Help! worms or ?

[irlybird]

We were away for a few days (had a family looking after the15 girls). When we returned this morning one of our girls had a very pale face/ droopy comb. She was moving slowly... almost like her bottom is dragging on the ground. She still is pecking around and drinking (haven’t seen her eat but we've only been home an hour). When I head out to the coop she walks out slowly to see me. Her breastbone also is bare and protruded.

I took a few pictures of her and then went in the coop to inspect the poop. I noticed this pile that had white segments and am wondering if they are dead worms.

Would worms cause the symptoms she is showing?

Any other ideas?

I will attach the picture of then bird and poop

Thanks for your help! Don’t know what I’d do without this place!

 

[irlybird]

I can post more pictures if necessary.

 

[AidKD]

Yes it definetaly looks like worms. Try putting some apple cider vinegar in her water but make sure you put it in something metal or else it will eat away at your plastic. The apple cider vinegar makes the chickens gut a not nice place to live. Pumpkin is really good for getting rid of worms. Try mixing in some garlic with her food too. Chili peppers are good for eradicating worms also. You could mix the pumpkin garlic and chili peppers into a treatment for her. Carrots and mustard greens are great too. Hope this helps!

 

[AidKD]

Separate her from the rest of the flock so she doesn't infect any others. I would suggest deworming the rest of your chickens as well. Better safe then sorry!

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your hen. Can you get her drinking some water and feed her some scrambled egg and some watery chicken feed in a small bowl? Electrolytes or a few drops of Poultry NutriDrench would be good as well. The things in the dropping look a bit like maggots or fly larvae. The pictures of her face and comb are a bit blotchy. If you want to go ahead and worm her when she is more stable, get either Valbazen or Safeguard Liquid Goat Wormer, and I can give dosage.

To treat a worm infestation, give a proven wormer. Again, it could be maggots in the poop or something else, but it doesn’t look like worms to me.

 

[eggsandhens]

I agree with AidKD! Another great thing for deworming is zucchini or squash, especially the seeds! Hope that helps!

 

[Eggcessive]

Be sure to inspect her vent area, just in case she might have flystrike or maggots around her vent, if it is soiled.

 

[Eggcessive]

Squash and pumpkin, and ACV are not proven wormers. Scroll down in this article about pumpkin seeds:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/control-treatment-of-worms-in-chickens/

 

[eggsandhens]

I’m sorry, I wasn’t talking about pumpkin seeds, and I know “they are very similar” but I was just trying to give advice.

 

[irlybird]

My husband and I just checked her vent and under her feathers. No sign of a bug.

She clearly has had messy poop (vent pic attached). The hairless breastbone is strange. Doesn’t look picked at or irritated.

She looks puffed out which fits I the “she has worms” category.

My only option for dewormer is Piperazine 52. I think it’s probably worth trying.

The one pic is her vent (as best as I could) and her bare breastbone. Note that on her breastbone there is a flock of wood shaving... it’s not a bug.

Figure the more info the most likely to get closer to an answer.