Strange Behavior!

[Durban4]

My hen is around 20 weeks old and for the last three days has been acting very strangely. She is usually a very quiet hen and for the last three days all she does is walk around thrusting out her neck, opening her beak and squawking quietly. She also flexes her body occasionally and squats here and there. By morning she is horse and I can barely hear her. I've been giving her droppers of water, because as far as I can tell she isn't eating or drinking. She acts more distressed at times than others and throughout the day will eventually settle down on the ground, all the while still doing her neck and beak thing. I have checked her crop and all I feel are her bones so I don't think that is the issue. I've felt all over her body and can't tell what the problem is. Any thoughts?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

My hen is around 20 weeks old and for the last three days has been acting very strangely. She is usually a very quiet hen and for the last three days all she does is walk around thrusting out her neck, opening her beak and squawking quietly. She also flexes her body occasionally and squats here and there. By morning she is horse and I can barely hear her. I've been giving her droppers of water, because as far as I can tell she isn't eating or drinking. She acts more distressed at times than others and throughout the day will eventually settle down on the ground, all the while still doing her neck and beak thing. I have checked her crop and all I feel are her bones so I don't think that is the issue. I've felt all over her body and can't tell what the problem is. Any thoughts?

It could be a condition brought on by an internal parasite. The name for the condition is "The Gapes".

 

[Eggcessive]

I would start by looking into her beak and throat with a flashlight for anything unusual, such as a foreign body, or yellowish or gray tissue. Gapeworm can be an issue in hot tropical climates where the Surinam cockroach lives. ILT or infectious laryngotracheitis can cause gaping, and it is a respiratory virus that may also cause gasping, wheezing, coughing, and bloody mucus discharge from the beak. Here is a good link about common diseases including ILT: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Durban4]

I think it is gapeworm after further research. My husband went to the store yesterday evening and got two medications, one for poultry for worms, not specifying gapeworm though and that his the one he gave her along with some more water. The other one has one of the ingredients that I read that treats gapeworm a, but it says it's for goats. Should I try that one or just go to the other feed store in my area and get Ivermectin which seemed to be the best one to use. She is on day four or five of symptoms now. Does she have a chance?

 

[Eggcessive]

Safeguard liquid goat wormer (fenbendazole) can be given for 3 days in a row---dosage is 1/4 ml per pound of weight--to treat gapeworm. Ivermectin won't treat it. Have you looked into her throat with a light, since sometimes there can be an infection blocking the airway, such as wet pox or canker. Many times chickens also gape with a respiratory infection. Good luck. Let us know how she does.