GAPEWORM TREATMENT? please help

[autumnpaquet99]

I woke up this morning and my 5 1/2 week old chick is showing signs of what I can only assume to be gapeworm. She is “gaping” stretching her neck out and shaking her head occasionally. No coughing, sneezing, wheezing or discharge. She’s drinking, acting relatively normal (jumping around and stuff). I THINK she would eat just based on how she’s acting but I haven’t seen her do it yet. I have a few questions.

1. Should I treat the other 3 chicks with her? Two are bantam.
2. My older flock is outside but I could’ve transmitted the parisite via my hands or shoes. Should I treat them too? They get dewormed every spring fall. They’ve already been dewormed this year.
3. See pictures. This is the only dewormer I have and I have no idea what dosage I should use on a chick. I cannot find a straight answer anywhere of how much to administer. How much do I use? 2 bantams and 2 normal sized chicks.

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[rebrascora]

Gape worm is surprisingly uncommon in chickens and the chances of your chicks having them at 5.5 weeks is so incredibly unlikely(might even be impossible due to life cycle of gapeworm but would need to research) I would be checking and treating for a lot of other things first.
Gaping can be due to a lot of other things but due to the name of gape worm it is the conclusion everyone jumps to when they see their birds open their beak like that. The commonest cause would be that there is something stuck in the oesophagus or crop that the bird is trying to adjust, particularly if there are no respiratory symptoms.....FYI birds usually have very raspy breathing with gape worm. If you have seen the bird drink then that may have rectified the problem.... a lump of dry chick crumbs can stick in their throat and need washing down. Next I would do a gentle crop massage. If the crop feels hard of gritty, encourage the chick to drink more.... maybe even remove the food for a couple of hours, massage some more and see if the crop contents reduce in size and or feel softer.

 

[autumnpaquet99]

Gape worm is surprisingly uncommon in chickens and the chances of your chicks having them at 5.5 weeks is so incredibly unlikely(might even be impossible due to life cycle of gapeworm but would need to research) I would be checking and treating for a lot of other things first.
Gaping can be due to a lot of other things but due to the name of gape worm it is the conclusion everyone jumps to when they see their birds open their beak like that. The commonest cause would be that there is something stuck in the oesophagus or crop that the bird is trying to adjust, particularly if there are no respiratory symptoms.....FYI birds usually have very raspy breathing with gape worm. If you have seen the bird drink then that may have rectified the problem.... a lump of dry chick crumbs can stick in their throat and need washing down. Next I would do a gentle crop massage. If the crop feels hard of gritty, encourage the chick to drink more.... maybe even remove the food for a couple of hours, massage some more and see if the crop contents reduce in size and or feel softer.

Thank you so much. I had no idea that gapeworm was rare, I should also do some research on this. Their waterer did dry up while I was sleeping but I never thought anything of it. It’s filled now and she seems to be doing that movement less and less. Her crop was full, so I’m assuming there was just a lump of try starter in there that was uncomfortable because there was no water to break it down. Thank you again

 

[rebrascora]

Pleased to hear that it was likely something simple as I suggested. I hope she continues to improve and thrive.
I know it is so easy to panic at the slightest sign of illness, especially when they are small. I used to do the same but I try to take a deep breath these days and wait and observe and research before I reach for the medicine cabinet, especially if the bird is otherwise not showing any ill health. Try to remember that most medicines have some level of toxicity (hence side effects), so giving them to a bird that doesn't need them or does not have the ailment they treat, is not beneficial and can be detrimental. It is good that you sought advice before administering the Ivermectin.