mmr1443
Chirping
- Oct 25, 2020
- 28
- 70
- 59
I have 7 chicks ages ranging from 4-8 weeks old that I bought about 10 days ago. This is my first time with baby chicks. I have an older flock I inherited that I've been caring for for a while. I didn't do my research and bought them from a bad breeder and they already had several illnesses when we bought them. We made it through coccidiosis and conjunctivitis, but are struggling to kick gapeworm.
Now that I know what the symptoms are, it is apparent to me that 2 of them had it already when we bought them. We have kept them inside exclusively and been fastidious about cleanliness in their cages (because of the coccidiosis), but it has seemingly spread to all 7 now, in varying degrees of severity.
I bought Safe-guard paste two days ago and did my best to give all of them a half of a pea-sized amount, as recommended dosage for an adult bird is a pea-sized amount. It's hard though as the paste is sticky and they don't like it much and fling a good bit out of their mouths so it's hard to tell. It seemed like maybe it was working but then the next day there were more of them doing it. So I was thinking I just wasn't getting enough in them and I kept trying to get more into them. I don't think anyone's condition has gotten worse, but has definitely spread to the whole flock now which is surprising to me because I thought that it spread through the ingestion of earth worms. It's also possible that the whole flock had it when we bought them and that it wasn't bad enough to show symptoms until now.
It seems like some of them will respond a bit to the Safe-Guard, and will stop gaping for half a day or a day, but then it slowly comes back. I decided it might be better to buy the liquid safe-guard you can put in their water as I wasn't sure they were getting enough. That was last night, and symptoms have pretty much stayed the same. I'm also worried that the ones who have it worst aren't drinking enough water for it to be effective.
SO, what do I do next? Do I risk over-dosing them and add more to the water? Do I switch to another de-wormer? I saw some other accounts of people who didn't have great success with Safe-Guard. OR is there a possibility that this is somehow respiratory??? I really don't think it is. They have no other respiratory symptoms. No runny nose or eyes, etc. They are all pretty much normal, maybe sleep a little more than usual.
Please please help me guys. I have already poured hundreds of dollars and ridiculous amounts of time into keeping these little guys alive. I really thought we had light at the end of the tunnel once we kicked the other two illnesses but can't seem to make much headway here.
Thanks so much in advance. I've spent hours on this forum and have gotten alot of incredible info. What a great community. <3
PS Attached video is from today and is of Bojangle who has it the worst. Everyone else only gapes on and off occasionally. Bo has been doing it since we bought him, but I have never had chicks and didn't recognize it as abnormal behavior until it got worse.
Now that I know what the symptoms are, it is apparent to me that 2 of them had it already when we bought them. We have kept them inside exclusively and been fastidious about cleanliness in their cages (because of the coccidiosis), but it has seemingly spread to all 7 now, in varying degrees of severity.
I bought Safe-guard paste two days ago and did my best to give all of them a half of a pea-sized amount, as recommended dosage for an adult bird is a pea-sized amount. It's hard though as the paste is sticky and they don't like it much and fling a good bit out of their mouths so it's hard to tell. It seemed like maybe it was working but then the next day there were more of them doing it. So I was thinking I just wasn't getting enough in them and I kept trying to get more into them. I don't think anyone's condition has gotten worse, but has definitely spread to the whole flock now which is surprising to me because I thought that it spread through the ingestion of earth worms. It's also possible that the whole flock had it when we bought them and that it wasn't bad enough to show symptoms until now.
It seems like some of them will respond a bit to the Safe-Guard, and will stop gaping for half a day or a day, but then it slowly comes back. I decided it might be better to buy the liquid safe-guard you can put in their water as I wasn't sure they were getting enough. That was last night, and symptoms have pretty much stayed the same. I'm also worried that the ones who have it worst aren't drinking enough water for it to be effective.
SO, what do I do next? Do I risk over-dosing them and add more to the water? Do I switch to another de-wormer? I saw some other accounts of people who didn't have great success with Safe-Guard. OR is there a possibility that this is somehow respiratory??? I really don't think it is. They have no other respiratory symptoms. No runny nose or eyes, etc. They are all pretty much normal, maybe sleep a little more than usual.
Please please help me guys. I have already poured hundreds of dollars and ridiculous amounts of time into keeping these little guys alive. I really thought we had light at the end of the tunnel once we kicked the other two illnesses but can't seem to make much headway here.
Thanks so much in advance. I've spent hours on this forum and have gotten alot of incredible info. What a great community. <3
PS Attached video is from today and is of Bojangle who has it the worst. Everyone else only gapes on and off occasionally. Bo has been doing it since we bought him, but I have never had chicks and didn't recognize it as abnormal behavior until it got worse.
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