Taylor Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 I recently got another two speckeldy's to join my exisiting pair. One of them keeps opening its mouth, almost as if its yawning. It seems to do it costantly. It is otherwise fine, pecking about, eating and seems quite alert but the constant wide opening of the mouth is beginning to worry me. Has anyone come across this before or have an idea what may be going on? She is about 24/26 weeks. Any advice would be ost welcome! Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chucknette Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Hi Taylor I dont think it is anything to worry about as you say she is alert and eating as normal. Sometimes they do this to rearrange food in their crop and other times it is a yawn. If it were anything more sinister she would be quite unwell. One of mine does this a lot and shes fine so dont worry Best wishes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 thanks so much, i fret too much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilles Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Ours do this as well, worrying at first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xScrunchee Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 If she is opening her beak (gaping) almost constantly, it could be a sign of gape worm I think. They do yawn and they do open their beaks and stretch their necks to empty their crops but if she is doing it a lot more than the other girls I would definitely suspect gape worm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheilaz Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Yes, I agree with Jay. How is she today? A few "yawns" are normal, but if it's constant I'd suspect Gapeworm and use Flubenvet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph101 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I've seen one or two of mine yawn occasionally, and I worried about it, but they seem perfectly healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 Thank you for your responses. Shes still doing it but not as much as she has been the last few days. It seems she opens her beak and then stretches her neck, almost as if she is taking in air. Is this a sign of gape worm? Ill keep an eye on her and see what happens. Is it wise to worm them so young? Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chucknette Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Hi Taylor As my previous post one of mine was doing this quite a lot to start with. I watched her to see if she declined in any way and she didnt. The gapping/yawning eventually stopped and I did not have to resort to worming. Your girl will be ok to worm if you feel you need to but you could leave it a short while just to observe her. I must say that she did this when I fed her on pellets hence the rearranging of food in her crop. I switched to mash and she hasnt done it since. Just a thought Best wishes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debbie26pet Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 im glad this been asked couple times i looked out and one of mine is mouth opening but not often, mine are wormed and were done a few weeks ago, but the bells ring you think worms, i think mine is down to yawning and food, as sometimes they can be greedy and rush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Huggers R Us Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 Hi there, I read somewhere that because the main artery is in the chooks mouth, they do this to keep cool in warmer weather by running cool air over this artery. Mine do it but it does tend to be when they are hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
