Silkie chicken with gapeworm ???

[Notrealnic]

Hey everyone!

I have 3 lovely 1 year old bantam silkie chickens and have noticed that one (my lovely Repecka) has lost a significant amount of weight, has lost her soft fluffy appearance and rather, her feathers/fur looks matted and feels rough no matter how many times I bathe her. She is also loosing feathers around her neck and around the outer area of her bottom (not near the actual vent). Another symptom is I noticed is she almost trills(?) instead of squawks, even though she’s never been especially loud and has had runny poo’s that I had to resort to trimming her bottom feathers so they stopped drying up on her. I’ve never wormed them and feel like it may be gapeworm but have seen a lot of conflicting advice since none of her siblings have any issues!!

she is still eating and drinking fine but sticks her head/neck up a lot during the day. No issues with her eyes.

please please help. I really don’t want to lose my beautiful chicken

 

[Eggcessive]

Could she be molting? Do you have any pictures of her? Gapeworm can be diagnosed by a vet with fecal test to look for worm eggs under a microscope. If you would like to treat for gapes and other worms, get some Safeguard Liquid Goat Wormer at your local feed store. Give her 0.23 ml per pound of weight orally every day for 5 days.