Gapeworm? Ivermectin Dosing

[WildandFree]

Hi everyone. New to the forum, but not to chickens. We've had chickens for 8 years now and first time dealing with this behavior. We have ~40 birds : 3 roos, 2 guineas and the rest hens. Behavior started last week: shaking heads, stretching necks. Rhaspy breathing, cough, sneezing every so often, but no liquid coming out, more of a dry sneeze. Diarrhea. Lethargic. A handful of birds have it, but it sounds like more are getting it. I cleaned the coop out, fresh bedding. Nothings changed and like I said they've NEVER been sick before. I live in NJ, and it's been hot and dry this past week. I strongly think gapeworm after talking to a few people. I bought ivermectin, but unsure of dosing. Thoughts?

 

[dawg53]

It sounds more like a respiratory disease than gapeworm. One way to be sure is to take a fresh fecal sample to a vet and have them look for gapeworm eggs under a microscope.

 

[WildandFree]

Vets near me do not see chickens , at least I havent found one that does. How would you treat respiratory disease?

 

[dawg53]

Vets near me do not see chickens , at least I havent found one that does. How would you treat respiratory disease?

You wont be bringing in a chicken to see a vet, just taking a fecal sample in a ziplock bag, like you would for a dog or cat to be tested.

As far as treating a respiratory disease, you need to know what disease your birds have. Specific diseases require specific treatments, or culling. Try contacting your local extension office or state agriculture department for assistance.

 

[casportpony]

Vets near me do not see chickens , at least I havent found one that does. How would you treat respiratory disease?

Welcome to BYC. Where do you live?

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

You should first take a fecal sample in for a test. Vets will do it for pretty cheap, especially how easy it is. If no vets near you will do a float test then you can do one yourself if you have a decent microscope. There is an article on how to do one on here but for the life of me I can’t seem to find it.

 

[Lumikko]

Hi everyone. New to the forum, but not to chickens. We've had chickens for 8 years now and first time dealing with this behavior. We have ~40 birds : 3 roos, 2 guineas and the rest hens. Behavior started last week: shaking heads, stretching necks. Rhaspy breathing, cough, sneezing every so often, but no liquid coming out, more of a dry sneeze. Diarrhea. Lethargic. A handful of birds have it, but it sounds like more are getting it. I cleaned the coop out, fresh bedding. Nothings changed and like I said they've NEVER been sick before. I live in NJ, and it's been hot and dry this past week. I strongly think gapeworm after talking to a few people. I bought ivermectin, but unsure of dosing. Thoughts?

Where abouts in NJ are you? Hello from Wayne, NJ!

 

[WildandFree]

I live in Warren County!

 

[WildandFree]

Ok, so update. We did Wazine treatment in water this morning. We havent dewormed them yet this yr so we started with that. One chicken was dead in coop this morning. On the floor of the coop, I turned her over and she was covered in maggots. Flystrike? Some of the chickens have diarrhea so I cleaned their tushes with warm water and a tub in the yard. I found their vents were clean and all looked good so I'm not sure what happened with the one chicken. One of the chickens I cleaned I found mites. We've never had mites before either. I cleaned the poo, but then the bases of the feathers around her vents had gray build up - they look like tubes around the base of the feather. I described it to my husband as looking like corn dogs.

I'm lost. We've had chickens for 8 yrs and never had any problems! I'm going crazy. I treated them to wazine in their water at 8am. Do I pull that and do Ivermectin to treat both worms and mites later tonight?

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

Treat the mites and the worms tonight. Spray the chickens, roost bar, nesting boxes and such with the mite spray.
Here’s a link to a good page on how to treat mites and lice and such:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/