Help! Chick not acting OK.

[dacdeihl]

I went out to feed and water my chicks this morning. One hen was just standing in the doorway. I went to move her she remained there. I picker her up with no trouble and set her on the perch. She is extending her neck and opening her beak. She repeats this every few seconds. There is also a slight hiss when she opens her beak. She let me handle her easily. I check her feathers and found nothing. She even let me pick up her wings very easily. Not normal. Its the beathing weird that I'm concerned about. This just started this morning. Also when she breaths weird her bottom is clenthing. At first I thought she was going to drop an egg right there. I watched her for about 15 minutes. Someone help!!! What's wrong with my girl???

 

[Judy]

How old is she? do you worm them? If so, with what?

Do a search on gapeworm here and see if it sounds like her problem.

 

[dacdeihl]

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She is about six-seven months old. I haven't dewormed them. But I read yesterday that pumpkin is a dewormer. Would a worm cause her beathing funny?

 

[MrsChickendad]

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Similar symptoms in mine were gapeworm, which I treated with drops of liquid Ivermectin on the skin under the wing. The worms get up in the bird's larynx sometimes. Ours got it from eating lots of slugs and earthworms, I think. The bird will sometimes make a honking or chirping noise and extend it's head out like a goose. Sometimes you can see the worms in the throat. Hope this helps!

 

[Judy]

If it is gapeworm, pumpkin seeds and cayenne and DE are not going to save her. They MAY reduce the load of worms some but will not cure an infested bird. You will need ivermectin or another wormer that gets gapeworms. Valbrazen might work also; not sure.

 

[dacdeihl]

I called a vet and he said that is sounds like pnemonia. I got antibotics for her. If it this gapeworm could you see them on her body? Under the wings, in her throat? Is it contagious?

 

[MrsChickendad]

If it is gapeworm you MIGHT see some in the chicken's throat, but it is hard to get a good look. They pick up gapeworms from an intermediate host like earthworms, swallow the eggs and the larvae hatch and crawl up the larynx. Sometimes you can see them, usually not. It's sort of contagious-they range over the same ground and eat the same things, probably expel eggs and pick some up that way.

I treated with Ivermectin (bottle of liquid for cattle/swine was about $35 at TSC), 3-4 drops for banties, 6-7 drops for large fowl. Ivermectin will kill alot of other worms, too, so if they haven't been wormed they probably have some others. You can get Ivermectin paste for horses, but figuring dosage might be tricky and getting it down them even trickier. The liquid you can just drop on the skin under the wing from a needleless syringe. We did all of ours in about 15 minutes one night after they roosted, and there was noticeable improvement in 24-36 hours.

 

[dacdeihl]

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So, does it have to be put on bare skin?

 

[Judy]

Yes it has to be put on bare skin. I used 0.5cc per large fowl on the back of the neck.

You can get a lot of information using the search feature in the blue bar at the top of this page.

 

[dacdeihl]

Should her eggs be thrown away? What about water discharge out of her nose?

I'm just so worried about this girl. It's my first that is sick and I feel like a new mom all over again. Thank for your help. I looked in the search. Thanks