HELP! Gapeworm?!

[EmmaCatherine]

I have a 3 year old hen, who is the only chicken I have left from my flock. About 4-5 days ago she started acting just a bit tired. She was taking a lot more naps than usual. Her laying has also been a little inconsistent. She went from laying every day to sometimes skipping a day and when she does lay she’s in her nesting box for a long time. Her appetite was normal, fluid intake was normal, everything beside seeming a little tired was normal. This morning she had little interest in leaving her coop, usually she runs out when she sees me. She hoped up on her perch pretty early last night. Usually she is very talkative to me but today her voice sounds very raspy and she’s very quiet. She’s not really interested in food or playing in the yard and her stool has been runny all day. She did lay this morning. My concern is possibly gapeworm? Because of the raspy voice? No other respiratory symptoms. She has a bit of a slug addiction and I heard that’s the most common way for chickens to get gapeworm. Do you think it’s gapeworm? What should I do?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would check her crop first thing in the morning to see if has emptied overnight, or if it is full, puffy, firm, or doughy. You canninsert a clean finger into her vent to feel for a stuck egg. Also look for any swelling or enlargement of her lower body, and check for mites and lice. Do you have any wormer available? A good one is SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer from the feed store. Dosage for treating gapeworms and other types is 1/4 ml per pound given for 5 consecutive days. I would offer some chicken feed made wet with water in a small bowl, and some scrambled egg to see if she will eat some. Poultry NutriDrench might be helpful as well.

 

[EmmaCatherine]

UPDATE! I left to get the wormer you recommended and by the time I got back she seemed even more tired and she hadn’t moved an inch since I had left. I started to panic because I figured worms wouldn’t cause her to deteriorate so fast? I ended up making an appointment with my local poultry vet and when I went outside to load her up into her crate I saw that she had laid an egg with no shell which she proceeded to devour and then run out into the yard to play like nothing happened.
I will keep a close eye on her. Thank you for your quick response!