Baytril question...Did I mess up?

[BWchicken]

I just discovered my bantam BR (who hasn't been acting right and hasn't laid in over a month) has an ear infection in both ears. Brownish-black gunk had completely plugged one of her ears. I brought her in and cleaned it out by softening the gunk with Baytril Otic for dogs, then I put several drops down inside each ear. I know Baytril given orally is okay for chickens, so I figured it would be okay to do that. Now I'm second guessing myself, and I feel stupid for doing it. Baytril Otic is for a dog's ears not a chicken's, but it did seem to soothe her ears a lot. The actual ingredients are enrofloxacin/silver sulfadiazine. Could it be toxic to her? Do you think I messed up by putting it in her ears?

 

[MotherJean]

I shouldn't think it would do her any harm. Is she only having trouble with discharge from her ears? Nothing from nose - no sneezing - no watery eyes?

 

[BWchicken]

Oh good, thanks for that. No eye, nasal or respiratory symptoms at all. She's been gaping off and on for awhile, but lately this has progressed to severe, almost constant gaping as well as head shaking and ear scratching. I thought it was gapeworm, so I used ivermectin pour-on on her today. That's when I noticed the ears. Will the ivermectin kill ear mites if she has them? And could ear problems be the reason she hasn't laid for so long? One more, do you think her ear trouble caused the symptoms I mentioned, especially the gaping?

 

[MotherJean]

No, my guess is the gaping is probably gapeworm (as you suspected) and the infestation has produced a secondary infection in her ears. Gapeworm is awful stuff and can actually strangle and/or suffocate a bird if it goes untreated. Under the circumstances, you probably did a good thing using the Baytril drops in her ears. I hope that Ivermectin works quickly. I also hope you'll post a followup on how this all turns out for you and the little hen. We all learn so much from each others' firsthand experience.

 

[BWchicken]

Thank you so much! I feel a lot better about the baytril drops now. If this is gapeworm, I'm wondering how long it takes the ivermectin to kill them off. I'm guessing it would kill ear mites too if she had any. I hope with the gapeworm gone and ears healed, she will start laying again. I couldn't figure out why a 1 year old BR would just stop laying like this, I even took her for x-rays to rule out eggbound. So hopefully the mystery of why she hasn't laid for a month and a half is solved! Only time will tell, and I will post an update.

 

[BWchicken]

24 hours after applying the ivermectin and baytril drops, there's no change. She's still gaping, head shaking, and ear scratching. So I put some more baytril drops in her ears. If this is gapeworm, how long does it take the ivermectin pour on to enter her bloodstream and kill them? I've looked everywhere but can't find that info anywhere.

 

[MotherJean]

I'll PM a BYC'er that I trust will have the answer for you, but may not hear back until Friday. My guess is, if you're not seeing improvement within a couple of days, you might need to reassess the situation and consider some sort of respiratory infection instead. I'll get back to you as soon as I know something. Meantime, maybe someone else will come along with an answer for you.

 

[dawg53]

MotherJean sent me a message regarding your possible gapeworm issue. BWchicken, since you're from Texas and it's hot there, could it be the heat causing your BR bantam to gasp for air? Mine do that sometimes especially this past week when we had record heat. You've used ivermectin pour on and if it was gapeworm, they should be dead by now. Take a Q-tip and stick it one inch down the chickens throat,very gently swab and gently pull it out.(two person job) If you see red "Y" shaped worm(s) on the Q-tip, you'll have your answer. But I'm not so sure you're dealing with gapeworm. Have you ever seen a dog or cat that has ear mites? they are constantly shaking their heads and scratching their ears, yawning also. See where I'm coming from? Originally it started out with the ears problem, I believe therein lies the problem. She could have ear mites. I havnt dealt with ear mites. I'd like to suggest you type in "ear mites" in the search box on here and see what comes up and read all you can about it. Chickens get gapeworm from eating grasshoppers and earthworms, just for your info. Another good wormer for gapeworm besides ivermectin pour on is fenbendazole (safeguard) 10% suspension liquid from TSC and use 2.5cc/gallon of drinking water....just for your information. Good luck. Ok, I did some research on chicken ear mites and it was tough to find a solution, but here's what I found; warm some olive oil (not hot and dont use microwave to warm oil) and put a drop on each ear for several days, this will smother the mites. You can use a Q-tip to gently swab any goop coming from the ears. Prior to putting oil on the ears, what I read said that you can use a magnifying glass and see the mites. I hope this helps.

 

[BWchicken]

Thank you both so much! Yes it's very hot here and they pant, but what I'm seeing here is definitely gaping. Neck stretches straight up, opens mouth wide, almost like a upwards gag. She actually started gaping a few months ago, but it was infrequent. When it progressively got worse I wormed with Safeguard liquid (about a month ago). But I'm not sure how effective it was because the wormer always just settled to the bottom of the waterer. Gaping has since worsened more and now also head shaking and ear scratching. So I now tried the ivermectin.

I'm not sure I can manage the q-tip test. She will struggle and I'm afraid I'd go down the wrong hole or something. If I can't figure this out another way, I may try it though. I am starting to doubt that this is gapeworm because there's no wheezing or anything like that and it's been going on for so long, she'd have probably succumbed by now.

About ear mites, I too suspected that. I was hoping the ivermectin would kill ear mites? I have already searched until I'm cross-eyed for info about ear mites in chickens or birds and can find virtually no information. I'm wondering if a pyrethrin based ear mite cream for dogs might work and be safe. This all started with gaping (and slowly worsened), but would ear mites cause gaping? I'm thinking yes, but I'm not sure. Ironically, shortly after the gaping first started a few months ago, I also noticed the 'fur' patch over her ears lightened to a brown color, but I didn't even know that's where her ears were. I only noticed them now because she has scratched a lot of that 'fur' patch off and I can clearly see her ears. So even though the first symptom was gaping, I think you're right that the ears have been the problem all along.

Sorry this got so long, I wanted to provide further details and see what you think. This means the world to me, thanks so much to both of you for helping me try and figure this out for my little bantam BR. She's a very sweet girl. And if anyone can help me find any info about ear mites in chickens, please please let me know.

ETA: I guess I was typing this post while you were adding that info. You sure found more ear mite info than I did, thank you! So I take it that ivermectin doesn't kill ear mites? If she's still no better tomorrow I'll give olive oil a try. Could these ear problems also be the reason she hasn't laid in so long (going on 2 months)?

 

[dawg53]

Ivermectin pour on wont kill ALL lice/mites. Again, try putting warm olive oil on the ears, see what happens! She wont lay due to the irritation to her ears, very stressful.