Hello! First time BYCK with 4 (roughly) 6 mo old Red/Brown sexlinks. I acquired them about a month ago and all but 1 is laying (not sure who isn't yet, but I have an idea.) All of the gals are free range in my Baltimore City backyard for about 5-8 hours a day; all eat/drink well. All but one girl, Erma, has had the comb growth and the dark red color appear. Her comb has grown very little and is about the same color as when she arrived a month ago (like a pinkish/ever so light orange color depending on the lighting.) I haven't noticed any worms in the droppings I pick up every other day from the coop or any droppings outside. I did notice today that she would intermittently open her mouth while walking around, but I don't think she's extending her neck at all - plus, it was 91 degrees today, I thought she may just be warm. A friend of mine advised getting ivermectin as a "cure all" but I'm not sure if I should try something else because I'm not positive what type of worm she may have or what else is available on the market - also, the closest feed/poultry place near me is about an hour away in either direction so I'd like to know what I should get and call ahead to be sure it's there. Please help, & thanks in advance!
Ivermectin is not a good "cure all" - it is not as effective as it used to be, and does not kill tapeworms. Valbazen is a better all-around dewormer. Before deworming, though, I would suggest having one of her stool samples checked for parasites by a vet. Deworming is completely ineffective if 1. you use the wrong dewormer or 2.They do not have worms.
Absolutely^^^^^ Here's another option for fecal testing: http://www.midamericaagresearch.net/instructions.php It's probably cheaper than a local vet and you'll likely get a more accurate and detailed report by a place that knows poultry. The open mouth could be panting, they will definitely pant when it is hot and hold their wings away from their bodies to cool down. They'll also drink more water and have runnier poops as a result, that can be alarming if you don't know why....but is not necessarily an indicator of worms Hot weather is hard on chickens, they tolerate the cold much better. Try the search bar for hot weather tips and tricks. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ne...&order=descending&Search=SEARCH&Search=SEARCH Oh...and.....Welcome to BYC!!
