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

[Eggcessive]

For gapeworm, the dosage used is 20-50mg per Kg, which is about 10-25mg per pound of weight. SafeGuard is 100mg per ml, so dosage is between 1/2 and 1 1/4 ml for a 5 lb hen. Unlike regular worming, it needs to be given 3-4 days in a row. Levamisole is found online, but it also needs to be given several times over a 10 day period in the water. It is not used much in the US anymore, but was once used to treat cancer and now to mix with cocaine. Here is a link for it, but I can't tell you the dosage: http://www.jefferspet.com/prohibit-soluble/camid/liv/cp/A2-PI/

Read posts 13 and 14 of this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/602699/worming-chickens/10

I would probably use the 20mg per Kg (2.2lbs) dosage of safeguard.

 

[Eggcessive]

This is an excerpt fro the following link that says that fenbendazole is good for gapeworm, but levamisole in not as good: http://japr.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/2/318.short

Currently, 2 chemicals are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of turkeys for ascarid infections: a variety of piperazine salts and fenbendazole (Safe-Guard) [2]. Several other parasiticides are used in the drinking water on a prescription basis (levamisole, oxfendazole, and albendazole). Excellent efficacy has been documented for fenbendazole [2, 3], nonefficacious activity has been cited for piperazine [4, 5] and levamisole [6], and no documentation of efficacy has been reported for oxfendazole or albendazole in the turkey.

Here is another brand of levamisole with a dosage, but you may need a gram scale: http://www.littlevalleypoultry.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=65

 

[fatcatx]

Thank you for all the med dosing. It is all copied in my personal "chicken manual" for future ref.

I am back from my feedstore rounds x2. They only had the goat wormer. I am guessing levamisole is only available by prescription in CA due to the cocaine mixing issue but the employees had no idea what it was or why they didn't carry it.

Ethel appears to be in decent shape but still not touching the feed. I will give her the first dose this afternoon after DH gets home from work to help with the wrangling. If this is gapeworm, how soon would I see results? Would the lump simply begin to shrink?

 

[Eggcessive]

Honestly, most of us have never seen gapeworm. Many think they have had it (and some really may) but most cases of suspected gapeworm are respiratory diseases. Personally, I would feel fine using the SafeGuard, because the link I gave you says it treats it better, and the dosage is safe plus more accurate since you are doing it by mouth. Tomorrow, I would make a few calls to find a farm or avian vet that could look in her throat. Casportpony and Michael Apple here on BYC live in northern California, and may be able to assist you in finding a vet. The lump in her throat would not be gapeworms--it actually could be normal or a tumor.

 

[casportpony]

I've only seen what I think was gapeworm once and I treated that hen with a pretty high dose (50mg/kg - 1.5ml since she was over 5 pounds) of fenbendazole for 3 days. She got better and has been fine since.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Uh.....from viewing the video I'd say 'she' is a 'he' and getting his voice! Check out those wattles and comb...definitely ROO.

Trying to cock a doodle doo!

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.

Pretty scary that you all think this hen is trying to crow. This is a hen is respiratory distress, she is not trying to crow!

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Thank you for all the med dosing. It is all copied in my personal "chicken manual" for future ref.

I am back from my feedstore rounds x2. They only had the goat wormer. I am guessing levamisole is only available by prescription in CA due to the cocaine mixing issue but the employees had no idea what it was or why they didn't carry it.

Ethel appears to be in decent shape but still not touching the feed. I will give her the first dose this afternoon after DH gets home from work to help with the wrangling. If this is gapeworm, how soon would I see results? Would the lump simply begin to shrink?

Where abouts is this lump? Esophagus or trachea? Is it possible that it's a piece of food that stuck in the esophagus? If so, you could try massaging it down into the crop. Catch her, wet her feathers down where the lump is, that will make it easier to see, take a picture and post that picture.

-Kathy

 

[Michael Apple]

Pretty scary that you all think this hen is trying to crow. This is a hen is respiratory distress, she is not trying to crow!

-Kathy

X2. Yeah, at 15 months you could certainly tell if you have a rooster or a hen. I would look down that throat with a headlamp or a flashlight to see if there's any yellow/white plaque that might be Canker or an infection of some sort. I'd worm the bird too since nematodes like gongylonema and capillary can get in the crop and esophagus. Dawg mentioned a sting too. I know from experience that a yellow jacket can cause some nasty swelling, and wonder how many swollen eye throat problems may be because of that.

 

[dawg53]

X2. Yeah, at 15 months you could certainly tell if you have a rooster or a hen. I would look down that throat with a headlamp or a flashlight to see if there's any yellow/white plaque that might be Canker or an infection of some sort. I'd worm the bird too since nematodes like gongylonema and capillary can get in the crop and esophagus. Dawg mentioned a sting too. I know from experience that a yellow jacket can cause some nasty swelling, and wonder how many swollen eye throat problems may be because of that.

A worm for me to look up, gongylonema ingluvicola can grow up to 2.2 inches. That's a long worm to infect the crop/esophagus. Take a look at the treatment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gongylonema_ingluvicola

 

[fatcatx]

How would you tell ithe lump was in the trachea or the esophogus? We do not see anything looking down her throat (with light from above and side). The lump is just below the spot where her throat tissue narrows so it obstructs the view. We've tried massaging it but there is no change.

We've had more success getting her to eat today but she will only eat soft or very small pieces of food. She ate cooked oatmeal and chopped turkey. Offered her my mix of scratch grains and she would only eat the bits half the size of rice or smaller. So her esophogus isn't completely blocked but clearly it is not comfortable to eat normally.

So the million dollar question is the lump in her esophogus and pushing on her trachea or the other way around?

She got her first womer dose so we'll see if it improves in a day or two.
What would I give her if the swelling is due to an infection of some sort?

I will try to get pictures tomorrow but we may not have enough hands to hold her still, open her mouth, and operate the camera. I will try to at least get one of her neck but you can't see much from the outside - the lump is too small.