Suspected gapeworm, already lost 2 chickens

[Marsan]

I had 2 chickens die on me, they both came from the same breeder but are different breeds, one was a silkie and the other was a Salvadorian Gallina India. The silkie came coughing/sneezing pretty noisily sometimes would get bubbles in her eyes, and was gasping for air, I gave her Enrofloxacina for 5 days and nothing changed, 2 weeks later I gave her Fenbendazol, the gasping only got worse and she had some dead worms in her droppings. I gave her drops of egg yolk with a dropper but that choked her and died that night, that was 2 days after the dewormer. Then came the other one, she was fine and even got on the roof of the coop, 7 days after the dewormer she started presenting the same symptoms, and one eye closed, we treated with Enro and saline drops, her eyes opened but nothing changed, she would look weak, seem like it had a hard time eating, had vitamins in her water, but the weird part was when one time she was asleep with her head tucked behind and her head was going back and forth like a pendulum. We gave vitamin B and this time I didn't gave her the yolk, I boiled it and serve it to her, she ate and died that same night. She wouldn't cough or sneeze, just the gasping and it got progressively worse.

I have other 2, and they're already dewormed and thankfully have not presented any symptoms like the past 2. But what do you think it was? Could it be syngamus trachea or some other disease?

 

[Eggcessive]

It sounds more like they came with a respiratory disease such as mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG,) which is contagious to all of the flock and makes all chickens exposed to them carriers for life. Your state vet lab could do a necropsy and testing to confirm MG or possibly others, if you lose another bird. You can also get testing materials from Zoologix or Vetdna (RAL labs) by contacting them. They send swabs and you collect them from birds showing symptoms, and send the swabs back for pcr testing for up to 8 different respiratory diseases. Antibiotics such as enrofloxacin, Tylosin powder, Tiagard, and oxytetracycline can help sometimes treat symptoms, but no antibiotic can cure them for life. Treating for gapeworms with SafeGuard LIQUID goat wormer 1/4 ml per pound orally to each chicken for 5 consecutive days is a good treatment. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Marsan]

It sounds more like they came with a respiratory disease such as mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG,) which is contagious to all of the flock and makes all chickens exposed to them carriers for life. Your state vet lab could do a necropsy and testing to confirm MG or possibly others, if you lose another bird. You can also get testing materials from Zoologix or Vetdna (RAL labs) by contacting them. They send swabs and you collect them from birds showing symptoms, and send the swabs back for pcr testing for up to 8 different respiratory diseases. Antibiotics such as enrofloxacin, Tylosin powder, Tiagard, and oxytetracycline can help sometimes treat symptoms, but no antibiotic can cure them for life. Treating for gapeworms with SafeGuard LIQUID goat wormer 1/4 ml per pound orally to each chicken for 5 consecutive days is a good treatment. Sorry for your lossWhen the India came she showed signs of illness 7 days after coming, and I was reading that when a chicken has gone through a lot of stress, the inmune system gets compromise and the incubation time can be 3 to 5 days, instead of the almost 21 in a healthy chicken, and she was SO stressed when we first brought her.

It sounds more like they came with a respiratory disease such as mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG,) which is contagious to all of the flock and makes all chickens exposed to them carriers for life. Your state vet lab could do a necropsy and testing to confirm MG or possibly others, if you lose another bird. You can also get testing materials from Zoologix or Vetdna (RAL labs) by contacting them. They send swabs and you collect them from birds showing symptoms, and send the swabs back for pcr testing for up to 8 different respiratory diseases. Antibiotics such as enrofloxacin, Tylosin powder, Tiagard, and oxytetracycline can help sometimes treat symptoms, but no antibiotic can cure them for life. Treating for gapeworms with SafeGuard LIQUID goat wormer 1/4 ml per pound orally to each chicken for 5 consecutive days is a good treatment. Sorry for your loss.

When the India came she showed signs of illness 7 days after, and I was reading that when a chicken has gone through a lot of stress, the inmune system gets compromised and the incubation time can be 3 to 5 days, instead of the almost 21 in a healthy chicken, and she was SO stressed when we first brought her. She also had all the signs, same as the first chicken that died but she was already like that when I got her, these are my firsts ever chickens so I didn't notice anything was wrong until a few days later. I think you're right about MG, so sad it cannot be cured. Hope the rest of my chickens stay healthy, just as carriers, cause I'm already really attached to Donatella (the gal from the image). Thanks for all your help.

 

[Eggcessive]

She is very cute. This is not a good way to begin with chickens, and they remain carriers for life. Every chicken that comes into your flockcan be exposed for the life of all of the flock. Is there any way you can return the 2 remaining chickens? I would not get any new birds from this person. They came with past exposure to the disease. Yes, stress can bring out symptoms, but they were exposed already if you didn’t have any other birds. If you lose any birds, your state vet can do a necropsy and testing so that you know what you are dealing with. So sorry for your loss. The best way to get healthy birds, is to get healthy chicks from a hatchery. Here is a link for most state vets to contact:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/necropsy-lab-link.1618961/

 

[debid]

This is very sad.

I haven't had to deal with anything like this but my first worry is always avian influenza. Please, please, please get those swabs if another gets sick.

 

[Marsan]

This is very sad.

I haven't had to deal with anything like this but my first worry is always avian influenza. Please, please, please get those swabs if another gets sick.

Will do, thanks. I have no idea of where I could do the swabs in my country but will for sure look for more information here, I live in El Salvador so there's not much really, some people would raise chickens in the wild and never even put a vaccine on them, so information is scarce, I do keep an eye out for Avian influenza and nothing in the news. Last cases were reported before 2023 I believe so we're good on that.

 

[Marsan]

She is very cute. This is not a good way to begin with chickens, and they remain carriers for life. Every chicken that comes into your flockcan be exposed for the life of all of the flock. Is there any way you can return the 2 remaining chickens? I would not get any new birds from this person. They came with past exposure to the disease. Yes, stress can bring out symptoms, but they were exposed already if you didn’t have any other birds. If you lose any birds, your state vet can do a necropsy and testing so that you know what you are dealing with. So sorry for your loss. The best way to get healthy birds, is to get healthy chicks from a hatchery. Here is a link for most state vets to contact:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/necropsy-lab-link.1618961/

I could return them, but I'm attached at this point, and they're mostly kept as pets. Yes, we (my family) already agreed on not getting more chickens from him, these were my firsts and was honestly a bit traumatic to have 2 chickens die on me despite trying everything to save them. I don't think I can get a necropsy on a dead chicken here, and if I do it would cost a pretty penny. Thanks for the information, I live in El Salvador and try to read as much as I can, because some people would raise chickens in the wild and never even put a vaccine on them, so information is scarce. I love this blog and appreciate all the information you've given me.

 

[Eggcessive]

Once you have a chicken with a chronic respiratory disease that survives, each chicken that comes into the flock will get it since they are all carriers. You can’t get rid of the disease until all birds are gone. The best way to start out with a healthy flock is to get healthy baby chicks from a hatchery. Wild birds can bring in disease, but the mist common way is to get carriers from people selling birds from flocks already infected. I realize that it may be hard for you to start over, but just be aware that chickens can suffer from contagious diseases.