Gapeworms?

[LindiePindie]

Several months ago I had a pullet (Olive) that started gaping followed by head shaking. She does it quite often. I took a video and showed it to the vet. Fecal float was negative but she suspected it was gapeworm and sent me home with Safeguard (Fenbendazole) 10% with instructions to dose the entire flock with one dose. It made no difference in my gaping hen but after a few weeks I started seeing other hens gaping here and there. All my girls are just under 1 year of age and are laying, eating and drinking just fine. I saw tapeworms in a couple of girl's droppings so because of the continued gaping decided to deworm the flock. My question is this: given that my Olive has been gaping/head shaking for months without getting sick in any other way, can I effectively rule out gapeworms? I would assume that she would progressively get worse and find breathing and eating difficult but this hasn't been the case.

 

[sourland]

I would guess that you are dealing with something other than gapeworms in your flock.

 

[dawg53]

Since the gaping and head shaking has been going on for months, it's not gapeworm. Olive wouldve been dead long ago.
You could be dealing with the possible onset of a respiratory disease since it's spreading through your flock, although an environmental issue could be the problem.

 

[Eggcessive]

Are you still seeing tapeworm segments in the poop? Gapeworms are rare. It sounds possibly like they may have a respiratory disease with the head shaking and gaping. That is more common than gapeworm. Since you vet did a fecal float, they should have seen gapeworm eggs, or even tapeworms. One dose of Safeguard would not treat gapeworm anyway. See below for dosage. Tapeworms are best treated with praziquantel, which is found in horse wormers, Eqimectrin and Zimectrin Gold. If you could post pictures of suspected tapeworm segments, that might help. Tapeworm segments usually are moving infresh droppings. SafeGuard dosage for gapeworms is 0.25 ml per pound given for 5 consecutive days.

 

[LindiePindie]

Since the gaping and head shaking has been going on for months, it's not gapeworm. Olive wouldve been dead long ago.
You could be dealing with the possible onset of a respiratory disease since it's spreading through your flock, although an environmental issue could be the problem.

Thank you. It's hard to find information on gapeworm progression in chickens. It's nice to be able to rule that out. I did run them through a course of Tylosin a few weeks ago due to the head shaking and some sneezing. What possible environmental issues were you thinking? I would love to hear as I'm still learning!

 

[LindiePindie]

Tapeworm segments usually are moving infresh droppings.

Yes, it was alarming to see the little worm segments trying to crawl out of the droppings, but I didn't have my phone with me so no video. Based on what I'm reading from you all I think I can rule out gapeworms, thankfully.

 

[Eggcessive]

With tapeworm segments, seen in the video below, not all birds may have them or need treatment. Tapeworms are spread by an intermediate host, such as snails, slugs, beetles, earthworms, grasshoppers, and others who have ingested the eggs. Praziquantel is the treatment. Eqimax horse paste, one of the products that treats this is given at a dosage of 0.03ml per pound, and repeated in 14 days. That would be 0.15 ml for a 5 pound hen, so a 1 ml syringe from your local pharmacy might be something to get.

 

[dawg53]

Thank you. It's hard to find information on gapeworm progression in chickens. It's nice to be able to rule that out. I did run them through a course of Tylosin a few weeks ago due to the head shaking and some sneezing. What possible environmental issues were you thinking? I would love to hear as I'm still learning!

Environmental issues possibly relating to head shaking/gaping:
Ammonia fumes from soiled bedding, mold spores inside the coop, improper ventilation, pollen, pesticide use, inhalation of feed granule(s) or feed dust, dust from dust bathing.