[Jacinta]

Hello, I have 3 wonderful hens that have become so much part of the family that they now run in the house, climb the stairs and love to sit in our bedroom rosey away.  It really is quite endearing, they even perch on the back of the sofa watching tv.   

One of the girls Cilla, sits or stands then closes her eyes and very gracefully stretches her neck right out and up towards the ceiling, then pulls it back in making lovely curves.  She does it for ages almost trance like until disturbed, then opens her eyes.  I don't see her doing it anywhere but upstairs in our house.  What's she doing?  Is it a relaxing thing that she'd do on her perch at night? 

We have to put them back in the garden or they'd just follow us around all the time!  Bless.   

[Casey76]

I'd take a quick look down her throat for a gape worm.

Having said that, chickens often stretch out their neck if they are moving food from the crop to the gizzard, but if she hasn't a particularly full crop, i would look for a medical reason.

[CluckyChicken]

Hello, I have 3 wonderful hens that have become so much part of the family that they now run in the house, climb the stairs and love to sit in our bedroom rosey away.  It really is quite endearing, they even perch on the back of the sofa watching tv.   
   

Don't they poo everywhere??  :blink: :blink:  Mine do and they only just make it through the back door! 

[Jacinta]

There is the odd poo, but our house is undergoing pretty major renovation, no carpets etc at the mo, so nothing to ruin! :happy:

[Jacinta]

Would she not be poorly and withdrawn if she had gapeworm?  She runs around, eating and drinking and is as cheeky as ever.  I also don't see her behaving like this at any other time, just when she's upstairs in our house.

[Jacinta]

i've ordered some flubenvet and will treat them as soon as it arrives.  I'm worried to think it may be gapeworm, i really thought she was just a minor personality glitch.  Will the flubenvet act in time?  As i say she doesn't act like this any other time.  Really worried now.

[Lindeggs]

Jacinta, don't worry yourself!    While it's a good idea to worm your chickens, this is probably nothing to worry about at all.

As Casey suggested, chooks often do this to move food from their crop into their gizzard to digest it.  It's just like a cow chewing her cud, and they will do it in the same situation - they fill up their crop then find a comfortable place where they can relax, and happily move their food down through the digestive tract.

Mine do this in the mid-afternoon, especially on a sunny day, when they all collect on the rail outside my living room window.  They preen themselves, have a little doze, chatter quietly to each other and "chew their cud."  Mine often stretch their necks and open their mouths.

[Lindeggs]

Here you go - I knew I had photos somewhere!  In the first pic you can see that the Barnevelder (the black/brown pullet at the back) has a full crop (the lump in her throat/chest):



In this pic you can see her stretching her neck and opening her mouth to move the food down from her crop to her gizzard:



Here's another pic (taken on the same day) showing a Light Sussex pullet doing the same thing.



They are not showing any signs of distress - in fact they seem quite relaxed.  Before and after these photos were taken they were just hanging out with their sisters, preening and dosing.

Just to clarify:
If they were showing any sign of respiratory distress, if their open beaks were accompanied by wheezing or gasping, and/or if they were showing any other signs of ill health I would take them to the vet to be checked out for gape worm.  In older hens with fully developed combs, another sign that they are struggling to breathe can be dark/blue tips on their combs.

These pullets (and yours, Jacinta) seem relaxed and in good health, so I don't believe there is any need to worry.

[Jacinta]

Thank you so much for your wonderful pictures and description!  That has eased my worries alot but i'll worm them anyway.  I've been meaning to put pictures up for ages but have been having trouble resizing, think i've sussed it now.  Thanks again. x 

[Lindeggs]

I've given up on resizing my photos.    These days I just put them in imageshack which resizes them automatically, then copy and paste the image code here.

I'm glad you like the pics of my girls.  I almost deleted all the unflattering ones the day I took them, but then realised it's not about making them look pretty - it's about showing what is 'normal' for exactly this situation. Glad they could help.