Worms & Lice & a Very Sick Bird

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
I'm so sorry you are dealing with this! Permethrin spray concentrate is effective for lice and mites, and the easiest thing to use, at night when they are roosting.
Fenbendazole will treat intestinal parasites effectively.
I'm very concerned that you have acquired a flock that's harboring, and now displaying, illnesses that will be very difficult to manage, and you do need diagnostics to sort out these problems.
Have your veterinarian run fecals, to sort out any intestinal parasites that might be there besides roundworms. Call your state veterinary lab tomorrow about testing options, for Mycoplasma and Marek's disease at least. If your birds have either, finding out sooner rather than later is best.
Meanwhile, good food and minimzing stress matter! I wouldn't bathe a stressed out sick bird, it's just another insult. Use the permethrin for the lice instead.
All the best,
Mary

 

[Aunt Angus]

Welcome!
I'm so sorry you are dealing with this! Permethrin spray concentrate is effective for lice and mites, and the easiest thing to use, at night when they are roosting.
Fenbendazole will treat intestinal parasites effectively.
I'm very concerned that you have acquired a flock that's harboring, and now displaying, illnesses that will be very difficult to manage, and you do need diagnostics to sort out these problems.
Have your veterinarian run fecals, to sort out any intestinal parasites that might be there besides roundworms. Call your state veterinary lab tomorrow about testing options, for Mycoplasma and Marek's disease at least. If your birds have either, finding out sooner rather than later is best.
Meanwhile, good food and minimzing stress matter! I wouldn't bathe a stressed out sick bird, it's just another insult. Use the permethrin for the lice instead.
All the best,
Mary

OP used ivermectin already, which should take care of lice, too, right?

I'm thinking a vet is in order, too. This is NOT how chickening is supposed to go....

 

[Folly's place]

You may find that sand is harder to manage than the deep litter, but that's for later, and you can add litter on top of the sand if that's what you decide to do. Proper drainage is important, chickens don't like wet ground.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Right, the Ivermectin should kill those lice, depending on what kind they are.
This is a sad story, and i hope things improve for this flock.
'Sour crop' covers a lot of territory, and is often not fixable, because it's not about any crud that's growing in it, but starts as a blockage, or a bird with a poor crop that won't ever really improve. I did have a Freedom Ranger chick years ago that had this issue, starting at about five or six weeks of age, and it didn't end well for the bird.
Mary

 

[LydiaK]

Honestly I don't know what to do. I've now put about $150 into cleaning/sand/treatment, not to mention the sheer amount of hours put into research and treating them each day.
My husband didn't want to pay for a vet because we only paid $15/chicken so in his mind it's cheaper to replace them, but a) I'm attached b) I've put SO MUCH time into caring for them, I don't want to give up. And c) the coop and run are already exposed to these parasites.
We weren't planning to make a profit but we had done the math to break even and provide eggs and compost for ourselves. He's not going to be happy putting even more money into them.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I would try the antifungal for your sour crop issue. You can also try Corid as a last ditch effort. But that's just my opinion.

I really am sorry. Getting chickens started us expensive. Once you've gotten past that initial set up, they're easy - much easier and cheaper than dogs, and chickens give eggs and compost.

 

[Aunt Angus]

And you can use permethrin ($10ish) to eradicate pests in the coop and run. Just throwing tgsr put there.

 

[LydiaK]

Update:
I got L-200 and have been dosing R with it since last night as a last-ditch effort to save her. I went out to give her some this morning and ended up finding one eye crusted over. I got some warm paper towels to try to wipe it and ended up having to gently pull out 2 quarter-inch sized chunks of congealed puss.

Also I found blood? Under one of the roosts From another chicken.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Have you tried Corid yet?

But with the eyes... I'm thinking you were right about the respiratory infection.

 

[LydiaK]

Have you tried Corid yet?

But with the eyes... I'm thinking you were right about the respiratory infection.

I'm giving the other girls corid, I was recommended not to give corid and the L-200 at the same time for this chicken. But maybe it's best?