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Gape Worms Information
Causative Agent:
Syngamus trachea
Symptoms:
The term describes the open-mouth breathing characteristic of gapeworm-infected birds.
Heavily infected birds usually emit a grunting sound because of the difficulty in breathing and many die from suffocation.
The worms can easily block the trachea, so they are particularly harmful to young birds.
Gaping.
Dyspnoea.
Head shaking.
Loss of appetite and condition
Gapeworms can be present in such numbers that they may completely fill the airway, resulting in extreme respiratory difficulty.
Game birds and waterfowl are particularly susceptible to this infection.
Infected birds typically gasp for air and breath with extended necks.
Treatment:
Flubendazole in feed, Levamisole
Gapeworms are best prevented by administering a wormer at fifteen to thirty day intervals or including a drug at low levels continuously beginning fifteen days after birds are placed in the infected pens.
One drug that is effective for eliminating gapeworms is Flubendazole in feed, Levamisole
This is sold my many different names, you will need to check with your local feed stockist or vet
Flock owners often mistakenly treat affected flocks with antibiotics, which are ineffective against these worms. If gapeworm infections are treated incorrectly, many birds will die.
Effective wormers are available through your veterinarian.
Most over-the-counter wormers (nonprescription) are ineffective.
Treatment: Natural approach:
Remove worms with an oiled feather (sweet oil with a little clove oil), then add 3 drams of salicylate of soda/quart of drinking water
Removal from throat
Use a feather dipped in a mixture of 4 drops of eucalyptus oil to 1/2 pint caster oil to remove worms
Postmortem Finding:
Tracheitis.
Presence of worms, paired parasites up to 2 cm long.
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Introduction & Information
Syngamus trachea, a nematode worm parasite of chickens, turkeys, pheasants, and other game and ornamental birds occurring worldwide. Infection is by the oral route with earthworms, slugs and snails acting as transfer hosts but the life cycle may also be direct, by ingestion of embryonated egg or L3. There is an 1820 day prepatent period.
The condition is seen more commonly in poultry on free range where ground may be contaminated by wild birds e.g. from rookeries
The gapeworm (Syngamus trachea) is a round red worm that attach to the trachea (windpipe) of birds and causes the disease referred to as "gapes".
The gapeworm is sometimes designated as the "red-worm"; or "forked-worm" because of its red color and because the male and female are joined in permanent copulation.
They appear like the letter Y. The female is the larger of the two and is one-fourth to one inch in length.
Gapeworms are long, bright red worms that attach themselves to the inside lining of the trachea.
The male gapeworm may attain a length of one-fourth inch. Both sexes attach to the lining of the trachea with their mouthparts. Sufficient numbers may accumulate in the trachea to hinder air passage.
Within eight to fourteen days the eggs embryonate and are infective when eaten by birds or earthworms. The earthworm, snails and slugs serve as primary intermediate hosts for the gapeworm.
Gapeworms in infected earthworms remain viable for four and a half years while those in snails and slugs remain infective for one year. After being consumed by the bird, gapeworm larvae hatch in the intestine and migrate from the intestine to the trachea and lungs.
Gapeworms infect chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, pheasants, chukar partridge, and probably other birds. Young birds reared on soil of infected range pens are at high risk (pen-raised game birds).
Some control or reduction in infection density (worms/bird) is achieved by alternating the use of range pens every other year and/or using a pen for only one brood each year. Tilling the soil in the pens at the end of the growing season helps to reduce the residual infection.
Treating the soil to eliminate earthworms, snails and slugs is possible but the cost is usually prohibitive.
Transmission:
The life cycle of the gapeworm is similar to that of the cecal worm; the parasite can be transmitted when birds eat embryonated worm eggs or earthworms containing the gapeworm larvae.
The female worm lays eggs in the trachea, the eggs are coughed up, swallowed, and pass out in the droppings.
Gapeworms produce eggs that are coughed up, swallowed, and passed out of the host through the feces. These eggs or the resulting larvae are then picked up by other birds during feeding.
Earthworms may also ingest the parasite, and birds can become infected by eating infected earthworms.
Diagnosis
Signs and lesions, confirmation of presence of the parasite
Diagnosis is made by demonstrating worms in the airway or by observing their eggs in the faeces under a microscope.
Prevention:
Flubendazole.
Raising game birds on wire above the ground can greatly reduce the incidence of this disease.
