Gape worm

[Vwheatley]

Hi everyone, I posted a while ago about my silkie hen, I thought she may have a mild respiratory infection. I actually took her to the vet yesterday and now have some antibiotics. However the vet said her lungs are clear but she is very underweight. Having read everything I can on every forum I actually wonder if gape worm could be the problem. The vet asked if they had been wormed which they have with flubenvet. This is all that is available in the uk, but it seems that a lot of people don’t think it works for gapes???? Could anyone advise please. I understand that gapes can present as respiratory infection. None of the other hens are showing any signs of illness but on inspecting all of them last night I would say they all seem slightly under weight even thou they eat for England. Xxxx

 

[hannah and the chickens]

As far as I know, Flubenvet should help against gape worms, but sometimes worms can be really resistant so in many cases, you need to treat a second time (or a third time). Maybe you can take a poop sample to your vet to test for worms. If your chicken has gape worms, the eggs should be visible under the microscope.

I find it really hard to estimate my chickens' weight (it's all concealed by their fluffy feathers) so if you want to be sure about their weight, I'd weigh them and compare that to the breed standard you can find online.

 

[Vwheatley]

Thanks for the reply, my husband is going to go and get the premedicated food, we used the powder before and mixed it ourselves. Perhaps this little one just didn’t have enough. I am going to speak to the vet again today anyway. X