don't know what is wrong

[marmo66]

one of our chickens started getting sick about 2 weeks ago. she acted like she couldn't breathe, and sounds like she has something caught in her throat. we have given her baytril injections, and some times she acts better and will eat some, but then gets bad again. she doesn't have any unusual discharge from her eyes or nose. just sits with her mouth open and tries to get her breath. she has lost a lot of weight and doubt she is going to make it. thought someone might be able to tell me what is wrong with her. she ate some raw egg with bread in it today. isn't drinkin much. appreciate if some might clue me in on this one. thanks.

 

[Eggs4Sale]

When was she last wormed?

Have you looked through the disease stickies?

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Search for Gape worms. This may be it, maybe.

 

[chris_m90731]

sounds parasitic to me too. does she have mites? i've heard birds with mite infestations can get rather emaciated.

 

[chickerdoodle]

Sounds like gapeworm to me but I'm not an expert.

 

[High Roost Ranch]

Sounds like gape worms to me too. Open her beak up wide, and look down her throat with a flashlight, see if you can see them attached to the trachea. I wouldn't give Baytril, it's a very strong antibiotic and unnecessary use will only promote resistance. We cannot afford to have another effective treatment go down the tubes.

 

[marmo66]

okay. i treated her with ivomec orally. she is acting better but still has problems with the gaspy breathing. she is trying to eat. how long should i wait before treating her again. i believe one site said to wait 10 days. thanks

 

[MakNat]

Feed her cooked oatmeal. It is course and will drag out any worms. Also apple cidar vinegar and garlic in the oats will help her ward off worms in the future!! DE is a GREAT preventitive as well.. Good luck

 

[marmo66]

Thanks for the suggestions. i am not sure what DE is?

 

[cobrien]

DE is diatomaceous earth, you would need to find food grade DE to use this for worming. You can search BYC for more info on DE.

I had a hen with similar symptoms and we thought it was gape worm but it turned out that she had laid an egg internally into her body, and the yolk got into the blood, which can be very irritating to the air sacs and lungs. They can get pneumonia and die from this. But ours survived. Her respiratory problems were due mainly to pain and our vet prescribed carprofen to manage the pain. She is better but I think she has some minor lung damage as she tires easily. I would treat for gapeworm (we used panacur, same stuff used for dogs) as well as pain if you can. Keep her warm and isolated from the others just in case. Carprofen is a heavy duty pain killer, metacam is more like ibuprofen for birds but it could still help. Good luck, I hope she makes it.