'Yawning' 7 week old rooster

[mediazeal]

I came home today to a 7 week old Maran cockerel who seems healthy in all other ways 'yawning' repeatedly. He will sit quietly for a bit, then do it again.

There are several cockerels chest bumping etc. in the brooder.

These are my first chickens, hatched from eggs, so hard to imagine that it is gapeworm.

I do see some feathers in the bottom of the brooder, so he might have a 'tickle' in his throat.

And I gave them some apple yesterday but put grit in their feeder at the same time.

Practice crowing? impacted crop?
They do not like me to pick them up and I'm not terribly experience with chickens yet.......... just 7 weeks of practice so far. Not sure how to help him or if he needs anything at all
thoughts?

 

[Mahlzeit]

It could either be him trying to crow(usually some noise would be accompanied with it) or he could have a gape worm stuck in his throat. You can look up more info on gape worms on here. Goodluck.

 

[mediazeal]

How could he get exposed to gapeworm?
He is inside my house with 11 other chickens all hatched out togehter here. No exposure to other chickens or anything that has ever touched a chicken.

I would be freaked and worrying about gapeworm but I can't imagine that is it since he has lived in a pristine environment.

Would they be in the chick starter food?
Would they be in the fresh horse pine pellet bedding?
Can they be passed from hen to inside of the eggshell?

Thanks for the reply!!

He's stopped doing it by the way.

 

[allmypeeps]

perhaps he was just yawning--we all have our yawning attacks...

it is the lack of oxygen in the brain calling for the body to deeply inhale.

Glad he stopped....hope thats all it was! Mine do it sometimes- freaks me out thinking something is wrong!

e

 

[Kezzie]

That's what my roos did when they were first trying to crow. Nothing came out...

 

[mediazeal]

Quote:
If that is what it is.... how long from trying to croaking out the first one?

 

[Kezzie]

Quote:
If that is what it is.... how long from trying to croaking out the first one?

Maybe about a week. I think it's different for each rooster. Izzy took longer but Stew seems to have picked it up whole right away.

 

[mediazeal]

Thanks Kezzie!!

 

[crait]

Don't worry about it. My babies do it often and they're female!

 

[m2wandc]

it sounds like a rooster gearing up to do his thing, once he figures it out....