my chicken is breathing with her mouth open... please help !

[tryxichicks]

Im very sorry for your loss, its a terrible feeling to lose one of your ladies, big hugs from Oregon!
However for future reference, Flubevent is not a good treatment for gapes, it rids them of other worms, but the only thing my avian vet recommended instead was ivermectin.
Honestly to me it sounded like maybe she had aspergillosis. Gapes kill pretty quickly, Asper is a strange fungal infection and is basically untreatable, either they pull through, or don't. Sounds like either way you did everything you possibly could, cheers to that!
Again I am very sorry.

 

[Cynthia12]

Quote:
Sorry, didn't see your more recent post...

 

[AndreaS]

I'm so sorry Michelle! I know this is a difficult thing to do, but have you considered doing a postmortem exam? It may help you figure out or confirm what the problem was. If it was indeed gapeworm, you should be able to tell for certain. If not, it may help you in the future to recognize a problem earlier. How are your other hens doing? Any signs that they might have the same problem?

I'm so very sorry for your loss

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I'm so sorry Michelle.

It sounds like you tried your best. I agree with AndreaS, you should at least look carefully in her mouth to confirm if it was gapeworm. Having that bit of information would be so helpful if another hen shows similar symptoms.

 

[michelle b 1972]

tryxichicks........ i live in the uk and flubenvet is the only licensed worming product for chickens... that other that you suggested is only licensed for sheep here so i cant get hold of it ! i know i tried my best but it still doesnt feel like it..... all the other girls are fine and the coop has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected ! what really upset me was i really thought she was going to get better and when she lay down she just closed her eyes and went..... i have a blackrock that is younger than all the rest and the older ones used to chase her away and peck at her but my sick speckledy never bothered her and they kind of became friends and no one would go near the little one because the speckledy would peck them.... when she was dead on the floor the little one was pulling at her feathers as if to say what are you doing... get up and she kept squawking at her.... now she looks so lost and is staying away from the others like she really cant be bothered with any of the others.... should i do anything or should i just observe the little one... she has eaten and had something to drink
thanks for all your kind words x x

 

[EggNoob]

So sorry to hear about you losing your girl.. It sounds like you were doing your best. They are so small and so quickly can take a turn.

 

[NewToFarming]

I am so sorry for your loss!

It is so sad about the little one too. She lost her best friend and she knew it! I would keep an eye on the little to make sure the others don't get after her too much. I don't know, maybe getting her a new buddy would help her?

 

[WickedGoodFarm]

So sorry to hear about your girl. I'm nursing a rooster right now and I feel so helpless. It's so difficult to figure out what the problem is.

 

[michelle b 1972]

UPDATE ................now i am really annoyed.... it wasnt gapes that killed her.... it was me trying to help her that killed her ! on a uk forum someone had said give her natural yogurt mixed with her pellets so i did...and as a result... she chocked to death... (the gapes had narrowed her throat so swollowing was harder for her) but the gapes were dying and as she was getting her appitite back she really seemed to be enjoying the pellets and yogurt... from now on im only going to listen to you guys as everything you lot had said was working... now i feel worse than i did before

i will get the little one a couple of new buddys but for now she is doing ok... she is being very clingy and only wants to eat out of my hand as the others chase her away from the feeders !
thankyou all for your kind words and help
michelle x x

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
Sorry for your loss Michelle, perhaps you can switch from from pellets to layer crumbles. They are easier to swallow, easier to digest for your chickens and then you can mix yogurt with the crumbles with no problems. Since you stated that that flubenvet takes too long to kill gapeworm and you cant get any ivermectin...try to get liquid fenbendazole or albendazole. These are the only treatments I know of that will immediately kill gapeworm besides ivermectin. You'll need to treat all your chickens sooner or later for it, once gapeworm gets established it's tough to get rid of and its lifecycle has to be broken or you're going to continue to have problems with it. Do you know a sheep farmer that you can swap eggs with to get some ivermectin? You'll need enough for 2 dosings for all your chickens...preferably ivermectin pour on....fenbendazole liquid and albendazole liquid will work too. Good luck. I forgot to mention that the liquid fenbendazole is normally used as a goat wormer and the albenzadole is a cattle/sheep wormer. If you are able to find them, let us know and we'll give you dosing instructions for your chickens. Same for the ivermectin pour on.