Why is my Pekin duck "sneezing"?

When I treated with Safeguard I saw improvement by day two of treatment.

-Kathy

So Kathy, just for my own info and others who might read this later, do you recommend deworming ducks periodically? None of mine have ever been dewormed in their lives. Now this has me worried about gape worm in mine, not the one I'm worried about right now, but just in general. I don't know of any way you could be assured your ducks won't contract something like that unless you never let them out of their pens. It seems like there would always be a chance of that or something like it if you ever let them out to dig around in your yard, which we do every day.

JadeComputerGal said:

So Kathy, just for my own info and others who might read this later, do you recommend deworming ducks periodically? None of mine have ever been dewormed in their lives. Now this has me worried about gape worm in mine, not the one I'm worried about right now, but just in general. I don't know of any way you could be assured your ducks won't contract something like that unless you never let them out of their pens. It seems like there would always be a chance of that or something like it if you ever let them out to dig around in your yard, which we do every day.

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My vet recommended doing it twice a year as a preventative measure. If it's spaced out that far it shouldn't hurt the duckies.

JadeComputerGal said:

So Kathy, just for my own info and others who might read this later, do you recommend deworming ducks periodically? None of mine have ever been dewormed in their lives. Now this has me worried about gape worm in mine, not the one I'm worried about right now, but just in general. I don't know of any way you could be assured your ducks won't contract something like that unless you never let them out of their pens. It seems like there would always be a chance of that or something like it if you ever let them out to dig around in your yard, which we do every day.

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Only way to keep them worm free would be to keep them off the dirt, but that ain't gonna happen, lol. Some people worm every 2-3 months, some once or twice a year, and some people never worm. My peafowl and turkeys get wormed several times a year, but I have a known problem with cecal worms and a disease called blackhead. Can you collect a bunch of fresh poop from many ducks and have a vet do a fecal?

-Kathy

One also needs to think about what worms they want to treat, because not all wormers treat all worms. For example, Wazine (piperazine) only treats large roundworms, and wormers like Safeguard (fenendazole) and Valbazen (albendazole), need to be given several days in a row to treat some worms.

-Kathy

Hello, I have a 6 mo old pullet that's got a little sneeze too. She's only been doing it a couple of days and is separate from the flock. Sorry to insert myself but Thank You for the info on what to do and how to treat, best of luck!

I only worm my water fowl 1X year in the fall using safe guard I worm my chickens 3x a year.

Kathy has a great thread going maybe she'll share the link so anyone interested can read up.

I found it https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-and-wormer-misinformations-graphic-pictures

PureBarnevelder said:

Hello, I have a 6 mo old pullet that's got a little sneeze too. She's only been doing it a couple of days and is separate from the flock. Sorry to insert myself but Thank You for the info on what to do and how to treat, best of luck!

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Sneezing doesn't have to mean sickness it could be dusty. If she has other symptoms like discharge from eyes or nares or swelling around her face or breathing trouble then you have a sick chicken. You don't want to randomly give antibiotics since they can be harmful too. I hope your pullet has just gotten into some dust.

Thank You for your help, just raked the pine straw and pine shavings along with other parts of the runs and it's been very dusty! No discharge or any signs of problems. The corid was recommended by someone because my Barnevelders are on their last dosing and I was told it couldn't hurt, not knowing the new pullets background. You've saved me a lot of confusion since the newcomer has no symptoms. She only does it when we come around, I started her off in a small enclosed area, covered, and it started then. Now she has free run in a larger uncovered area and she only does it randomly. Thanks again for taking the time to help me!

David

PureBarnevelder said:

Hello, I have a 6 mo old pullet that's got a little sneeze too. She's only been doing it a couple of days and is separate from the flock. Sorry to insert myself but Thank You for the info on what to do and how to treat, best of luck!

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Welcome to BYC!

-Kathy