One hen dead and another very sick. Definitely gape worm

[Little wifey]

Please help. I lost one hen to gape worm. I didn’t know what was until I found a video of it. I now have another with it. I treated her for 5 days with safe guard pellets 5% but then found out that is not the right strength when she improved but two days after the the last treatment she got much worse. I found the right dose and gave her the goat for 5 days but she’s having difficulty breathing. Wheezing and coughing all the time. She gets so out of breath when jumping up that she gasps until she can calm down. Today was day 5 of the goat dewormer and she is experiencing what I just described. She’s eating and drinking and laid an egg today. Have I overdosed her or have the worms become resistant? I’m at a loss. She looks very good but sounds awful. Fluffing up and shaking her head too. This has been such a difficult process finding the information, reading articles, digging and finding links and YouTube videos. No where can I seem to get all the answers in one article. It’s been quite stressful and frustrating. Please any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

Can you post a video of her? Upload video to youtube and provide a link.

Eating/drinking and laying eggs is a good thing.
Have you noticed any discharge from the nostrils, coughing, wheezing, bubbles or pus in the eyes?
Any lesions, pasty yellow or white material inside the beak?
Any infection in the ears?
Any lice/mites?
Is her crop emptying overnight?

Any other birds in your flock showing signs of respiratory illness, coughing, etc.? Have you ever had any respiratory illness in your flock? Have you brought in new birds within the last 30 days or so? Is she new to your flock?

How's the ventilation in your coop?

No, I don't think you overdosed her. Could she have aspirated the medication?
Have you treated her with any other medications like an antibiotic?

How old is she?

 

[Little wifey]

Welcome To BYC

Can you post a video of her? Upload video to youtube and provide a link.

Eating/drinking and laying eggs is a good thing.
Have you noticed any discharge from the nostrils, coughing, wheezing, bubbles or pus in the eyes?
Any lesions, pasty yellow or white material inside the beak?
Any infection in the ears?
Any lice/mites?
Is her crop emptying overnight?

Any other birds in your flock showing signs of respiratory illness, coughing, etc.? Have you ever had any respiratory illness in your flock? Have you brought in new birds within the last 30 days or so? Is she new to your flock?

How's the ventilation in your coop?

No, I don't think you overdosed her. Could she have aspirated the medication?
Have you treated her with any other medications like an antibiotic?

How old is she?

She may have a little just yesterday but I’m not really sure. She never improved this second round. She has been inside our spare room since June 30th because it’s been way to hot outside and I also wanted to quarantine her. I have not given her anything else. She is 9 months old.

 

[dawg53]

Please help. I lost one hen to gape worm. I didn’t know what was until I found a video of it. I now have another with it. I treated her for 5 days with safe guard pellets 5% but then found out that is not the right strength when she improved but two days after the the last treatment she got much worse. I found the right dose and gave her the goat for 5 days but she’s having difficulty breathing. Wheezing and coughing all the time. She gets so out of breath when jumping up that she gasps until she can calm down. Today was day 5 of the goat dewormer and she is experiencing what I just described. She’s eating and drinking and laid an egg today. Have I overdosed her or have the worms become resistant? I’m at a loss. She looks very good but sounds awful. Fluffing up and shaking her head too. This has been such a difficult process finding the information, reading articles, digging and finding links and YouTube videos. No where can I seem to get all the answers in one article. It’s been quite stressful and frustrating. Please any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome to BYC.
No, you didnt overdose your hen with Safeguard.
I strongly recommend that you gather a fresh fecal sample from the hen, put it in a ziplock bag and take it to a vet to be looked at under a microscope for gapeworm eggs in the feces. Only then you'll know for sure if you're dealing with gapeworms.
What part of the country do you live?

 

[Little wifey]

She may have a little just yesterday but I’m not really sure. She never improved this second round. She has been inside our spare room since June 30th because it’s been way to hot outside and I also wanted to quarantine her. I have not given her anything else. She is 9 months old.

She may have a little just yesterday but I’m not really sure. She never improved this second round. She has been inside our spare room since June 30th because it’s been way to hot outside and I also wanted to quarantine her. I have not given her anything else. She is 9 months old.

Also no other signs of respiratory illness. Yes one other has had a little cough for much longer than the other two. She has not ever had wheezing though. Plenty of ventilation in our coop.

 

[Little wifey]

I cannot seem to attach the video. If you go on YouTube and look at a chicken gaping. That’s her right now. Yesterday she couldn’t stop coughing and shaking her head. Now every breathe is a struggle.

 

[theoldchick]

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/gapeworms
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/respiratory-tract-infection

 

[dawg53]

I take Youtube videos lightly when it comes to diagnosing gapeworms. Many respiratory infections mimic the symptoms of gapeworms and visa versa.
The ONLY way to tell for sure if it's gapeworms is to submit a fecal sample to a vet.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I cannot seem to attach the video. If you go on YouTube and look at a chicken gaping. That’s her right now. Yesterday she couldn’t stop coughing and shaking her head. Now every breathe is a struggle.

Copy and paste the link into your next post, searching youtube is a nightmare.

 

[Little wifey]

Copy and paste the link into your next post, searching youtube is a nightmare.

Sorry for the confusion but I meant that I was unable to attach a video of my hen and that I found several short videos of hens with vape worm. I know that you are skeptical of the gape worm infection as it’s rare, but I have done hours and days of researching and digging. We live about as far south as you can go in South Florida. We have every known pest under the sun here. Thank you for trying to help but she past yesterday morning. I did find a post on here that does describe closely my experience. Maybe you can search and find the page with the photo.