Hi all, I have a pullet that was close to laying. Last week, we found her sister dead for no apparent reason. Looked as though she just fell over and died. The remaining sister was the larger of the 2 and has always looked healthy. But from when we got her back in late March, she's always had this sort of wheeze/rattle. Initially, I treated her for respiratory infection holistically and the sound decreased but every now and again, I'd hear it. And no one else caught it. So I considered gapeworm but aside from the noise, no other symptoms were there. I watched her closely throughout the months and couldnt figure out why she'd occasionally make a noise. I noticed one day that she gurgled after she drank. Having once owned a dog with a congenital defect, I chalked it up to that...that somehow, she had a deformity that made her a little gurgly after drinking. I just would have assumed a respiratory infection would have spread to others and/or intensified (prompting abx) or killed her months ago and gapeworm....from what I've read, it's a quick turnaround from when adults enter trachea and the rattling is present and the bird expires. As in days to weeks. Not months. But when her sister passed, she got really depressed and listless. And yesterday, I noticed her gaping. It was too late to run to the store because everything closes early due to covid so I found a recipe with honey and essential oil to combat the gapeworm (if it was that) and also give her some energy if it wasn't. I planned to run out to TSC this morning for tylan and panacur to address both possibilities but when I checked on her before leaving, she was pretty much dead :'( I brought her inside,and tried to get a little food and another mix others have used successfully into her but to no avail. She was on her way out. So i placed her downstairs in our empty brooder so that she'd be comfortable in the dark in a space she felt safe. She passed soon after I know you're not supposed to put meat in the compost but we did with her sister for sentimental reasons...one day, she'll return to the garden she loved scratching around in. I thought to do the same with Emma but then it dawned on me that if it was gapeworm, the eggs might stay alive in the soil. Definitely don't want that. Not even sure it is gapeworm though...as I tried looking down her throat and swabbed and saw nothing. Though there is lots of room for human error there... not sure I was doing it right. Anyone know how long gapeworm (in any stage) can survive in the soil? I can't just toss her body in the trash. Makes me sick to even consider it. Also, does anyone know of any other reason a bird might have these symptoms and be 'healthy' for months before a very rapid demise?