If you see your chicken doing something occasionally, then you may not start to worry or even take notice, but if this becomes a habit then you may start to worry
This article looks into why your chicken keeps opening its mouth like it’s gagging.
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Chicken keeps opening its mouth like its gagging:
Keeping an eye on your chicken, regardless of how old and robust it seems, is always a good idea.
You may notice odd signs in your bird as you observe it., like the bird opening its mouth like its gagging.
Here is why a chicken may do this:
The bird is adjusting its crop:
One of the simplest, and least dangerous, reasons why your chicken is opening its mouth, and looks like it’s gagging, may be that the bird is adjusting its crop.
The crop is a pouch at the base of the bird’s throat that temporarily stores food before the food is moved into the bird’s stomach.
This organ can store quite a lot of food but it has its limits.
If the crop becomes too full of food, then this can be uncomfortable for the bird.
If the bird is uncomfortable with its full crop then it will open its mouth like it’s gagging to adjust the crop.
What to do:
This is quite normal and is not something to worry about. These birds adjust their crops day and night and many birds do this.
You’d only have to worry if the bird starts to show signs of being ill, or signs of being in distress, like sneezing, coughing, difficulty breathing, head shaking, a loss of appetite, and self-isolation.
If you see these signs in your bird then you may want to take your bird to the vet.
The bird has gapeworm:
If your bird is not adjusting its crop, and is acting as though it is gagging, then the bird may have a condition called gapeworm.
Gapeworm describes both the condition, and the parasites that infect the bird.
These worms are small red worms that can be transmitted when chickens eat infected worms, slugs, and snails.
Gapeworms live in the flesh of your chicken’s throat and will irritate the bird’s throat.
This irritation causes the bird to open its mouth and gasp as the bird tries to remove the worms.
If your bird is infected with these worms one of the first signs you’ll see will be the bird opening its mouth like it’s gasping.
Other signs that may indicate that your bird has this condition include hissing sounds when the bird breathes, making gurgling noises, shaking of its head, coughing, and sometimes and large and squishy crop.
If this condition is left untreated then the worms will reproduce and create so many worms that the bird’s throat becomes blocked.
What to do:
You can test for, and treat, this condition at home.
Check your bird for gapeworms by swabbing the inside of your bird’s throat using a cotton swab.
If the bird has gapeworm, then the swab will pick up some worms when swabbed on the bird’s throat.
If your bird is infected, then you can treat the bird using a dewormer like Flubenol or Aviverm for example.
It is necessary to treat your bird, and flock, for gapeworm twice. The treatments are usually given 7-14 days apart
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why Does My Chick Look Like It’s Gasping For Air?, What To Do If A Chick Is Gasping For Air, 2 Day Old Chick Gasping, Chick Gasping And Chirping, Chick Gasping After Drinking, Baby Chick Vomiting, Baby Chick Leaning To One Side, How To Force Feed A Baby Chick, Signs Of Intestinal Blockage In Chickens,