Lame chook with worms

[Wynonna and willow]

Hi all.
Newbie to the site, looking for some advice.
One of my chooks has been sick for a week now. She is a buff orpington, about 18months old. In a flock with 2 of her sisters.
I noticed she was lame and limping about a week ago and she has been egg bound before which I resolved with an Epsom salts bath and gentle tummy massage. Symptoms were displaying the same as when this happened last year so I did the same but it didn’t help this time. I’m fairly certain there is no egg (whole or broken) in her.
She has been laying on her side for a few days now abut is feeding and drinking as normal. I wormed her and found a reasonable amount of dead worms in her stools (they remain on her feathers as she is not moving much) I am bathing her daily and keeping her and her space clean. She seems alert and her responses seem to be improving since the worm treatment but she is still laying only on one side. I have checked her all over for mites, bites, lice, ticks etc but found nothing. Also gone over her wings and legs to see if there is any swelling or tenderness but she seems fine (and doesn’t respond badly to any part of her being touched) she can grip with both feet and move head normally.
Also, both her sisters are happy and healthy.
Does anyone know what could be wrong? Can worms cause extreme lethargy/ lameness and will she get better after expelling the dead ones? - how long should this take?
Any advice appreciated.

 

[dawg53]

Welcome to BYC.
What product did you use to worm your hen? A photo of the worms would be helpful identifying them.
Just for your information; dead worms do not remain in feathers, they are excreted onto the ground. I suspect your are dealing with Fly Strike. Somehow, maggots have most likely infested and infected your hen and she will die if the maggots arnt removed.
Photos please.

 

[Wynonna and willow]

Welcome to BYC.
What product did you use to worm your hen? A photo of the worms would be helpful identifying them.
Just for your information; dead worms do not remain in feathers, they are excreted onto the ground. I suspect your are dealing with Fly Strike. Somehow, maggots have most likely infested and infected your hen and she will die if the maggots arnt removed.
Photos please.

Hi. They’re definitely worms, about 1-2 inches long, very thin and white. Not a maggot. They are staying in the feathers mixed in with the poo because she is not moving to poop. Hence why I have been bathing her to clean the poop off her

 

[Wynonna and willow]

This is the wormer I used

 

[dawg53]

The product you have contains Levamisole, an excellent wormer.
The Levamisole we have here is in powder form and is mixed in water and given for several days for birds to drink, IF they drink it.
Normally, sick wormy birds drink very little or wont drink at all.
The worms you described sound like excreted capillary worms which can take down a chicken in no time at all unlike other types of roundworms.

Yes, the worms can cause extreme lethargy and lameness due to the toxicity of dead worm overload in the chickens system.
I recommend you stop the worming for now and that you give your hen plain white boiled rice mixed with buttermilk to eat for a couple of days. The buttermilk will coat and protect her intestinal lining and is an excellent probiotic. The plain boiled white rice will settle her innards. Hopefully she will recover.
Consider worming your other birds as well.

 

[Crazychickengirl2]

How’s it doing?