this morning.



The chicken doctor is hours from here. Is there any diagnostic I can easily test and not misinterpret to rule out the various illness associated with open mouth?

Also, none of my other hens are doing it, but they are from a different batch.

 

[Pyxis]

There are a couple things it could be. He could have eaten too much and his crop is too full and it's bothering him, in which case it'll take care of itself as his crop empties out, but since it's been happening over two days we can probably rule that out unless his crop is impacted and not emptying out, unless he overate two days in a row, of course. He could have gapeworm, which is rare, but the stretching up and gaping is the signature of the disease. You can actually take a q-tip and carefully stick it down his throat, and if he has gapeworm it will come back up covered in them. They are a nasty worm that lives in the trachea and the birds slowly suffocate to death if not treated.

And, most worryingly, it can also be a sign of a respiratory problem. He could have a fungal disease, and in my case when my rooster started doing that it turned out to be the first sign he was showing that he had mycoplasma. I had to cull the whole flock.

 

[HoolieNJulie]

Thank you for the information! I am not eager to put the Q-tip in his throat since I've spent a lot of effort gaining his trust, but that sounds like a solid way to rule out gapeworm. I have read that if that is, in fact, the affliction than by the time it has progressed to open-mouth breathing than the prognosis is death. There is no sound of wheezing or any difficulty breathing, though.

I read about some soil bacteria/fungus that could be the culprit, and we do have large gardens with soil but the hens all spend more time around them than him and they are fine. (They are a bit older, if that matters.) Don't all farms have soil and chickens at the same time? Is it a common and likely concern? Are there natural remedies for this that don't involve an avian vet?

Is it possible that it is the heat? Do chickens pant like dogs? Some people seem to think their chickens are just hot.

Thank you for answering. I realize these questions have been addressed but my research doesn't really conclude anything definitive since the situation is specific.

 

[Pyxis]

Gapeworm you might be able to treat with intense worming, but yes, it is often fatal if not caught early.

Fungal infections can come from anything - moldy feed, them getting into fungus while free ranging, if it's been raining a lot where you are, etc. You can try to treat it using Oxine. It's totally possible for just one bird to get a fungal infection and the others not be affected. Aspergillosis is a common one and it's most often caused by mold in the bedding if the bedding got damp. It's especially likely with straw or hay bedding.

Chickens do breath with their mouths open when they are hot, but it's not by stretching their necks and gaping. They also will hold their wings away from their bodies when too hot, and usually they'll be doing that when panting and is a sure sign that they're hot.

As for the other respiratory things, they are treatable without a vet, you just have to know what you're dealing with so you know what medicine to get. Keep an eye on him over the next couple of days and see if he develops bubbly watery eyes or any nasal discharge and/or a roadkill smell to the discharge, as that would indicate that it's a respiratory disease.

And to check to see if he's overeating, just take food away from him for a day. His crop should go down (if it doesn't, that would indicate he's having a crop problem) and then if that was what was causing the problem, he'll stop stretching and gaping

 

[dawg53]

Oxine would be a good treatment for a fungal issue. Since he's eating/drinking, vocal...it's the heat, and not gapeworm. Gapeworm are rare in chickens and they infect the trachea, not the esophagus. They cannot be swabbed with a q-tip neither.

 

[Pyxis]

Oxine would be a good treatment for a fungal issue. Since he's eating/drinking, vocal...it's the heat, and not gapeworm. Gapeworm are rare in chickens and they infect the trachea, not the esophagus. They cannot be swabbed with a q-tip neither.

Good to know about gapeworm! I was told back when I thought my rooster had it that if I swabbed him they'd come up on a q-tip. I wasn't ever told that eating and drinking meant he didn't have them either - that would have been good to know! I was ruling out heat as a cause because she has the rooster inside with her in front of a fan. I was also concerned because she said the rooster's comb was turning dark in the front, which I thought was caused by lack of oxygen. I'm totally not trying to be difficult, just trying to learn, and you're really good at issues like these so I just wanted to ask why you think it's heat and not the other things

 

[tcorso]

Oxine would be a good treatment for a fungal issue. Since he's eating/drinking, vocal...it's the heat, and not gapeworm. Gapeworm are rare in chickens and they infect the trachea, not the esophagus. They cannot be swabbed with a q-tip neither.

How do you use Oxine as a treatment! Thanks in advance.