Our favorite chicken is coughing!!!!

[New chicken family]

Help!
My favoprite Ameracauna is coughing/choking...
I can't see anything down its throat. I sounds like it is hoarse... I stuck her beak in the water to make her drink - she didn't like it!
Any ideas?
No other sick hens. Thye are about 22 weeks old and just started laying.
Help!
She is our favorite and friendliest pullet... She comes and sits on your lap!

 

[New chicken family]

What is gapeworm?

 

[rooster-red]

From wikipedia:

A gapeworm (Syngamus trachea) is a parasitic nematode worm infecting the tracheas of certain birds. The resulting disease, known as gape or the gapes, occurs when the worms clog and obstruct the airway. The worms are also known as red worms or forked worms due to their red color and the permanent procreative conjunction of males and females. Gapeworm is common in young, domesticated chickens and turkeys.

When the female gapeworm lays her eggs in the trachea of an infected bird, the eggs are coughed up, swallowed, then defecated. When birds consume the eggs found in the feces or an intermediate host such as earthworms, snails, or slugs, they become infected with the parasite.

Ivermectin is a drug often used to control gapeworm infection in birds.

 

[dlhunicorn]

could she have ingested some litter material? (This often happens) soak a pice of bread in olive oil and gently massage the throat in a downward direction just in case as this will sometimes help dislodge it .
I would also give this bird four drops of POLYVISOL (children liquid A-B-D vitamins) for three of four days (once a day>put in beak) as a vit A deficiency will cause placques in the oesaphagus (wont hurt might help)
Here is na article on Ivomec Eprinex (fenbendazol or valbazan is also effective on gapeworm)
http://shilala.homestead.com/ivomec.html
(use the spot-on method)

If you have not wormed your birds, then now might be a good time to do it. Be sure to give their housing a good clean out with fresh litter.