Gape worm or respiratory infection?

[Aunt ruth]

I noticed today that one of my chickens seemed to be having a hard time breathing. I picked her up and heard her wheezing. Now, she isn't gasping constantly, just when I pick her up or when she starts moving around a lot. I tried looking down her throat to see if I saw any worms but as far as a could see she looked clear. I didn't see any nasal discharge. I went ahead and gave her a Tylan 50 injection today to be sure, but I was wondering how I could tell if she had gape worm or an infection/virus? I didn't see any worms, but they may be down too far to see. And I'm not seeing any discharge. Any symptoms to look for so I know for sure what she's got?

 

[Eggcessive]

Respiratory infections are more common than gapeworm. It's good that you started Tylan, but if you also want to treat for gapeworm, fenbendazole or SafeGuard Liquid Goat wormer can be given at 25mg per pound for 3 straight days by mouth, then skip 10 days, and repeat for 3 straight days. 25mg is 1/4 ml, so multiply that by her weight in pounds. Sometimes the gapeworms can be seen as red thin worms on a Q-Tip by swabbing the throat, but that could cause more respiratory distress. Infectious bronchitis, mycoplasma gallisepticum or CRD, ILT, and coryza are the most common respiratory diseases. Here is a link to read about those: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Aunt ruth]

Thanks. Haven't seen that list before. She was at youth fair all last week so it's likely she picked something up there. I'll see how she is in the morning.