pullet still sick after deworming for capillary worms: UPDATE

[chicknmania]

Frannie the pullet is still sick after deworming with the medicine the vet gave us for her capillary worms. I doubt he will know what else to do since he's not really a poultry vet.
Could she have developed an infection from the worms? And if so what antibiotic should I try? She eats fine and drinks, but she's weak, and since she's finished the medicine two days ago, now she's back to diarrhea, although it's normal color it's just very watery. Or could it be permanent damage? I hate to cull her as she's fighting so hard to survive, but I just don't know what else to do. I also hate to take her to the avian vet and spend hundreds of dollars right after Christmas.

Please, does anyone have any suggestions here?

 

[casportpony]

Yes, that is similar to the way her droppings look, only waterier. So, the worm overload would be toxicity from the worm die off?
She is still eating pretty well. I will try her again with the scrambled eggs in the morning, she likes those. So I will, I guess, clean out her pen well, and then maybe get another fecal if she doesn't improve in a few days?

She was on Panacur liguid, one cc per day, but I don't know what the strength was. Her droppings returned to normal while she was on it, until the last day, or so. She was on the Panacur for five days.

If she's bigger than 4.5 pounds, 1 cc might not be enough. My research has shown that the most effective dose is 23 mg per pound for five consecutive days. The strength of fenbendazole should be listed on your bottle and will probably say 100mg/ml or 25mg/ml.

-Kathy

Edited to add: Capillary worms are hard to kill and can cause a lot of damage, so it could take weeks for her to get better.

 

[Michael Apple]

But peafowl molt just about year-round. They don't molt the same way chickens do, so there is no way to avoid it. What I have read is that fenbendazole *may* cause stunted feathers, and so far I have not seen that in any of my birds, but I've only wormed a couple hundred in various stages of molt, so I guess it'll happen sooner or later.

-Kathy

Many pigeon wormers containing Pyrantel + Praziquantel are labeled safe to use during moult. It is best to worm before onset of moult, but sometimes it is better to worm during moult rather than leaving a worm infested bird to bear it in addition to the stress of moult. I grew up around peafowl and never remember seeing them moult like chickens do. Interesting you reminded me of that.

 

[enola]

Has she been treated for coccidia? What are you feeding her? Have you given her any probiotics?

 

[One Chick Two]

Frannie the pullet is still sick after deworming with the medicine the vet gave us for her capillary worms. I doubt he will know what else to do since he's not really a poultry vet.
Could she have developed an infection from the worms? And if so what antibiotic should I try? She eats fine and drinks, but she's weak, and since she's finished the medicine two days ago, now she's back to diarrhea, although it's normal color it's just very watery. Or could it be permanent damage? I hate to cull her as she's fighting so hard to survive, but I just don't know what else to do. I also hate to take her to the avian vet and spend hundreds of dollars right after Christmas.

Please, does anyone have any suggestions here?

I'm guessing she may have possibly be having some worm overload, which happens sometimes. We had a BCM rooster that had worm overload after we wormed him with Safeguard. For the next week after worming, he was pretty listless, even quit eating, and had very runny green/ white/ clear droppings. So, we brought him inside, put him on a towel, weighed him, tempting him with cooled scrambled egg mixed with oatmeal and covered in water or yogurt. He was only picking at the food as he was sleeping much of the time.

When weighed him again, we realized he was losing weight rapidly... so we tube fed him 3X daily, a liquid food diet with vitamins, and offered him solid food and also water- which he wasn't eating at first. We wormed him again and eventually, the worms all absorbed or worked through, without secondary infection. His body stabilized, and the droppings gradually became firmer and normalized. Took about 10 days I believe. During this time, we offered the scrambled eggs with yogurt or water and quit the tube feeding. He had to learn to eat again, but he even gained a lb. He seemed very healthy after getting through that.

Weigh her daily (look at ounces) and keep a close eye on her eating and drinking. You may need to reworm or tube feed if she gets worse or refuses food and drink. Best of luck!

This is how he looked while he was sick.


Sorry this is gross but, I think it may be helpful... but this is how the droppings had looked during his worm overload. Some droppings occasionally looked almost nearly normal, then you can see some roundworms being passed in the runny parts. Eventually it all cleared out and became normal.

 

[enola]

What wormer did the vet use to worm her??

 

[chicknmania]

Has she been treated for coccidia? What are you feeding her? Have you given her any probiotics?

No because she doesn't have cocci. She tested negative for it. She has been eating Purina Flock Raiser with a little layer pellets mixed in. only a small amount of layer. AT night she has had a little yogurt every night in her food, so yes she's had SOME probiotics. Also occasionally she has a little applesauce or scrambled eggs. That is all.

 

[enola]

What wormer did the vet use?

 

[chicknmania]

Yes, that is similar to the way her droppings look, only waterier. So, the worm overload would be toxicity from the worm die off?
She is still eating pretty well. I will try her again with the scrambled eggs in the morning, she likes those. So I will, I guess, clean out her pen well, and then maybe get another fecal if she doesn't improve in a few days?

She was on Panacur liguid, one cc per day, but I don't know what the strength was. Her droppings returned to normal while she was on it, until the last day, or so. She was on the Panacur for five days.

 

[enola]

I wonder if you could get her to drink some butter milk? Maybe you could mix it with her feed to make it mushy. Have you tried feeding her canned pumpkin?