Vet says gapeworm, recommends unavailable treatment; options?

Today will/would be day six. I haven't given that or the evening dose of tetracycline yet. I dread it and I was thinking that if I was going to have her euthanized tomorrow first thing I wouldn't put either of us through it. Now I guess I will give her everything tonight and try to get a first-thing vet appt. for more discussion of a diagnosis. If the vet can't figure out what's wrong and the hen's not getting better, though, I'll still have to reconsider euthanasia because I don't want to make her suffer any longer. The thing that pretty much convinced me it was respiratory was that, after being with the sick girl for a few days, the second hen began having the same symptoms.
You can ask the vet to take an X-Ray of her abdomen and lungs.
 
Will definitely do that. Thanks!


So sorry you and her have been going through this... :hugs

IF it comes down to euthanasia, I would ask about having a necropsy done... I'm inclined to agree with Kathy about it not being respiratory... although, there may be a respiratory issue your flock has, I think she has something else on top of that... not uncommon to have more than 1 thing going on...

Hang in there... :hugs
 
Thanks, @RavynFallen . I wound up having my girl euthanized today. She stopped eating, drinking and pooping yesterday, and was a bag of bones. She was miserable and there was clearly no coming back from it, whatever the cause. Naturally, the vet who sees chickens was not in again today (!). Another vet in the practice did the euthanasia and I didn't meet him because I was already nearly losing it and just couldn't stand bawling uncontrollably in front of strangers who think it's odd to care so much about a chicken.

Trying to decide now what to do about the other girl—her friend—who is still in the house. She has clear symptoms of a respiratory illness (hissing breath, open-mouth breathing, a sneeze when I cleaned something nearby with vinegar). I clearly can't put her back with the others but she's making herself worse pacing and calling out constantly. She is REALLY unhappy about being alone. She is also nearly impossible to medicate with a syringe. I'm putting the tetracycline in her water and may see if I can get her in tomorrow (I assume that's when the vet will be back) for testing to determine whether there's a good chance of saving her or not.

Because things apparently aren't bad enough, I noticed my very favorite hen standing on her roost with her tail down this morning. I've watched carefully and seen no other symptoms, and the tail went back up as soon as she hopped down, but should any of the others start to get ill, I'm done. I contacted the guy who built my coop to ask if he knew someone who could come do quick, humane euthanasia(s) at short notice should I need it, rather than me having to wait for the vet to be available (and paying $60 each). Coop guy doesn't know anyone because he always "lets nature take its course." He doesn't quarantine sick birds; if they get better that's great, and if they don't, he lets them die on their own. (!!) So I may advertise on Craigslist, in the absence of any other alternatives.

I can't count how many pros/cons lists, and how many articles about keeping chickens I read before I got my chicks, and not one of them mentioned that I'd probably be on my own if they got sick. To me, that's one of the most important things to know. Now I have to decide whether to learn to "cull" when necessary myself, or to just not keep chickens. This whole situation has just wrung me out like a dishrag. :(
 

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