sick hen

[chickinncoop]

Hi- we are new members and we are proud to be a part of your "family".
We would like your suggestions about one of our pet hens. We just noticed about two days ago that she was opening
her beak and stretching her neck. (seemed like she was having some trouble breathing)
After much research on the internet we believe she has gape worms. Can't buy flubenvet in the US but found a product
called Panacur that has fenbendazole. Everything we have read says that fenbendazole kills gape worms, but we
don't know the proper dosage to give her and for how many days to give it to her.
Any help anyone can give us will be much appreciated!



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[DickGJ]

How often does she do this? My chicks are only 5 weeks old, but I've witnessed several that occasionally open their mouth (as if yawning) and stretching their necks out. I just figured this was typcial bird behavior...I haven't observed it with enough repetition to make me alarmed, but I'll have to check into these gape worms you're referring to.

 

[DickGJ]

I wonder if food grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE) will work? I use it all around my coop, and run as a natural pesticide. It is also suppose to be useful in deworming birds and animals (in the digestive track)...not sure if it will get to these gape worms since they hang out in the trachea.

 

[DickGJ]

Here's another BYC link on this topic...hope it helps! https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=473543

 

[flowergirl60]

I noticed my pullet doing the same thing about a week ago. Haven't seen it since so I guess there is no reason to be alarmed.

 

[DickGJ]

I also read that it's not all that common in chickens. It appears to afflict gamebirds like pheasants and such with more frequency than chickens. I'm not saying chickens aren't susceptible just not usually the #1 target of these dastardly little parasitic critters!

 

[chickinncoop]

When we first noticed her opening her beak and stretching her neck (gaping) she was doing it constantly. Also she had been having a rattle
in her chest. We thought she had a cold. After further research that's when we figured she had the gape worms. She had too many of the
symptoms.
After giving her the Pancur paste (BB size w/q-tip) she seems to be doing better. Acting almost normal and don't notice the rattle anymore.
Our problem is that we don't know how long to keep giving to her. As I mentioned in my earlier post, we have read to do it for three days straight,
wait nine days, then do it one more day. We don't know if that is correct. Unless anyone tells us different that is our plan.
We thank you for your responses and Sissi (our girl) thanks you.

 

[DickGJ]

@ chickenncoop -- Just wondering...do you raise any other bird species besides chickens?