Gapeworm? Pics

[WoodlandWoman]

Quote:
It sounded to me like you just didn't value this particular chicken that much. I'm not saying that's wrong of you. I was trying to point out that unless it's something like an injury or a genetic problem, other problems effect the entire flock in some way.

I thought I had read other postings from you about health problems and deaths in your flock recently. It sounded like you weren't sure what the problem was. That's why I thought getting some local help might be a good idea.

It's your right to manage your chickens any way you want. I don't think it's wrong for people to give you additional information, suggestions or mention a different way to look at an issue. It's up to you to do what you want.

 

[chicken grandma]

I am sorry you feel nagged. I care about you and I care about your flock. I feel a real kinship to people on this site.

I grew up on a farm and every year we wormed our horses. But horse owners don't do that any more. Because it costs money, and it is not good for animals to be wormed when they don't have worms or when the wormer you are using doesn't kill the worms your animals have. Now they test for worms before worming. Because there are many types of worms and many types of wormers have been developed in the last few years that are specific to the type of worms that an animal has. Times have changed.

So worming to maintain your animals health is not valid any more. Knowing the condition of your animals and flock and treating them with specific treatments is now the way to practice humane and economical farming.

We have a lot more diagnostic tests available to us, for people and animals. We have more choices of treatment. So I think people on here are trying to help you think differently. Because your hen may not have a parasite. She may have an infection or virus. She may have something stuck in her throat. Only a vet could tell.

And if you don't want to bring the hen to the vet, you can always find a vet who will let you bring a fecal/poop sample in to him/her. They can diagnose gapeworm, roundworm, coccidia from that. If you ask them and pay a bit more, they can even look for bacteria in the stool and then give you the right wormer or antibiotic for her. Hopefully she is the only hen you will have a problem. As someone pointed out earlier, knowing what is wrong with her can some times help you treat your whole flock for something they are all passing around to each other.

Good luck and God bless. People on here care about chickens and they care about the people who own them also!

 

[Reyvaughn]

@ WoodlandWoman - I do have a few other illnesses. The SpLRW pullets passed last night. She did have cocci. The EE I am still doctoring I am sure has necrotic enteritis. I think the SpLRW got whatever killed her because the cocci opened her up to it, and after research, she had listeriosis symptoms (ataxia, circling, paddling). I was just talking to a neighbor over the hill and she is loosing her animals to listeriosis. So, I am already treating for enteritis with tetracycline which treats listeriosis, too. Our place is a breeding ground for these bacterias because of the over 20 inches of rain we've gotten in the last two months. Here we are again getting poured on and my drive way is a river and my ground in front of my house is heaved because it's so saturated. I know whatever my birds have is because of this weather and not because of my care.

@ chicken grandma - I still worm my horse 2x a year as do most of the people I know with horses. I say most because the others worm every month. My chickens free range and can/do pick up many things. I want to be safe and not sorry. I understand where you are coming from, but you have to understand that for the most part, thanks to BYC, I am pretty knowledgeable about diagnosing on my own and caring for my chickens on my own. I have had a few snags, like this case with Sparkle and with my EE and SS. That's because it isn't something everyone talks about here on the forums or it's something that hasn't made it easy to diagnose.

I have decided to just euthanize Sparkle. I watched her try to eat today. She wants to and tries but she just sits there and struggles to swallow through her gaping for some time. She's really withdrawn now and I don't feel it's fail to her to make her die a slow and what seems inevitable death. I am going to try to calm my weak stomach long enough to check her for gapeworm.

 

[binders]

I'm so sorry to hear about Sparkle. It is never easy to see an animal suffer.

 

[kendradillon]

CC's CoopCuties :


So, how did you get rid of gape worm? What wormer worked for you?

I didn't use any wormer as I had thought that something was lodged in their throat so I used a pair of pincers to bring whatever was stuck in their throat but found nothing and they stopped.​

safeguard horse worker past form. I had gape in a chicken and treated 3 days straight a heavy dose everyone said pea sis but I did double that. in a week do it again 3 days I hope ur peep is ok!

 

[kendradillon]

also put them on electolites! and if u think other than gape give a 1cc shot of tylan 50 into the breast for 3 days. works wonders its an all around antibiotic.

 

[Haley Jo]

Rey
Wth shovel and broom? Thats no way to treat a bird. Get smart,get a machete. Quick and painless. One swipe across the neck. Shovel is very cruel.

 

[chicky1016]

Is the stool also affected by gapeworm? I have a hen who is exhibiting signs of gapeworm and she's also got some nasty poop, stuck all over her butt. Not really loose, it's actually pretty solid and when she does poop, it comes out in small quantities.