Chicken wheezing then hiccup

[PeeperKeeper]

Tiff, please tell us what you are treating the gapeworms with. My hen has same symptoms.

 

[tiffwilhelm]

I get mysterious little syringes from chicken lady. I will call her today and find out, okay? I hope your chicken starts to feel better soon.

 

[tiffwilhelm]

Okay, just spoke with chicken lady. The medicine she gave me was called valbezen. It is actually a worming medication for sheep and goats. But it had an ingredient in it that totally worked on my chickens.

She fills up little vials for me (at a cost of about $2 each to me) and I just squirt it into the chicken's beaks ... carefully not to choke them! Never had that problem though I was warned on BYC!

Good luck.

 

[PeeperKeeper]

Valbezen and fenbendazole are used to treat gape worm. At least that's what an alnight search has come up with. I also read that the treatment would have to be given for 3 consecutive days and then every 60 to 90 days for poultry running in infected areas. DH is at TSC right now looking for meds. SafeGuard is one brand with fenbendazole.
My little hen choked and hacked almost alnight long. She can't hardly get any rest. She is still trying to eat but seems to avoid water.
I had some cat tapeworm med pyraquatril (spelling) something that was mentioned also in one of the many articles I read. I gave her 1/2 tab this AM and she has finally had a few moments of rest and increase in water and food intake.
I haven't done the "look down the throat" thing. I'm afraid if I saw one (worm) I'd freak out. Then I'd have to go after it!

 

[my three chickens]

An update on my hen, and a question:

Update: I signed into this post because I had a hiccuping, then coughing and wheezing, and now difficult breathing chicken. Escalated quickly, over two days. This afternoon I brought her to the vet and he could not identify the problem. Without doing very expensive xrays to rule out that something is blocking the trachea, we agreed to treat her for three things at once: fungal infection, bacterial infection, and gapeworms. Tried quarantining her yesterday and she wouldn't have it, but now she is so beat I have her in a cage with a heat lamp. One good thing: her appetite has not ceased. (Though I can't get her to drink any water--putting it in with the food.)

Question: The vet gave her Ivermectin for the gapeworms. I've read on here that that works only for roundworms, etc., and that I'd need something else for gapeworms. True? (To be honest, the BYC crew seemed to know more than he did.)

 

[tiffwilhelm]

It sounds like what I went through with my first chicken (who did pass away). I took her to two different vets, paid a lot of money for medicines that did not work. Ivermec apparently only treats round worms/tape worms. Apparently it is the other medicine that you need if it is in fact gape worm. If it is far gone, I have had to do multiple back to back doses within a couple of days. But it clears them up quick. And I seriously have my girls on the 90 day treatment plan for this now. I found Ivermec to be ineffective for treating these symptoms. I don't believe this is a round worm issue.