Aspergillosis or Upper respiratory infection? Help!!!!! My chickens are head shaking badly. What co

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kelly12

kelly12

Hatching
8 Years
Jun 22, 2011
7
0
7
Ontario, Canada
Greetings,

Just in the past few days some (4) of my chickens (I have 8 pet laying hens) have started head shaking. One of them is compulsively head shaking ALL the time. They are acting perfectly normally otherwise, laying eggs, talking, eating.

The only changes in their environment have been a week ago I changed their shavings and I also gave them a wack of super worms I found out of a bag of super worm manure I got from my bug supplier for my garden. My concern is that there may have been mold spores in the super worm manure which my hens breathed in.

The worst head shaker sounds like she has a gurgle in her lungs.

I have talked to vets by phone and no vet seems willing to provide me with an anti fungal treatment. They feel that fungal infection is unlikely. None of them want to examine her as they don't feel knowledgeable enough.

I could treat them with tetracycline but am afraid that if it is fungal it will get worse. I have heard of a product called Oxine but it is only available in the states, needs to be inhaled and the shipping charges to Canada are triple the cost of the product.

I am new to using this thread. I have owned healthy chickens for 3 years. If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate them. I am really worried.

Thanks,

Kelly
 
We had something similar a few years ago. Two birds died and we sent them for necropsy and they had wet form of fowl pox with infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT). This was quite a learning curve as we had never had sick chickens before. There is a vaccine for both. We vaccinated our flock for fowl pox at the first sign of it the next year. Look these diseases up and see if they fit the symptoms you are experiencing. I just remember our poor little Sebrights have very odd head movements. At first I thought it was gapeworm from what I'd read.

I don't mean to be a downer, but we just lost two birds to high heat in our area in the past two weeks and have a bird with symptoms we can't figure out. If you do lose your birds, have a necropsy done so that you can find out for sure what it is and possibly save the rest of your flock. We have 40+ "pet" birds. I know how hard this is. My son was bawling this afternoon at the lose of one of his favorite hens.

Good luck to you! Please post and let me know how things do turn out. I am always learning something new with these birds.
 
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I have looked up the illnesses you mentioned and mine are not exhibiting the same symptoms so I am hoping they don't in the near future either. I will definitely take your advice if one of them dies and have a necropsy done. So they are all acting normal despite the head shaking. No discharge, no listlessness, no swelling, no sores , no coughing etc. I just came in from the coop....I spent 1/2 hour out there in the dark close with them quietly listening to them breathing. They all sounded normal and oddly there was no head shaking. The vet wanted me to also check up their nostrils to see if they had mites up there.....I certainly couldn't see anything up there and I checked all over them as well in the dark with a flashlight and saw nothing but healthy pink skin. I will keep a vigilant eye on them though as I still am very uncomfortable. Praying that this resolves.
 
Aspergillosis which is a respiratory infection due to molds, doesn't cause respiratory "sounds" such as wheezing, rales, or gurgles. It causes silent gasping, and can cause a loss of voice such as in a rooster not being able to crow. Head shaking can be a sign of respiratory disease, but also can be a sign of ear infection, or mite infestation, and they can get into ears. You can try putting a QTip into the ear canal to see if you get anything out. Head shaking can also be from growing in feathers. If you hear gurgles, it may be a respiratory infection such as MG, Coryza, and ILT, and these are carrier diseases that are chronic. Here is a link with the common ones: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
 
Thank you for your reply and sharing your insights. I am monitoring them closely and as of today will be deworming them. The one doing all the head shaking has an infestation of tapeworms and I can't rule out that she doesn't have other types as well. I will start there and see if the head shaking stops. She is still 'acting' healthy otherwise...laying eggs, active, bright eyed etc.

Thanks!
 
Thanks for the input....I just got home from the feed store...a vet directed me to buy Horse de-wormer oral paste Praziquantel that also has ivermectin in it.

It is made by Equimax and has ivermectin 1.87% and praziquantel 14.03 %. She said to give them a piece the size of a pea once and then again in 2 weeks and to not eat the eggs for 10 days after each treatment for a total of 20 days.

One tube will deworm a 600 kg horse so I am really concerned about this 'pea' sized piece I am to give them....I guess I will err on the side of a VERY small pea sized piece. The tube is 6.42 g.
Anymore advice would again be very appreciated....Thanks!

Kelly
 
kelly12 said:
Thanks for the input....I just got home from the feed store...a vet directed me to buy Horse de-wormer oral paste Praziquantel that also has ivermectin in it.

It is made by Equimax and has ivermectin 1.87% and praziquantel 14.03 %. She said to give them a piece the size of a pea once and then again in 2 weeks and to not eat the eggs for 10 days after each treatment for a total of 20 days.

One tube will deworm a 600 kg horse so I am really concerned about this 'pea' sized piece I am to give them....I guess I will err on the side of a VERY small pea sized piece. The tube is 6.42 g.
Anymore advice would again be very appreciated....Thanks!

Kelly
Click to expand...
You can put it onto some bread and make sure it adheres or soaks in somehow if that makes it easier. I have not done this but have read others saying it can make it easier to administer meds.
Eggcessive said:
Aspergillosis which is a respiratory infection due to molds, doesn't cause respiratory "sounds" such as wheezing, rales, or gurgles. It causes silent gasping, and can cause a loss of voice such as in a rooster not being able to crow. Head shaking can be a sign of respiratory disease, but also can be a sign of ear infection, or mite infestation, and they can get into ears. You can try putting a QTip into the ear canal to see if you get anything out. Head shaking can also be from growing in feathers. If you hear gurgles, it may be a respiratory infection such as MG, Coryza, and ILT, and these are carrier diseases that are chronic. Here is a link with the common ones: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
Click to expand...
x2 on the mites. In the past when my chickens had mites it made them shake their heads every 5-15 seconds continuously. They also will shake their heads when you talk to them in an enclosed area such as a shed, every time you say something ( I talk loudly).

Also I have dealt with aspergillosis and it was a silent gasping. No gurgling at all.
 
Last edited:
Yes, I've observed my hens for years and the head shaking at the sound of my voice is quite common. This head shaking is different so when I treat her/them for the tapeworms I am sure that they medication will also take care of any potential mites. I certainly can't see any but am told some up the nose etc can't be seen with the naked eye. Their ears are clear.
No gurgling with my girls...I sat for a long time last night in the coop with them again with my ear up against their chests as they roosted...they all breath great. I think the gurgle I initially heard was because I was holding her tightly to inspect her face etc... I suppose if someone squeezed me while they were trying to look up my nose I would gurgle and squeak a bit too :)
Only symptoms are visible tapeworms in one girls droppings and same girl head shaking.....a couple others are head shaking a bit more than usual too. How quickly will I notice a difference in terms of the symptoms after medicating if it is mites? Also, what happens with the chickens after they are wormed...can I expect to see lots of dead worms coming out of them?
I'm not worried about getting the meds into them...they are crazy for treats!

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback!

Kelly
 

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