Help PLEASE! Rooster Wheezing and Internal Parasites in Flock with videos/pictures

I have a 2 year old RIR Rooster who began displaying respiratory symptoms about 2 weeks ago. His crow sounded hoarse at first. A week ago, he started having breathing troubles, wheezing really bad, he sounded like something was lodged in his throat. That same day, I was able to inspect a stool sample of his, and there were egg yolk colored tiny blobs moving in his stool. He has been isolated from the flock for a week now. I dosed him with 0.1 cc Ivermectin 1% injectable solution orally. He appeared to be making progress a day or two after, the wheezing wasn't as bad. Now he's back to sounding awful. I inspected his stool tonight and no longer see anything unusual there, so I'm thinking maybe he had some sort of parasite on top of something respiratory. I have started adding tetracycline to his water, as it's the only antibiotic I have on hand, and have also began giving him electrolytes.

Tonight, I noticed in the stool of 2 of our hens that they have the same egg yolk colored blob formations in their stool. One had diarrhea as well. We have a total of 21 birds. 7 of them are only 7 weeks old. I know I need to treat my entire flock, but I don't know what I am treating or what I should treat with. I don't know if the rooster's respiratory issue is related to what I saw in his stool or if it's something completely different.

I just started an online conversation with a poultry vet last night who said she did not believe it is gapeworm, as she has not seen a case in our area (Eugene, OR) in the 8 years she has been here. She has not yet responded since I sent her pictures and video, so I'm hoping someone here can help. I tried the throat swab and found nothing. He is still eating (much less than normal) and drinking.

Video of Rooster Wheezing: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6QUaalXEiuheFpMbjdLSFRhaTQ/view?usp=sharing

Picture of Rooster Stool with parasite (?) on bag: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6QUaalXEiuhZHh0el9DTm1Wa1E/view?usp=sharing

Picture of Hen stool (diarrhea) has same parasite (can't really see in this photo): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6QUaalXEiuhSnVCcjlmcUFqeXM/view?usp=sharing

Video of parasite moving in stool (was still processing, hopefully will be viewable soon): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6QUaalXEiuhakJIQTJPSmh1S0k/view?usp=sharing

Can anyone help? My poor rooster is going on 3 weeks like this, and is getting weaker by the day. The online vet wasn't very helpful with her one line responses. She thought he had tapeworms and a foreign body obstruction, but gave no advice on how to treat either. He has had 2 doses of Ivermectin. I shined a flashlight in his throat last night. There was some pale yellowish residue just inside his mouth. I saw very small white spots in his throat, but that was all I could see. We don't want to lose this boy, he's such a nice rooster.

fiestagrill said:

Can anyone help? My poor rooster is going on 3 weeks like this, and is getting weaker by the day. The online vet wasn't very helpful with her one line responses. She thought he had tapeworms and a foreign body obstruction, but gave no advice on how to treat either. He has had 2 doses of Ivermectin. I shined a flashlight in his throat last night. There was some pale yellowish residue just inside his mouth. I saw very small white spots in his throat, but that was all I could see. We don't want to lose this boy, he's such a nice rooster.

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It sounds like he may have gape worms except that the color is wrong. Look into a liquid worm medicine. Several people here can help you with the proper dosage. Gape worms are spread by free ranging in locations with high slug, snail, and Earth worm populations.

Thank you for the response. The online vet saw the videos and photos and didn't believe he could have gapeworm, as she hasn't seen a case in our area in the 8 years she has been here. He is getting worse, not better. I did 2 doses of Ivermectin 10 days apart and I still saw the larvae/worms in the stool today. I started him on Safeguard goat wormer, mixing it in his water. I've started the rest of the flock on it as well, as I've seen the same worms/larvae in some of their stool, but they are still all acting fine. He's barely eating and drinking now. I squirted about 30 cc's of water with the medicine down his throat. He now has some gunky yellowish colored stuff around the edges of his mouth and around the top of his mouth. Not sure what it is. He's really having a difficult time breathing, I think I'm going to give him a couple more days, then consider putting him out of his misery. I feel bad, but I have no idea what I'm trying to treat and nothing seems to be helping.

Search for articles on canker and fowl pox. His symptoms sound more like he may have canker (which can affect the sinus cavity making it difficult for a bird to breathe). Good luck with your boy.

The droppings definitely have tapeworms in them, but there could be other worms. I would get a sample of fresh droppings tested by a regular local vet--they wouldn't need to see the chicken necessarily. If you feel that he has a respiratory disease such as MG, give your rooster some Tylan 50 injectable either as a shot in his breast muscle or orally--1 ml twice a day for 3-5 days (5 days if orally.) You will need syringes and needles to remove the medicine from the vial. His comb looks black, so he is definitely deprived of oxygen. If he has canker in his throat he needs metronidazole 250 mg by mouth daily. It is sold online as Fish Zole and also as Flagyl. Wet fowl pox can also cause yellow lesions inside the throat, as well as canker. Tapeworms will not go away with only ivermectin. Dawg53 is a worm expert on BYC, and he recommends Zimectrin Gold, a paste wormer that contains praziquantel along with ivermectin. It should be given as a pea sized amount orally, and repeat in 10 days. Tapes are very hard to get rid of. For other worms, Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer work well.

Best way to worm your chickens naturally is DE ..
Please watch this video it really works it's all natural and u can also put it where they sleep lay eggs and dust bath to prevent mites.

Thank you all for the responses. I should have mentioned the black comb appearance - we had sprayed him with BluKote because we thought the other chickens kept pecking him. Now I'm wondering if perhaps he had fowl pox? He kept getting black scabs all over his comb, but I never actually saw anyone ever picking on him. Is it possible for dry pox to become wet pox?

How does one differentiate between wet pox and canker? They seem to look the same and have same symptoms. I started him back on an oral antibiotic today (oxytetracycline - I only gave it to him for a day before because I wasn't sure what we were dealing with). He's still getting Safeguard wormer in his water. I cooked him some scrambled eggs today, and he ate a little but not much. He sounds awful, but is still going out into his yard during the day (spends a lot of time laying down), and goes in to roost at night.

Should I give him the Zimectrin Gold wormer on top of the other 2 he's already had? At this point, I feel like we have nothing to lose, as nothing seems to be helping. Will giving him the metronidazole be harmful if he doesn't have canker? How long do you dose it for? Is there hope that he can return to normal if that is in fact what it is? I feel awful this has been going on so long, but he is clearly a fighter and not wanting to give up, and we really don't want to lose him but I feel so helpless.

Pox is fairly easy to spot, and sometimes peck marks which are black can be confused with pox which can be tan-brown-to dark brown almost black. There is no treatment for wet pox, and wet pox and canker can look very similar. So, it probably would be good to treat for canker if that is a possibility. Fish zole (metronidazole) dosage is 250mg orally once a day for 5 days. Safeguard should not be put in the water. It needs to be given directly into the mouth. Dosage for serious worms such as gapeworm or capillaria worm is 1 ml orally for 5 days straight. Here are some pictures of peck marks and pox below. Here are some links about canker and wet pox:
http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/digestive-problems/index.aspx
http://www.hyline.com/aspx/redbook/redbook.aspx?s=5&p=35
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...x-xxx-rated-graphic-pictures-of-pus-and-scabs

Peck wounds

Fowl pox lesions

Thank you for the photos and links. I ordered the Fish Zole and it is supposed to arrive today. It is a tablet - do I crush and mix with water in a syringe to give it? I wormed our entire flock yesterday with the Zimectrin Gold and will do it again in 10 days. Thankfully, all of our other birds are still acting healthy. I started the rooster back on the oxytetracycline 2 days ago, and syringed as much as he could tolerate down his throat, along with some electrolytes. He does seem to be feeling a tad bit better today, so I'm hopeful that between the wormer and antibiotics, something is helping. We'll start the Fish Zole today as soon as it arrives. I really appreciate all the advice in trying to help our rooster.