Hen Recovering from internal parasites— help :(

[Marleeschicks]

So long story short my young hen had bad case of roundworm and I had no clue up until she started exhibiting lethargic behavior. It was a slow decline and I never expected worms given how clean I keep my coop and run (and not many talk about it). That said it’s also my first year of chickens.
My girl Pearl has been inside since her appetite decreased and she lays down most the day.but will wander around the house when I let her out
She is alert, breathing fine.
She barely eats anything at this point but I am able to get a little in her (honest kitchen freeze dried dog food and salmon).

Has anyone had a lethargic hen with worms and able to fully recover? This is the flocks last day of medication. I have been giving her some poultry boost as well. I’ve read it can take over a week to show improvement in birds with heavy parasite loads. Should I look into syringe feeding her? Again she is alert just lays down. So she puts up a little fight.
Thanks in advance and please no judgment on the worms lol I am honestly quite embarrassed and disgusted, if u knew me and my birds u would likely be surprised.

 

[Loving my girls]

Hi there honey, So sorry to hear of your poorly girl. I have used something called Xeno 450 on my girls in the past. It is pricey and it can be purchased in England. It is easy to administer in drops from little vials. Each vial is for 2kg of hen. They are dropped between the wings. It kills all internal and external parasites. I don’t know exactly what it is but it does work for external parasites really well.
I hope this helps sweet, big hugz

PS worms are just part of life’s little survivors, nothing to be embarrassed about

 

[coach723]

Nothing to be embarrassed about, parasites are everywhere and when dealing with animals that eat off the ground, it's going to happen. It's really common and doesn't have anything to do with your housekeeping.
What medication did you treat the worms with and what dosing? Is she pooping normally? What do droppings look like? You can give her some probiotics (any kind), that can help get the gut back in balance. Occasionally the worms can cause a secondary bacterial infection, so sometimes a round of amoxicillin can help. If you don't have that on hand already you probably can't get it due to shortages. You can also use SMZ-TMP, it's just a little harder on them, I always use amoxicillin first.

 

[Marleeschicks]

Hi there honey, So sorry to hear of your poorly girl. I have used something called Xeno 450 on my girls in the past. It is pricey and it can be purchased in England. It is easy to administer in drops from little vials. Each vial is for 2kg of hen. They are dropped between the wings. It kills all internal and external parasites. I don’t know exactly what it is but it does work for external parasites really well.
I hope this helps sweet, big hugz

PS worms are just part of life’s little survivors, nothing to be embarrassed about

Thankyou si much for the reassurance and advise!
I’m unfortunately in the states— and I just finished the last dose of dewormer thankfully. Now it’s just to get her back to eating.
I’ve been giving her poultry cell vitamins (2-3 ml a day). I may need to syringe feed her some food at this point as the parasites should be gone.. I hope.

 

[Marleeschicks]

Nothing to be embarrassed about, parasites are everywhere and when dealing with animals that eat off the ground, it's going to happen. It's really common and doesn't have anything to do with your housekeeping.
What medication did you treat the worms with and what dosing? Is she pooping normally? What do droppings look like? You can give her some probiotics (any kind), that can help get the gut back in balance. Occasionally the worms can cause a secondary bacterial infection, so sometimes a round of amoxicillin can help. If you don't have that on hand already you probably can't get it due to shortages. You can also use SMZ-TMP, it's just a little harder on them, I always use amoxicillin first.

So I dosed her with about 120 mg if Safeguard (the dog powder so I could mix with some salmon mashed up). As of tonight the flock is finished with their 5 day dose. She has had diarrhea for a week. It’s more yellow now which I assume is because she is not eating much. This concerns me as I kno that can signal liver or infection. I am also giving 2-3 ml of Poultry cell vitamins but haven’t in a couple days. Just did again tonight and plan to tomorrow. I also plan to give her the probiotic electrolytes now that we’re done treating with the dewormer.
Do u advise syringe feeding her some egg yolk/ mash? Do I think I should get her in the antiobiotics without knowing if secondary infection for sure?
She is alert but just very low on energy— likely bc she’s malnourished at this point. I wonder if getting some food in her can get her back on track. But idk how long I should wait to get her in antibiotics now that they’re done being dewormed. I wanted to see if shed be ok after the treatment and food. Do u suggest antibiotics asap..?

 

[Marleeschicks]

Nothing to be embarrassed about, parasites are everywhere and when dealing with animals that eat off the ground, it's going to happen. It's really common and doesn't have anything to do with your housekeeping.
What medication did you treat the worms with and what dosing? Is she pooping normally? What do droppings look like? You can give her some probiotics (any kind), that can help get the gut back in balance. Occasionally the worms can cause a secondary bacterial infection, so sometimes a round of amoxicillin can help. If you don't have that on hand already you probably can't get it due to shortages. You can also use SMZ-TMP, it's just a little harder on them, I always use amoxicillin first.

Actually sorry I just read more about the dangers of syringe feeding — I’m not looking to tube feed if not absolutely necessary as I’ve never done that. So I will change my original idea from syringe feeding to the “torpedo” method of feeding (usually crossbeaks/special needs or ill hens in my case). If u think this would be a good idea —

 

[chickengr]

honey water always helps birds to recover. just put some honey in water. you can syringe it as well.

 

[Marleeschicks]

honey water always helps birds to recover. just put some honey in water. you can syringe it as well.

I will try that tomorrow !! Thankyou!

 

[Loving my girls]

Another thing that may help is cat food, try a little at a time in the beak and she will swallow it. It takes a long time but

 

[coach723]

Can you post some pictures of the droppings?
Can you post a picture of the label of the Safeguard you used? I'm not familiar with that particular form and want to make sure on the dosing. Correct dosing of fenbendazole is 10 - 50 mg per kg of body weight. I don't know how much is in each mg of the powder you used. It's pretty safe, so a little too much won't likely hurt her, but under dosing can lead to resistant parasites.