[Budboy]

I have a Wellsummer Bantam Hen who is gagging, by that I mean she stretches her head up, opens her mouth and shakes her head, almost as if to release something in her gullet.  I have been treating her for impacted crop and isolated her several times, withdrawn food to allow the crop to empty, massaged the crop several times a day (it doesn't feel impacted), fed mash mixed with live yoghurt, syringed tepid water and olive oil.  I've done this in different rotations and kept her isolated for 2 to 3 days at a time, she stops gagging and is eating the mash healthily so I return her to the fold only for this action to present itself within a day or two again.  This has now been ongoing for the past month to 6 weeks.  I have wormed all my hens (7 of them) and I provide cider vinegar in their water once a month.    She is laying but when I notice she is a little subdued and gagging quite a bit, the eggs stop and I isolate and start the whole process again.  What am I doing wrong?  Does anyone know what it might be?

[LotuSeed]

Could it be gapeworm perhaps? (No I didn't mean to write tapeworm )

[Helenaj]

Hi

Sorry to hear about your hen. What do you worm them with - is it Flubenvet? If so, it's unlikely to be lungworm and may be something that she is eating. If you don't use Flubenvet, that is the first thing I would go and get.

However, if you have wormed her with Flubenvet, when you put her back in the coop is there access to very long grass or do you have straw or hay as bedding? It sounds as though she is eating something long and fibrous which she is not able to break down in her crop. Do they have access to grit? Have you also checked the back of her throat for any growths. They can get an infection that is a bit like a yeast infection and it can block the throat and airways. Have a look down her throat with a torch to see if you can see anything yellow and "wooly" at the back.

Let us know how you get on.

[Sassy]

Could be gaprworm, altho not common should not be discounted

[Budboy]

Thank you for your replies and suggestions.  I do use Flubenvet and last wormed 3 weeks ago, they do free range on grass which isn't long so have a very varied diet of their own choice, grit is readily available.  I use a mixture of fine wood shavings and chopped straw for bedding.  I will check the back of her throat tonight just before she roosts for the night, won't have such a fight on my hands.  I really think I might be fighting a losing battle as I can get her back to normal but the gagging returns.  She weighs 1kg so on the skinny side, I'm not sure what the average weight of this size bird should be though.  I will let you know how she gets on Helenaj.  Thanks again.

[Helenaj]

Try leaving the chopped straw off for a couple of weeks and see if it repeats itself. Straw is almost indigestible so that may be the issue. Have you noticed if she eats it?
At a kilo in weight she is a bit light, your average size hen should be between 3 - 4lbs in weight. I hope you get to the bottom of the problem, it's horrible watching them go downhill and not be able to do anything. My only other suggestion is a trip to the vet.

[Asherweef]

Compacted crop? Is her crop still full in the morning?