Gapeworm not responding to Safe-Guard in chicks

Does she have a raspy sound? does she have a foul stench on her breath? does she have wet nostrils? has she been eating and drinking? sneezing? shaking her head?


Sad to say this but that little one might not make it. i had this happen and turned out that they had aspirated water into their lungs and she was gasping for air. took her 24 hours to die.

I'm hoping that is not the case but clearly that bird is super sick.

I agree they look to old for a heat lamp. once they have feathers it's time to take it away.
get her to a vet ASAP because if it is an infection it will spread to all your birds.
 
It's a two person job. One to firmly hold the chick and the other to look into, swab the throat with a Q tip - sometimes shining a light into the throat will help to observe them.

it can be a 1 person job. you can wrap them in a towel by extending their legs out so they can't kick free. This will allow you to check them out but TBH I think it is too late for this little one.
 
@dawg53 How do I do a fecal exam? Do I just look for worms in their poo? Also thanks so much for chiming in. Does this look like gapeworm to you?

@frostic Bo who is in the video has been in this state with ups and downs for the last 5 days or so. I know it looks really bad but it hasn't really gotten worse and she's still eating and drinking. I know she might not make it, but she's got a lot of fight in her still and I'm not ready to give up yet. I will likely take her to a vet if we can't make any headway in the next day or so.

Also no raspy sound when breathing, no stink at all, no wet nostrils. She does shake her head and cough, but those are both also symptoms of gapeworm.
 
You can take a fresh fecal sample to any vet and have them look under a microscope for worm eggs, shouldnt cost much.
However, now that you mentioned that your chick is eating and drinking, birds dont eat and drink if they have gapeworms. She wouldve been dead by now if it were gapeworms.

Did you look inside her mouth for any lesions?
Personnally I suspect it's mucus in her trachea resulting from some type of respiratory disease.
 
You can take a fresh fecal sample to any vet and have them look under a microscope for worm eggs, shouldnt cost much.
However, now that you mentioned that your chick is eating and drinking, birds dont eat and drink if they have gapeworms. She wouldve been dead by now if it were gapeworms.

Did you look inside her mouth for any lesions?
Personnally I suspect it's mucus in her trachea resulting from some type of respiratory disease.

This is the same that I'm thinking. since it is on and off it can't be aspiration of water/food.


@OP Take a towel, wrap up Bo with her legs extended down so she can't kick out of it, sit her on a desk/table, use one hand to open her mouth and put the tips of your finger in one side of her beak to hold it open. then look down in her mouth. look for yellow/white/red bumps. sometimes i found lesions can be different colors. but mostly yellow.
 
I hope you can get BO some help. it is so sad to see that video. That's what my girl looked like when she died in my hands. I know what you are going through. Be strong, this is one of the hardest things we chicken people have to deal with when it comes to our flock.
 

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