My chicken hiccuped and "gaped" for 2 days - what to do? Help!

Date sort Score sort
Moogie

Moogie

Songster
8 Years
Jun 12, 2011
148
19
124
DFW, Texas
My BR was hiccuping constantly and "panting" (except of course, it's not hot here). This went on for 2 days - so I thought: gapeworm. On the second day, I gave it a pea-size dollop of Safe-Guard equine paste on a small bit of bread and isolated it from the rest of the flock.

This morning - about 18 hours later - the chicken has quit hiccuping. It's eating and acting perfectly fine.

So - was it most likely gapeworm and do I continue treating - or was it something else, that didn't require the medication? Will Safe-guard really work that fast??

I would really appreciate help with this as I don't want to continue medicating it if nothing is wrong - but don't want to put it back in with the flock if it just had a miraculous response to the treatment and needs to continue.

Any ideas -- anyone?
 
Flockwatcher - thank you for your reply and for the link. :)

I just checked my hen and I still hear an occasional quiet hiccup, but not nearly as often nor as loud. She is no longer gaping, but there is an occasional rattling sound when she breathes. Yesterday, I did the q-tip test on her and there was a small - about 3/8" - streak of reddish-brown material on the q-tip, which might be cause for concern. I'm going to feed her some yogurt, scrambled eggs and follow up with Nutra Drench.

I've been researching this for several hours on BYC and found some helpful threads by DAWG53.

The hardest thing to find out is how many days in a row to give Safeguard equine paste. Initially, I thought it was only given one day, then repeated in 10 days, and again in another 10 days.

I finally found where DAWG 53 recommended to give the pea-size dollop for 3 or 4 days in a row, then repeat in 10 days, and again in 10 days here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/559705/gapeworm-treating-with-safeguard
"A "pea" sized amount given orally to each chicken will kill gapeworm, but you'll need to dose them once a day for 3 or 4 days to get rid of them. Gapes and tapes are tough to get rid of."

I'm posting that info here, in case anyone else needs it.

If this is not accurate, I'd appreciate someone letting me know so that I can correct it.
big_smile.png
 
Moogie said:
Flockwatcher - thank you for your reply and for the link. :)

I just checked my hen and I still hear an occasional quiet hiccup, but not nearly as often nor as loud. She is no longer gaping, but there is an occasional rattling sound when she breathes. Yesterday, I did the q-tip test on her and there was a small - about 3/8" - streak of reddish-brown material on the q-tip, which might be cause for concern. I'm going to feed her some yogurt, scrambled eggs and follow up with Nutra Drench.

I've been researching this for several hours on BYC and found some helpful threads by DAWG53.

The hardest thing to find out is how many days in a row to give Safeguard equine paste. Initially, I thought it was only given one day, then repeated in 10 days, and again in another 10 days.

I finally found where DAWG 53 recommended to give the pea-size dollop for 3 or 4 days in a row, then repeat in 10 days, and again in 10 days here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/559705/gapeworm-treating-with-safeguard
"A "pea" sized amount given orally to each chicken will kill gapeworm, but you'll need to dose them once a day for 3 or 4 days to get rid of them. Gapes and tapes are tough to get rid of."

I'm posting that info here, in case anyone else needs it.

If this is not accurate, I'd appreciate someone letting me know so that I can correct it.
big_smile.png
Click to expand...
I seriously doubt it's gapeworm. It's something either stuck in her throat or crop. Try giving her a piece of bread soaked in olive oil to eat. Otherwise it could be a respiratory problem. Here's a link to a post regarding gapeworm, the BYC member has dealt with them many times: Posts #13 and #14.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/602699/worming-chickens/10
 
Dawg53 - thanks so much for your reply!

I checked out youtube and found a few videos of chickens with gapeworm. My chicken never stretched her neck out like that, although she did repeatedly open and shut her beak in a "panting" motion. So, I'm hoping you're right about my misdiagnosis.




I fed her the bread soaked in olive oil. She played with it, but didn't eat it, so I left it, hoping she'll eat it later.
hu.gif
Right now, all she wants is *out* of the coop!

I'm going to discontinue the Safeguard but will keep her isolated from the rest of the flock until this clears up. Since she's doing better today than yesterday, I'm hoping she'll work whatever it is out of her system soon.

thanks again!
 
Our chicken started hiccuping once, She died in her sleep that night, it must have been a Particularly bad case, as some of our chickens have had it before as well and have recovered soon after. The hiccuping seems to affect our dutch bantams mor ethan any other breed; in fact, the only breed we get hiccuping is the dutch bantams. would there be a reason for this?
 

Similar threads

I
    • Like
Help please! My hen has a respiratory disease.
2 3 4
Replies
36
Views
995
IncognitoMode4723
I
J
The odd chicken continues - gaping, sneezing, dark comb, but acting normal?
Replies
3
Views
849
Eggcessive
Eggcessive
Shugercube
Gaping hen :(
2
Replies
13
Views
3K
Shugercube
Shugercube
Ambera
6 day old chick, gaping/strange drinking motion?
2
Replies
10
Views
871
Ambera
Ambera
R
    • Love
TREATING CHICKEN x 10+ DAYS STILL SNEEZING & respiratory rattles WHAT TO DO?
Replies
1
Views
896
Debbie292d
Debbie292d

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom