I can't get a break... In a chick?

[Ranchwithaview]

Back story, I had a broody hen hatch two chicks last week. She was with the rest of the flock and we lost one chick. She didn't seem to improve her parenting, so we took the remaining chick in. We went that night, Sunday, to a local breeder and got a friend chick. On Monday, we got two more from a feed store. The one we got from the breeder ended up having a problem with its intestines not being all the way in, and we exchanged it on Tuesday.

Last night, I found a very long roundworm in the water bowl of the chicks' brooder.

My first thought is how is that even possible with chicks, but then I think it must be from my chick that was out with its mom for a couple of days.

Has anyone else ever seen this?

I am so tired of my chicken hospital days. I also have a hen who stopped laying, and I can't find the reason. Maybe this is it. I got two hens from a neighbor and I have had problems with them both. She is one, and the other has bumble foot. Sigh.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry that you are having problems.
Do you have a photo of the roundworm?

If a 1-2week old chick is infested with a roundworm large enough to be expelled I would think that is would not be thriving. Is the chick lethargic at all?

Your hen that is not well/not laying.
How old is she?
Any bloat/swelling or fluid in the abdomen?
Crop empty in the morning before eating/drinking?
Could be a worm infestation, have you looked her over for lice/mites? Could also be reproductive problems like EYP, Internal Laying, cancer, etc.
If she's never been wormed, it may be worth doing so. Getting a fecal float is always a good idea.
You can use Valbazen at 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once and repeat in 10days or Fenbendazole (Safeguard) at 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally for 5 days in a row. Either one will take care of most worms found in chickens.

The Bumblefoot - have you treated that as well?

 

[Ranchwithaview]

I'm sorry that you are having problems.
Do you have a photo of the roundworm?

If a 1-2week old chick is infested with a roundworm large enough to be expelled I would think that is would not be thriving. Is the chick lethargic at all?

Your hen that is not well/not laying.
How old is she?
Any bloat/swelling or fluid in the abdomen?
Crop empty in the morning before eating/drinking?
Could be a worm infestation, have you looked her over for lice/mites? Could also be reproductive problems like EYP, Internal Laying, cancer, etc.
If she's never been wormed, it may be worth doing so. Getting a fecal float is always a good idea.
You can use Valbazen at 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once and repeat in 10days or Fenbendazole (Safeguard) at 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally for 5 days in a row. Either one will take care of most worms found in chickens.

The Bumblefoot - have you treated that as well?

Thanks for replying. The chicks ask seem fine. It's so strange. I thought about taking a picture but didn't. I searched byc before disposing of it and it looked just like a roundworm. One of the chicks does have runny poop.

I have been treating the bumble foot with epsom salt soaks and a drawing salve. I am open to other advice. It seems better, but not totally healed.

I don't know the age of either hen. I should ask my neighbor again. I brought the non laying hen in for an exam. She didn't appear to be egg bound. Nothing seemed to feel strange in her abdomen. No mites.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks for replying. The chicks ask seem fine. It's so strange. I thought about taking a picture but didn't. I searched byc before disposing of it and it looked just like a roundworm. One of the chicks does have runny poop.

I have been treating the bumble foot with epsom salt soaks and a drawing salve. I am open to other advice. It seems better, but not totally healed.

I don't know the age of either hen. I should ask my neighbor again. I brought the non laying hen in for an exam. She didn't appear to be egg bound. Nothing seemed to feel strange in her abdomen. No mites.

If you'd like to post some photos of the poop that would be good.
Runny poop is sometimes just that - they drink a bit too much, eat something that has a lot of moisture (fruit?), other times it can be an indication of worms, coccidiosis, illness. Observing behavior is key with something like this - if active/eating/drinking, just keep watching. If they are droopy, not eating well, etc., then it's time to investigate.

Hens that are not laying eggs and not molting - unless they are very old, then something is going on. One of the most common things in laying hens is sadly reproductive disorders. If you've checked her over well and she's a pet that's eating/drinking well, then I would just monitor her to see how she does. You could worm her. If she's for production, then consider processing her. Each of us keep chickens for different reasons.

The Bumblefoot - is the scab shrinking with the soaking and drawing salve? Are you wrapping the foot after you put on the salve. Some have had pretty good results with that - usually the salve will help pull up the scab to where you can remove the kernel that's in there.

 

[Ranchwithaview]

This is a pic of chick poop. A couple of these seem off, reddish tint, strange shape. This is from this morning, but it dried already. All the chicks seem to be acting normal.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This is a pic of chick poop. A couple of these seem off, reddish tint, strange shape. This is from this morning, but it dried already. All the chicks seem to be acting normal.

It's good the chicks are all acting normal.
I would keep watch on the poop and behavior
This one - hard to tell if it's from feed, has a little intestinal shedding or blood so I would keep watch on the poop.

 

[Ranchwithaview]

It's good the chicks are all acting normal.
I would keep watch on the poop and behavior
This one - hard to tell if it's from feed, has a little intestinal shedding or blood so I would keep watch on the poop.
View attachment 1744097

I will be keeping a close eye on them. Do you think it would be coming from the one who had the worm? It is still so hard for me to believe that one of them had a worm.

Thank you.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I will be keeping a close eye on them. Do you think it would be coming from the one who had the worm? It is still so hard for me to believe that one of them had a worm.

Thank you.

I don't know. It's possible I suppose that a chick that young could have worms, but they just aren't old enough to have a worm that large - roundworms are rarely "expelled" unless there is no "room". Could it have come from the broody hen?

 

[Ranchwithaview]

I don't know. It's possible I suppose that a chick that young could have worms, but they just aren't old enough to have a worm that large - roundworms are rarely "expelled" unless there is no "room". Could it have come from the broody hen?

There's no chance it came from the hen. It appeared 3 days after we brought the chick in. The water dish was cleaned out many times. The worm was found in the water dish last night. It's just baffling...and distributing.