Worms? Or something else?

[Kalobis]

I picked up four new wheaten hens last week. About 15-16 weeks old. They’ve been in quarantine since their arrival.

They were active and thriving throughout, and three remain active.

One is lethargic, just chills with its head and tail low and poofed up. It also has a decent amount of poop below its vent. I trimmed the feathers, and will give it a warm bath later. I also added ACV to its water, and gave it access to mealworms and scrambled egg, but doesn’t want to eat or drink much.

I picked up dewormer, and will treat the whole flock, but is that most likely?

Here is a picture of the poor girl and her most recent poop.

I would appreciate any insights! I’m still relatively new at this.

 

[Eggcessive]

She may just be sick. It could be a reproductive or other infection, coccidiosis, enteritis, or parasites. We don’t usually see worms or egg in the droppings. You either can treat for most worms or have a vet do a fecal float to look for the microscopic worm eggs. Valbazen 1/2 ml given orally and repeated in 10 days, or SafeGuard liquid goat wormer or horse paste 1/4 ml per pound of weight given for 5 consecutive days. Has she been on the dirt around your coop or run? How many days has she been there? Is her crop empty first thing in the morning? Is she eating or drinking?

 

[Kalobis]

She may just be sick. It could be a reproductive or other infection, coccidiosis, enteritis, or parasites. We don’t usually see worms or egg in the droppings. You either can treat for most worms or have a vet do a fecal float to look for the microscopic worm eggs. Valbazen 1/2 ml given orally and repeated in 10 days, or SafeGuard liquid goat wormer or horse paste 1/4 ml per pound of weight given for 5 consecutive days. Has she been on the dirt around your coop or run? How many days has she been there? Is her crop empty first thing in the morning? Is she eating or drinking?

I am in Canada, and all the feed store had was Piperazine as a dewormer. She is chilling in the basement with me now, we trimmed her butt and gave her a bath.

1) They are staying in a 6x6 temp coop in my garage on the concrete floor, covered with a thick layer of straw. Until this AM she was acting normally, but she is skinny and quite weak, so I think she has been sick for a bit and was hiding it from us, my fault for not checking closer.

2) She has been in quarantine with three others for 17 days at this point as they were additions to my flock.

3) Crop was empty this AM, and is still empty now as she is barely eating.

4) She is eating a little scrambled egg, had some mealworms earlier, and she is drinking if I dip her beak in the water, but she won't move towards either on her own.

I appreciate any insights!

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you get Panacur horse paste10%? This is equal to the SafeGuard, active ingredient fenbendazole. I think Piperazine kills only roundworms but I am not current on dosage. Some people tube feed sick chickens, some try torpedo feeding of small pieces of wet feed and egg combined in a firm piece, a stick in into the beak. I don’t believe you can get amprollium or Corid in Canada, but a vet may sell you enough to treat for possible coccidiosis. Other meds that treat that are sulfa antibiotics and toltrazuril. A vet may also be a source for one of those and a tube feeding set. Here is a tube (crop feeding) set:
https://www.amazon.com/Agri-Pro-Ent...773961649-B08RHDVBB9-&hvexpln=73&gad_source=1

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a good video of tube feeding:

 

[Kalobis]

Can you get Panacur horse paste10%? This is equal to the SafeGuard, active ingredient fenbendazole. I think Piperazine kills only roundworms but I am not current on dosage. Some people tube feed sick chickens, some try torpedo feeding of small pieces of wet feed and egg combined in a firm piece, a stick in into the beak. I don’t believe you can get amprollium or Corid in Canada, but a vet may sell you enough to treat for possible coccidiosis. Other meds that treat that are sulfa antibiotics and toltrazuril. A vet may also be a source for one of those and a tube feeding set. Here is a tube (crop feeding) set:
https://www.amazon.com/Agri-Pro-Ent...773961649-B08RHDVBB9-&hvexpln=73&gad_source=1

This is very helpful, thank you! I believe I can get a generic fenbendazole, but I do not think I can get corid or any variants without a vet, and there are none that see poultry in my area. But I might make some calls and see if I can sweet talk them.

If it is cocciodosis, is there a way to know? I understand it is contagious and while the other chickens all seem healthy, I would hate to see the same thing happen to them.

 

[Eggcessive]

Symptoms of coccidiosis are lethargy, being hunched or puffed up, not eating, and liquids poops. Sometimes there can be blood or yellow liquid. Most people just treat for it in case, but vets can run a fecal float to look for it and worms. Years ago when I started on this forum some people said they could buy amprollium directly from their vets. But rules change so they may need to see the patient.

 

[Kalobis]

Symptoms of coccidiosis are lethargy, being hunched or puffed up, not eating, and liquids poops. Sometimes there can be blood or yellow liquid. Most people just treat for it in case, but vets can run a fecal float to look for it and worms. Years ago when I started on this forum some people said they could buy amprollium directly from their vets. But rules change so they may need to see the patient.

I have a line on some amprolium, and I am going to get it tomorrow. Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it!