Treating worms and cocci?

[froghollowfarm2]

We have a sick hen. She has been getting weaker an weaker, and I fear she might die soon. A friend who is very knowledgable looked at her today. She said it could be worms or cocci -- or something else. The hen is close to two years old. We are going to give her and the other three hens Ivomec in the water tomorrow. The only bottle we could get hold of quickly, through our friend, expired four years ago, but I'm hoping it will still do something. Can I also give her Cocci medicine just in case? Or would the two medicines at the same time be too much for a weak hen?
I would try to get poop tested, but the sick hen doesnt seem to poop now.
Our friend gave the hen an injection of vitamin, I think B.
We don't have a farm supply store in our area, so it might take until Friday before I can get to an Agway where they hopefully sell Amprolium and Ivomec.
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Judy]

At two years, cocci is highly unlikely, as they should have developed an immunity by then. Albendazole would be a good choice but you may well have to order it online. You could certainly try the ivomec -- I believe it acts slowly enough that it should be safe -- if it were not expired. I have no idea what effect its being so so old would have. Truthfully, it wouldn't be my first time for using an expired drug....

If you give a chicken a fast acting wormer and they are really loaded with worms, there is a danger that the dead worms and/or toxins released by the dead worms will harm the chickens themselves. These links will give you a start. Hint: if you do a search, Dawg53 is a great source of info on worming.

http://healthybirds.umd.edu/Disease/Deworming Birds.pdf

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=5770173#p5770173