Sick chicken with possible eye worm? Need help!

[Melissa C]

Hi all,

I have a sick chicken on my hands and she's my favorite girl. It all started almost a week ago when I noticed her sitting in the run when everyone else was out and about. When I looked more closely, she had white stuff in the corners of both eyes. So, I rinsed out her eyes and started researching. My first gut reaction is that it might be eye worms. We live in Hawaii and I know they're around. Once I got my hands on VetRX, I've been administering 2-3 drops in the affected eye for a few days now. The other eye seems to be ok. At one point the eye got so swollen that my partner and I did a little "surgery" and were able to extract a big plug of pus & I saw one of the worms. Fast forward to now: we've been treating her eye twice/day with VetRX and Neosporin which seems to be helping the eye BUT she's so listless and lethargic. She sleeps all the time and won't eat or drink on her own. I've been hand feeding her electrolyte water and different mashes I've been making because she won't eat any solid food. I mix yolk with banana, her regular wet mash blended up with banana. I've mixed in garlic powder and turmeric powder and everything I can think of that will help her. This has been going on for days. The nearest vet who will see a chicken is 2 hours away. I can't get my hands on any proper antibiotics and even if I could, I'm not sure which antibiotic would be best for her. It's so frustrating! Any advice is welcome. I need help! Thank you!

 

[nuthatched]

Have you tried anything to get rid of the worms? A wormer to actually kill them?

 

[Melissa C]

Have you tried anything to get rid of the worms? A wormer to actually kill them?

I haven't used a systemic wormer yet for 2 reasons: 1) I dewormed my flock in November/December with Fenbendazole because they had a roundworm infestation. 2) Because she's so weak I've been afraid deworming might cause more harm than good but I did just read something today about using ivermectin on a chicken's head to treat for eye worms so I'm thinking about doing that. I have been using VetRX in her eye to kill the worms but maybe something systemic is needed?

 

[coach723]

For eye worm you need Valbazen (albendazole). Flush the eyes with a 50/50 mixture of Valbazen/water, and give an oral dose of .5 cc of Valbazen. Repeat the oral dose in 10 days.
If you have not confirmed that it's eye worm, a fecal float test can do that. Eye worm larvae migrate up from the crop to the esophagus, and then to the tear duct, so that is why you need to do the oral dose as well as the eye flush.

 

[Melissa C]

For eye worm you need Valbazen (albendazole). Flush the eyes with a 50/50 mixture of Valbazen/water, and give an oral dose of .5 cc of Valbazen. Repeat the oral dose in 10 days.
If you have not confirmed that it's eye worm, a fecal float test can do that. Eye worm larvae migrate up from the crop to the esophagus, and then to the tear duct, so that is why you need to do the oral dose as well as the eye flush.

Thanks so much for this info! I'll see if my local feed store carries albendazole. How do I do a fecal float test without a vet's help? There aren't any vets in my area willing to do one for a chicken. I've asked in the past without any luck.

 

[coach723]

There are mail in options for getting a fecal done:
https://www.statelinetack.com/item/fecal-worm-testhome-kit/E013362/
Valbazen is labeled for cattle so it's usually in that section, most of the time you have to order it online. Best price I've seen currently is here: https://www.allivet.com/p-2170-valbazen.aspx?SearchTerm=valb Auto
It's a very good wormer, so if you worm regularly then the bottle will last for a while.