HELP - Weird Noise and not eating - WHAT'S WRONG

[dawg53]

It's not a respiratory disease. It's not gapeworm; no head shaking, head and neck arnt stuck up in the air gasping nor honking/grunting constantly.
Fatcatx. You stated that the swelling is about a small "pea" size, slightly maleable and squishy. This could possibly indicate a small cyst in the esophagus making it tough for her to swallow food. Tumors are normally hard. It's definitely interfering with her breathing, the cyst could be pressing against the trachea...she's probably scratching off her neck feathers rather than picking them off. If in fact it's a cyst, surgery might be required but I wouldn't risk it.
If it's sting, you can give her childrens Benadryl. Dosage is 1/2cc given orally once in a 24 hour period. Do not overdose using childrens Benadryl.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for looking at this thread Jim. I always appreciate your thoughts and trust your advice.

 

[fatcatx]

Thanks for the input everyone.

I suppose it could be gape worm - but she certainly isn't silent right now.Other than the lump, her throat looked clean. Is there any harm in trying the wormer if it isn't gapeworm? Just tried benedryl earlier today. Was not sure if I should give it at night when I couldn't keep an eye on her. No change so far. I have Fish Zole on order just in case.

Not sure about the feathers Her skin is in good conditon so it doesn't appear that she has continued scratching once the feathers are gone.

Kept her in all afternoon with the AC and got her to eat a scrambled egg and some more watermelon. Any thoughts on what else I can try feeding her while she's not touching feed?

No vets in our area see poultry. If my remedies don't work a last resort would be to drive her to the UC Davis teaching vet school.

So right now my plan is to continue with the benedryl for a few days. If no improvement then should I try the Fish Zole next? Just doing wild swinging at this point, hoping I hit something.

 

[Eggcessive]

The fenbendazole isn't harmful at all, but Dawg53 is an expert on worms and other problems--that's why I asked him to look at your thread. I have never seen gapeworm except in videos, and it's true that they can't eat or drink with it because of the gasping and gaping. There are a couple of people on here that deal with UC Davis regularly, and you would probably get good advice if you called them. I do know that they will do necropsies on chickens free when you lose one. At this point I'm not sure what to suggest further, but I hope you will continue to post about her condition, and maybe we can help.

 

[fatcatx]

Hopefully a necropsy isn't in my near future (for me OR Ethel!)

Does Ivermectin work on gapeworm too or just the fenbendazole? Not sure if our feed store carries both. I've been meaning to get a wormer to have on hand anyway so I might as well give it a try...

 

[Eggcessive]

Fenbendazole will treat gapeworm--ivermectin has lost it' effectiveness on most worms due to it's overuse. Fenbendazole is the generic for SafeGuard liquid goat wormer and equine paste. Panacur equine paste is also the same.
I also hope you don't lose Ethel. Do you have a Lucy?

 

[fatcatx]

Yes, we have a second SS which is Lucy. They are buddies so I hope we don't lose her.

I will be trolling the feedstores in the area tomrorow. . .

 

[chickencrazy21]

I Watched the video. Shes trying to crow. Ive read that even hens mimic a rooster. So most likely if you have personally seen her lay an egg. Sbes choosing tocrow. I have a rooster. He started out like her. Didnt take him long to.find his voice. If animal control ever shows up im sticking with hes a hen ive seen him lay an egg. If they cant come ofuy about my neighbors agressive dogs. They dont need to waste there time in a harmless rooster.

 

[dawg53]

I've had older hens attempting to crow when I havnt had a rooster in my flock. I've never had pullets attempting to crow...unless there was a mistake at the hatchery and they WERE actually cockerals. Most hatcheries guarantee 90% sexing accuracy.
If it were gapeworm levamisole would be best for gapes, I've never used it. Safeguard liquid goat wormer given in a high doses 3 days in a row should take care of gapes. I don't recommend using the safeguard equine paste wormer in this instance.

 

[fatcatx]

If it were gapeworm levamisole would be best for gapes, I've never used it. Safeguard liquid goat wormer given in a high doses 3 days in a row should take care of gapes. I don't recommend using the safeguard equine paste wormer in this instance.

Thank you for the advice. I'm not sure if levamisole is available here. (They take anything that works off the market in Calif!) Is the dosage per pound the same per package instructions?

Is a canker even a remote possibilty at his point? Debating if I should treat for it just in case.

Also, when you say give high doses of the Safeguard, is that the 20mg I've seen ref'd on other threads or higher?
And to satisfy my curiousity - why skip the equine paste? Is it too thick for them to easily swallow?