For 3 days - walking around with mouth open

[Rockergirl]

One of my 4 ladies has been walking around with her mouth open all day, today is day 3. It's not too hot, we are in NC, in the 70s this week. I gave electrolytes yesterday and put some oregano in their food. Also small drop of apple cider vinegar in water. Today it seems worse than the other 2 days. She is eating and drinking with no problem and walking around and scratching and pecking, acting her normal self...but the mouth open constantly is starting to worry me.....any suggestions. My other ladies are all okay, acting normal.

 

[Rockergirl]

I actually found a post of mine from about 1.5 weeks ago because she had a bunch of calcium deposits on her eggs....in that same post I mentioned her mouth open then, but that it had closed....so I guess she has had this problem for close to a couple of weeks but now it's consistent - all day

 

[Rockergirl]

Maybe there is something stuck in or obstructing her windpipe and she can only keep the windpipe open by keeping her mouth open.

Any idea how to fix that, if that is the case? She is otherwise perfectly normal, just roams around with mouth open at all times.....

 

[Eggcessive]

I would for any obvious blockage in her nostrils, and look into her beak with a flashlight for any gunk inside her throat, beak, and roof of her mouth. Is she overweight? I had a large brahma hen who was always panting, and she was huge. Give her a good check all over, listen to her breathing, check comb color, and look at her lower belly between the legs to see if it is enlarged with fluid, fat, or solid.

 

[Rockergirl]

I would for any obvious blockage in her nostrils, and look into her beak with a flashlight for any gunk inside her throat, beak, and roof of her mouth. Is she overweight? I had a large brahma hen who was always panting, and she was huge. Give her a good check all over, listen to her breathing, check comb color, and look at her lower belly between the legs to see if it is enlarged with fluid, fat, or solid.

Her comb looks good and her nostrils don't looked blocked, I haven't looked inside her throat, I'll check that. She isn't overweight, she is actually the smallest of the group - I just discovered yesterday that the "head hen" started pecking at her when she would try to eat....and being the smallest she would just run away and be scared to go back....not sure when that started but the last two days I had to stand inside their run while they ate to make sure she wasn't getting bullied during meal time. This morning she devoured breakfast, it was as if she hadn't had a chance to have a good meal in a bit....there are no pecking or fights other than that, everyone gets along. I guess I have to stand out there during meal times for a bit....

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have enough room to place multiple feeders and waterers around the area they are in? That can help with meek chickens who are easily scared off by another. You can also separate the bully for a week or so, and try to put some pinless peepers on the bully. Here is some info on those:
https://www.eggcartons.com/blogs/news/pinless-peepers

 

[Rockergirl]

Do you have enough room to place multiple feeders and waterers around the area they are in? That can help with meek chickens who are easily scared off by another. You can also separate the bully for a week or so, and try to put some pinless peepers on the bully. Here is some info on those:
https://www.eggcartons.com/blogs/news/pinless-peepers

Thanks! It seems like no matter how many dishes of food I put out...they all want to eat from the same one....It's like once they notice one of them at a bowl they think that one is getting something special and they all run over there.....

Regarding the open mouth issue (that is making me super worried...) I found a mobile vet, I'm going to reach out to them tomorrow to see if they can come out here (praying it's not super expensive....). I looked for a local vet that sees chickens and I'm not really finding any, but this mobile vet does see livestock (cattles, chickens, etc), so hopefully that works out.

 

[The Birb King]

Thanks! It seems like no matter how many dishes of food I put out...they all want to eat from the same one....It's like once they notice one of them at a bowl they think that one is getting something special and they all run over there.....

Regarding the open mouth issue (that is making me super worried...) I found a mobile vet, I'm going to reach out to them tomorrow to see if they can come out here (praying it's not super expensive....). I looked for a local vet that sees chickens and I'm not really finding any, but this mobile vet does see livestock (cattles, chickens, etc), so hopefully that works out.

Did you see anything inside the mouth?

 

[Rockergirl]

Did you see anything inside the mouth?

I haven't had a chance to look yet. I need my husband to help me...one to hold and one to look....I get nervous I'll stress her out if I do it myself, because I know I'll be stressed by it, being new to this all. He didn't get home until after dark. I'm hoping to see if I can take a look tomorrow but I'm not sure how successful I'll be.....

 

[Eggcessive]

When the vet comes, get a flashlight and look into the beak. If you can keep her penned up with food and water until the vet gets there, that would be helpful. Offer food and egg while she is separated. Usually when multiple feed stations are there, she probably would be able to get some when no one else is around. I also will offer some scrambled egg bits and toss them out in all directions making sure everyone gets a chance.