Gapeworm or Respiratory Illness?

[casportpony]

Last night when I was bringing my chickens in, I noticed one just sitting as I was refilling the food. Typically they all come rushing but this one just sat there. When I went towards it, I noticed it was stretching it's neck out (beak open) and breathing, with a wheezing sound. I picked her up and she felt very normal, but continued the stretched neck wheezing. I separated her (all other chickens are fine) and wasn't sure how things would turn out today, but I just went to check on her and she was just standing there looking at me and had a little neck stretching, but not as much as last night. I picked her up and again feels fine, in fact she tried to get away when i was trying to shine a light down her throat to see if there was any blockage (I couldn't tell). She still has a wheezing sound every time she takes a breath, and her poop is white and watery, but maybe that is normal.

She hasn't layed any eggs today and doesn't seem interested in food. She is drinking great, which is a good sign i think, and looks very normal otherwise (red comb, normal eyes, no sneezing or coughing, maybe a runny nose?). Any clue what may be going on? At first I thought gapeworm, but now i'm starting to think some sort of cold or respiratory infection? Should I treat something to be safe? If so, any idea what? I have safeguard, Ivermectin and Wazine available at the moment, but am more than happy to pick up something to make her feel better/get better quicker.

edit: I just did a cotton swab down her throat and no red worms, just a little mucus from what I could tell.

I just noticed the text in bold... gapeworms live in the airway (trachea), not the throat (esophagus), so no point in swabbing the throat.

-Kathy

 

[MrsBrooke]

Did you know that a singe dose of Valbazen does not treat gapeworms?

-Kathy

I did NOT! I looked for the stuff dawg53 has posted, and I saw that more was needed to treat tapeworms, but nothing about gapeworms! I will note that.

MrsB

 

[casportpony]

Quote: There is a study somewhere that says it has to be given three days in a row, but I can't remember what the dose should be.

-Kathy

 

[MrsBrooke]

There is a study somewhere that says it has to be given three days in a row, but I can't remember what the dose should be.

-Kathy

Sounds like something you need to know!

MrsB

 

[casportpony]

 
There is a study somewhere that says it has to be given three days in a row, but I can't remember what the dose should be. 

-Kathy

Sounds like something you need to know! 

MrsB

It's on my "list", lol. That and exactly how to treat flukes and gizzard worms.

-Kathy

 

[lilcheeks]

The Safeguard dose that gets almost all worms, including gapes, is 0.23 ml per pound for five consecutive days.

Tylan given orally should be given at least twice a day.


-Kathy

Thanks for the info! Just to clarify, I have an ISA Brown Hen (which I have to weigh to know for sure) who lets say weighs 5 lbs. So my dosing schedule would be like this:

Safeguard Paste (10%): give 1.15ml orally for 5 days
Tylan 50: give 0.5ml orally twice a day for 5 days

Does that look correct?

Thanks,

Nick

 

[MrsBrooke]

It's on my "list", lol. That and exactly how to flukes and gizzard worms.

-Kathy

And then accidentally the whole thing?

MrsB

 

[casportpony]

Quote:
The Safeguard dose is correct, but I think the Tylan dose is not enough. All literature I have suggests that it should be given at a much higher rate than that.

This is what I have found so far:

Quote:

CRD indications:

• Administer medicated drinking water for three days; however, medicated water may be administered for one to five days depending upon severity of infection. Treated chickens must consume enough medicated water to provide 50 mg per pound of body weight per day. Only medicated water should be available to the birds.

Turkeys:

• Administer medicated drinking water for three days; however, medicated water may be administered for two to five days depending upon severity of infection. Treated turkeys must consume enough medicated water to provide 60 mg per pound of body weight per day. Only medicated water should be available to the birds.

For those that don't have a gram scale, you can use this info to calculate your dose:


And this for the injectable:


Source - http://avianmedicine.net/content/uploads/2013/03/18.pdf


Note that I've only used Tylan 50 once, and I gave it by injection, which caused a nasty, necrotic spot in the muscle. If I were going to use Tylan 50 for a respiratory infection I would give 25mg per pound twice a day, but that's just me, so do your research, and if possible, consult a vet on the dose.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Poultry worms:

Internal parasites (endoparasites, worms, helminths)

Gastrointestinal roundworms (nematodes)

• Acuaria spp ~ Dispharynx ~ Synhimanthus spp. $. Gizzard worms. Gizzard, esophagus and proventriculus. Can be a problem in endemic regions, mainly in birds kept outdoors.
• Ascaridia spp. $$$. Chicken roundworms. Small intestine. A serious problem worldwide, also in confined operations.
• Capillaria spp. $$. Hairworms. Crop, esophagus, small intestine, large intestine.
• Heterakis spp. $$$$. Cecal worms. Cecum. Probably the most threatening worms in all kind of poultry operations worldwide.
• Oxyspirura spp. $. Fowl eyeworms. Eyes. Usually a secondary problem in individual birds kept outdoors.
• Strongyloides spp. $$. Threadworms, pinworms. Small intestine. Can be a serious problem worldwide.
• Subulura spp. $. Cecum and small intestine. A secondary problem in birds kept outdoors worldwide.
• Syngamus trachea. $$. Gapeworms. Trachea, bronchi. A serious problem in birds kept outdoors in endemic regions.
• Tetrameres spp. $. Proventriculus and esophagus. Can be a problem in endemic regions, mainly in outdoor opertaions.

Tapeworms (cestodes)

• Amoebotaenia cuneata = sphenoides. $. Small intestine. Usually a secondary issue in most poultry operations
• Choanotaenia infundibulum. $. Small intestine. Usually not a major issue in modern poultry operations.
• Davainea proglottina. $. Minute tapeworms. Small intestine. Can be a problem in birds kept outdoors in endemic regions.
• Raillietina spp. $$. Small intestine. The most frequent tapeworm in poultry, however normally not a major problem.

Flukes (trematodes, flatworms)

• Prosthogonimus spp. $. Oviduct flukes. Oviduct, bursa of Fabricius. Can be a serious threat for birds kept outdoors in endemic regions.

Source: http://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2655&Itemid=2933

 

[lilcheeks]

I have an update on my chicken and would like some additional input. To get everyone up to speed, I attempted to give the chicken both Tylan 50 (0.5cc) and a pea size amount of safeguard last Wednesday (5 days ago). On Wednesday I only did one dose of the Tylan 50 but have been doing two doses of 0.5cc a day for the last 4 days (tonight will be 4 days of the twice daily dose). I know casportpony suggested higher amounts of both but I wanted to start on the side of caution due to many people having success dosing the amounts I am.

So, the chicken is still living and seems to have lots of energy. She is eating well and drinking well. She even tried to escape her isolated coop to get with her sisters in their regular coop.

The problem is, her breathing doesn't seem to be improving really. Again her eyes and nose seems totally fine, its just her breathing. I took two videos today to show how she looks and sounds. The first video link will show her after she was trying to escape her coop (i fixed that so doesn't think she can anymore). The second is about an hour later or so. When she is excited or just getting done running around, you can really tell her breathing issue. Once she is calm, its harder to tell but you can hear it.

Video of her just after running around (turn of volume,its hard to hear):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wp0W-tVN-r2_PdHdwIZ765ssUmWiZ7LpPQ/view?usp=sharing

Video of her after she calmed down for a while(turn of volume,its hard to hear):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mKdPlsdqKLGSdc7YF0EmyJD7DjvjIQWDSg/view?usp=sharing


I am wondering if I should switch to a different medication or up the dosage to what casportpony originally suggested??