Help! My chicken has tape worms in her poop and a swollen abdomen

[This_hen_life_gem]

Hi my recently rescued hen Babs has gotten bullied a lot recently (only by one hen though) and when I picked her up to put Vaseline on her comb she did a very watery egg white like poop on me.

My first thought was a warm bath thinking she had broken her egg, not entirely sure she even had an egg. She pooped before her bath was ready while waiting in her crate. Then after drying her off and popping her back in her crate she did another poop but this time it was runny and looked like it had egg white on the outside. That’s when I noticed it was moving, eek! I googled and have come to the conclusion that’s it’s most likely tape worms she has. Her abdomen seems swollen too. I only have had her just over a week and I fed all my recused flock Verm-x when they arrived home.

Things get a bit weird from there as I wasn’t entirely sure she was 100% compared to my other flock members. I have noticed her sneezing a lot and her legs seem to look funny to me, I will post pics. Is it a combination of things or something more sinister I am unsure what to do as the nearest chicken vet is 20miles away. I have already dealt with an egg bound hen, so I have felt inside and I could feel sharp bit so could this be egg shell? Again I’m not sure as it’s lower down from her vent. In her overall demeanour she is still rather feisty and doing all the normal chicken things but now I’m just worried. Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

Where are you located in the world?
Did you happen to get some photos of the worms?
Verm-X will not treat tapeworms or any other worms for that matter, it's a supplement for "intestinal hygiene" and "helps restore and maintain gut vitality".

To treat Tapeworms you will want Praziquantel, if in the US you can use one of the products and their respective doses listed in the first post of this thread.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...rms-under-construction.1220309/#post-19519143

If you are in the EU looks like you can use Flubenvet https://poultrykeeper.com/digestive...re many different species,are up to 25cm long!

Could be her abdomen looks a bit distended because she's thin? If she suffered a lot of bullying, then she may not have been eating well. See what happens after a few weeks of getting some good food and vitamins into her and getting her dewormed.

Left leg looks like it has a bit of bruising and a slight injury, I would keep watch on it, hopefully that will resolve on it's own in a few weeks.
Right leg looks slightly twisted. That could be a developmental or genetic issue that she's had all her life or possibly from injury. If she's moving o.k. then I would leave the legs alone, but do monitor her activity.

To me the most concerning thing would be the sneezing. (besides the worms) Is there a discharge from the nostrils (are they clear of debris and food), does she have any lesions or canker inside the beak. Do you notice if she's only sneezing when she's been eating/drinking...
Sneezing could be from dust or feed, but there are respiratory diseases that could be the cause as well. Again, that's one of those things I would monitor, check her over really well and observe her for other symptoms (respiratory) or you may find that an activity like dust bathing or eating is causing the sneezing (dust or feed in the nostrils).
Adding - check to make sure her crop is emptying overnight, occasionally a crop issue could be a cause of some sneezing.

If you have other photos of her you wish to share, we will be glad to take a look at them.

 

[sassychickens76]

How is she?