Internal parasites? best treatment?

[PiGE0N]

Hello, I have a bantam that I suspect has some sort of internal parasite that is causing her to lose weight and eating all her nutrition up. At first I thought it was just an impacted crop problem because she felt light when I first picked her up yet her crop was full, it did not empty the first few nights.

I kept her inside to monitor her food intake, giving her soft watery foods like non-sweetened yogurt, mushy hard-boiled egg yolk, wet cat food, and gently massaging her crop. I even gave her a stimulant-free dulcolax as this helped my other chicken with impacted crop last time. The crop empties out for the most part now but her droppings still show like she's barely eating, it's not solid and mostly white. I'll try to include pictures.

I tried booking a vet appointment but I've yet to get a response back and I don't think they'd give me one any time soon as it's always a long wait with those guys.

She still eats and drinks like she normally would, sunbathes, but she's definitely weak as if she hasn't been eating and very thin I can feel her sharp breast bone. Also I notice when I handle her I sometimes hear noises inside her body?
Is there any specific deworming treatments or medicine I can give her that I can buy online? preferably orally?

 

[PiGE0N]

Her droppings from overnight:

Spoiler: Chicken poop

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is she? Does she lay eggs? Has she ever been wormed? Is her crop empty in the morning? I would give her some moistened chicken crumbles with a bit of egg daily. Stop the cat food as it has twice the protein she needs which can be hard on the kidneys. Worm her with either SafeGuard Liquid Goat wormer 1/4 ml per pound for 5 consecutive days, or albendazole 1/4 ml once orally and repeated in 10 days. If she is over 2, then she could be suffering from cancer or a reproductive disorder. The droppings have a lot of yellow fluid, so you could consider treating for coccidiosis with Corid. Dosage is 2 tsp of the liquid or 1.5 tsp of the powder for 5-7 days. Coccidiosis is usually more common in young birds, but occasionally seen in birds who lack immunity.

 

[PiGE0N]

How old is she? Does she lay eggs? Has she ever been wormed? Is her crop empty in the morning? I would give her some moistened chicken crumbles with a bit of egg daily. Stop the cat food as it has twice the protein she needs which can be hard on the kidneys. Worm her with either SafeGuard Liquid Goat wormer 1/4 ml per pound for 5 consecutive days, or albendazole 1/4 ml once orally and repeated in 10 days. If she is over 2, then she could be suffering from cancer or a reproductive disorder. The droppings have a lot of yellow fluid, so you could consider treating for coccidiosis with Corid. Dosage is 2 tsp of the liquid or 1.5 tsp of the powder for 5-7 days. Coccidiosis is usually more common in young birds, but occasionally seen in birds who lack immunity.

I've had her for 13 years, but she might be 14 years old because she was already an adult when she was given to me. She stopped laying eggs many years ago, she didn't lay very much to begin with as she doesn't seem like an egg-laying breed (some sort of red-breasted old english game mix). She's never been wormed with such treatments before, so I'll see if I can get the Safeguard or albendazole at a tractor supply.
Thank you for your suggestions!

 

[nuthatched]

It's very likely old age, not parasites.

 

[PiGE0N]

It's very likely old age, not parasites.

Old age can cause a hen to become very underweight/thin despite eating a lot? what about her poop seemingly like nothing? where is all that food going? I don't feel any lumps or build up around her vent/underneath that could indicate something is blocking her from passing anything through.

 

[Anon112]

If you want to be a bit more sure before doing treatment, you might see if your local/state government has a lab where you can take samples to screen for parasites. In my area, the cost is like $12.

 

[nuthatched]

Old age can cause a hen to become very underweight/thin despite eating a lot? what about her poop seemingly like nothing? where is all that food going? I don't feel any lumps or build up around her vent/underneath that could indicate something is blocking her from passing anything through.

14 is ancient, the metabolism changes, the ability to build body mass changes, she's extremely elderly.

 

[Eggcessive]

At her age she may just be declining in health. I had an 11 year old bantam that had stopped laying years before. She developed water belly, and a few weeks later when she died and a necropsy was done, fluid filled cysts were present inside her abdomen. I would make her comfortable, and offer the balanced chicken feed with a little bit of egg for a treat.

 

[PiGE0N]

Update on my little bantam: I did give ger the SafeGuard liquid goat dewormer for 6 days after my last post and her droppings started coming out more solid after that. Ever since then she's been slowly gaining her weight back and not as weak as she used to be! I still bring her inside to sleep at night to monitor her poop and crop and it's definitely improved even moreso.
I don't know what her normal weight was before she got affected, she was always a small bantam ever since I got her, but her breastbone area doesn't feel as skinny and sharp as it used to be. Been feeding her dried soldier fly larvae, hard-boiled eggs, and her regular chicken feed sometimes soaked with water.

I had spent so much time watching over her during outside time separated from the other chickens (I didn't want them to relentlessly bully her) she'd start following me around to show her where more bugs were under things and scratch around in the dirt with her.

Thank you so much for the deworming recommendations, hopefully she continues to get better