Gape worm support

[newchickowna]

Hi ,

I have had two Isa Browns for about two weeks now they would be 20 weeks old and not laying yet, one is showing signs of gape worm ie: stretching the neck with the mouth open, lethargic and closing her eyes. This is the third day I have noticed the symptoms and it seems to be getting worse. I ordered some dewormer online today.

Is there any way to help support her (nugget) until the medication arrives ?? I already put DE earth in the food and Apple cider vinegar ( with mother) in there water, but as she is not eating or drinking today i doubt this is helping.

Any help would be appreciated


Thanks

 

[Hardman111]

This might sound funny but, Wikipedia has a good articleon gape worm, what causes it, how to treat it and so on. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gapeworm
At the bottom of the article it said that 3 treatments of cambendazole has a 95% success rate of cure.
And maybe an old french method would help... The french used to shove a tube down the throat of a chicken and force feed it so that it would eat more than it wanted, so that it would get really big. Maybe you could find a way to bypass the gape worm enough to force nutrients down into her system to keep her going until the dewormer arrived.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Check your chickens crop to see if it is full this morning. They will gape sometimes to adjust the crop, and she might have sour or impacted crop. More than likely though she may have a respiratory disease such as mycoplasma (CRD) or LT which also causes gaping. Gapeworm is not real common, but can be easily treated with SafeGuard Liquid Goat wormer (fenbendazole) at 25 mg (1/4 ml.) per pound of weight for 3 straight days, then repeat in 10 days for 3 more days. Valbazen will also work, as well as thiobendazole. Here is a list of common diseases and symptoms for you to read: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[dawg53]

This might sound funny but, Wikipedia has a good articleon gape worm, what causes it, how to treat it and so on. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gapeworm
At the bottom of the article it said that 3 treatments of cambendazole has a 95% success rate of cure.
And maybe an old french method would help... The french used to shove a tube down the throat of a chicken and force feed it so that it would eat more than it wanted, so that it would get really big. Maybe you could find a way to bypass the gape worm enough to force nutrients down into her system to keep her going until the dewormer arrived.

Unfortunately force feeding birds infected with gapeworms wont work. Gapeworms are lodged in the windpipe causing suffocation, then death.
The gapes arnt lodged in the esophagus where the tube would be inserted.

 

[BantamLover21]

Are you sure she has gapeworm? Respiratory diseases can also cause gasping, eye closing, and lethargy. One way I've heard of to test for gapeworm is to swab the bird's throat and look for red wormy things.

Also (sorry for being a little off topic), does anyone know if the wormer flubendazole (as found in the Worminator de-wormer) kills gapeworms? The bottle says it kills all worms except tapeworms, but I'm not sure if gapeworms are included in that. I have a bird that is showing remarkably similar symptoms to the symptoms described for gapeworm (it could also be a respiratory disease, as he isn't the strongest, but I want to cover all my bases), and want to know if the wormer I have currently will work.

 

[Eggcessive]

Are you sure she has gapeworm? Respiratory diseases can also cause gasping, eye closing, and lethargy. One way I've heard of to test for gapeworm is to swab the bird's throat and look for red wormy things.

Also (sorry for being a little off topic), does anyone know if the wormer flubendazole (as found in the Worminator de-wormer) kills gapeworms? The bottle says it kills all worms except tapeworms, but I'm not sure if gapeworms are included in that. I have a bird that is showing remarkably similar symptoms to the symptoms described for gapeworm (it could also be a respiratory disease, as he isn't the strongest, but I want to cover all my bases), and want to know if the wormer I have currently will work.

http://poultrykeeper.com/poultry-medication/flubenvet-used-for-worming

 

[ten chicks]

Hi ,

I have had two Isa Browns for about two weeks now they would be 20 weeks old and not laying yet, one is showing signs of gape worm ie: stretching the neck with the mouth open, lethargic and closing her eyes. This is the third day I have noticed the symptoms and it seems to be getting worse. I ordered some dewormer online today.

Is there any way to help support her (nugget) until the medication arrives ?? I already put DE earth in the food and Apple cider vinegar ( with mother) in there water, but as she is not eating or drinking today i doubt this is helping.

Any help would be appreciated


Thanks

Sounds more like a respiratory issue,as previously mentioned. I would treat for respiratory infection. Try and get some fluids into her,chickens become dehydrated very fast.

 

[dawg53]

Are you sure she has gapeworm? Respiratory diseases can also cause gasping, eye closing, and lethargy. One way I've heard of to test for gapeworm is to swab the bird's throat and look for red wormy things.

Also (sorry for being a little off topic), does anyone know if the wormer flubendazole (as found in the Worminator de-wormer) kills gapeworms? The bottle says it kills all worms except tapeworms, but I'm not sure if gapeworms are included in that. I have a bird that is showing remarkably similar symptoms to the symptoms described for gapeworm (it could also be a respiratory disease, as he isn't the strongest, but I want to cover all my bases), and want to know if the wormer I have currently will work.

BantamLover21, I incorrectly stated in a post awhile back that worminator was flubenvet. Worminator is pyrantel pamoate (combantrin) and it will not treat gapeworms. It will treat large roundworms, capillary worms, hookworms and pinworms. FYI: Flubenvet (flubendazole) will treat gapeworm.