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[rightlass]

Hello Everyone.

 

I am new to chickens and got my first 3 this morning.

 

2 x 16 weeks

 

1 x 21 weeks

 

The elder one has laid an egg for me today............. huge, huge event.

Will post pics later.

 

However the two younger chickens are acting a bit strange. They were fine and lively for the first few hours but have now gone very quite, sat down and doing this weird yawing.

 

The elder one that laid the egg is acting normal.

 

Is it anything to worry about, or are they just settling in.

They are clean and look healthy apart from that.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[henriette]

Mine yawn sometimes too. It can also mean that maybe there is a bit of food stuck but I doubt if they would both be doing it unless the food is really too dry for them. Some people say if a chicken yawns a lot it might have gapeworms. If it is a respiratory problem you will hear gurgling if you hold the bird's beak up to your ear. I have no personal experience of the latter or gapeworms. Just what I have read in one of my chicken bibles! Hopefully, just little yawners! Please let us know how they get on.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Welcome to the forum, Rightlass and congratulations on your new girls (and your first egg ) .

 

Yawning (or gaping) can be a sign of gapeworm, I believe, but they seem a bit young to have that (although I'm not an expert by any means so don't know if age is a factor ).

 

I have noticed my girls "yawning" occasionally but it didn't last more than a day. I put it down to something stuck in their throats .

 

If they continue to do it you may want to worm them with Flubenvet. You should worm them every 3 months in any case so there would be no harm doing so now.

 

 

Cross-posted with Henriette

[henriette]

How very rude of me not to say welcome to you! I have not been a member for very long and am amazed at how wonderful everyone is. There is always some one to give advice and encouragement and also a lot of good humour. The only problem is that it can all be quite time consuming and already I am told by my loved one that he is feeling left out!

[skye]

They do say repeated beak gaping is a sign of gape worm, but I think it is usually accompanied by other symptoms too.

 

Our girls occasionally have yawning sessions too, and I think I read that this is a method of shifting matter lying awkwardly in their crops. They might just be eating slightly different food with you to that available at the place you bought them from, and are shifting it about in their crops to help with digestion.

 

Good luck with your girls, perhaps you could do a search on here for gape worm and establish the other symptoms just in case.

 

Cheers! x

[skye]

PS - Just remembered that gape worm is usually typified by lots of head shaking/twitching as well! Hope this helps put your mind at rest xx

[rightlass]

Thanks for the quick replies. They dont seem to have any other symptoms like head shaking etc... maybe they were just having a quiet, yawny type moment... or as someone suggested just rearranging stuff in their crops. Will keep a close eyes on them.

[CluckyBucks]

Welcome to chicken world!!!

 

Mine yawn sometimes too, i think that theya re aranging the contents of their crop (where the food goes before it is digested)

 

xx x

[rightlass]

Please let us know how they get on.

 

Little update...... havent seen them yawn at all today. They have settled in very well. Bet has layed another egg in the nest box, at the same time as yesterdays event....its great

 

Have discovered today that chickens can fly quite far Will be sorting that out little issue out shortly.

 

The three chooks peck each other... not in a malicious way, almost as if they are grooming each other... is that normal?

[henriette]

Glad the yawning has subsided. With regard to the pecking, I don't really know. Mine peck each other at feeding times sometimes but otherwise I haven't noticed any. They might just be sorting their own "pecking order" out.

Depending on how small/lightweight the chickens are they can fly quite high! Watch out!

Isn't it lovely getting the daily egg? So very special. The novelty never seems to go away either.

[keir]

Maybe they were just tired - after all, chickens do get up damn early in the morning...

[henriette]

Too early, I would say! Henri, our cockerel, was up at 6.30 this morning. Needless to say, so was I.