Chickens ate sick dead chicken's head!

[Frostygirl]

Help! I found my Welsummer dead in the nesting box today & I'm freaked out because the other chickens ate her head. She was sick, I think she got eye worms. I flushed it with Ivermectin diluted solution & started giving her Vetrx. She started to get better & gain weight but her eye was a little swollen so I put antibiotic eye ointment in it. She was getting much better then I suddenly found her dead. I'm worried the other chickens will get infected with whatever she had. What can I do?

 

[helen1989]

wow! chickens can be cannibals if not receiving enough protein in their food. Do you know what the original chicken had?

 

[Shabana]

I think it's just their nature. They will attack a poorly bird and they see it as a weak link in the flock.
Always seperate ill birds because they can be ruthless
I don't think it's a protein thing. If they free range or even if they don't, if they get a good quality balanced diet it should contain enough protein.
As for the worms I would routinely worm them all.
I do mine twice a year as they occupy the same ground and don't get to free range every day. The more birds you have and if they are on the same ground the more often you should worm.

I use flubenvet which is available to us in the uk. There is no egg withdrawal.

So sorry your girl passed.
Best wishes x

 

[commanderforts]

ok so we were moving our baby chicks outside when I noticed that the box they were in was a chicken pot pie box....... idk how it happed we just emptied a storage box and put chickens in it! what a coincidence!

 

[Frostygirl]

Thank you, I was going to separate her but didn't have a separate coop @ the time & by the time I got 1 she was much better & had gained a substantial amount of the weight she lost & started to hang out with the other chickens, trying to regain her old pecking order position but was now blind on 1 eye but she was compensating & harder to catch. I was still concerned so I was keeping a close eye on her. It's not a protein deficiency because these free ranging chickens are spoiled with all sorts of organic supplements; omegas, probiotic powder, ACV, BOSS, calf manna available all day but they prefer to look for bugs & worms. I'm keeping a close eye on the rest of the girls & today & noticed that Sweet pea's (white leghorn) ear lobe have completely turned white & she hasn't laid (she lays early & everyday). I wouldn't be surprised if she ate most of the other chicken's head since she's the smartest, fastest & on top of the pecking order. She probably thinks she's in trouble because all of a sudden she's avoiding & running away from me. Is this something I need to worry about? I found her & Big Stupid (Buff Brahma. Hubby nicknamed her because she's the biggest, most stupid. It stuck because she responded to it rather than her name) in the hen house looking for bloody feathers. Her ear lobes doesn't look abnormal other than the color. I may have caught her when she's getting ready to lay her jumbo eggs. My husband & I would be devastated to lose her; she's not only our best chicken, she also have the most personality.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Chickens will peck at and eat anything red. Your chicken with possible eyeworm could have had symptoms of a respiratory disease with the swollen eye. Have you treated eye worm before, or seen the 1/8 inch long worm in the eye? Here is a good thread (see post #5) about treatment of eyeworm with Valbazen orally and in the eye: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...able-ivermectin-to-treat-my-chickens-eye-worm

 

[Frostygirl]

I used an diluted Ivermectin in saline solution eye wash & Vetrx orally into the slit in the roof of their mouth(I think that's their version of nasopharyngeal cavity). She started to get better but her eye was white when she opened it. I figure she'll be blind in that eye but ok as long as I fix any possible infection. Her eye was a little swollen so I ordered eyebright eye drops & Euphrasia officialnalis. I didn't separate her as she seemed much better.

 

[Eggcessive]

No matter what you have read online, Vet RX will not cure eye worms, and it should not be put into the eyes anyway with all of the aromatic oils in it. Ivermectin has lost it effect on worms of any kind due to overuse as a treatment for mites. Valbazen is the only thing that I have seen studies for that treats it. Dawg53 is really an expert on worms of any kind, and he is the one in my link above. I will look for studies on valbazen for you to read.

 

[Frostygirl]

Thank you, I gave the Vetrx orally.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have actually read links online that say to use it in the eye--not a safe thing to do. In the Mercks Manual they advise to use 5% cresol solution by a vet under anesthesia after physically removing the worm. Oddly cresol is the active ingredient of Lysol, and there are some links that recommend it for treatment. Here is some of the text:

Eggs of Oxyspirura mansoni, Manson eyeworm, are deposited in the eye, reach the pharynx via the nasolacrimal duct, are swallowed, passed in the feces, and ingested by the Surinam cockroach, Pycnoscelus surinamensis. Larvae reach the infective stage in the cockroach. When infected intermediate hosts are eaten, liberated larvae migrate up the esophagus to the mouth and then through the nasolacrimal duct to the eye, where the cycle is completed. Other insect species may also serve as the intermediate host.
Cestodes require an intermediate host (eg, insects, crustaceans, earthworms, or snails). Floor layers, breeders, and broilers are infected with Raillietina cesticillus by ingestion of the intermediate host, small beetles that breed in contaminated litter. Cage layers in unscreened houses may become infected with Choanotaenia infundibulum by eating its intermediate host, the house fly. Litter beetles in proximity may also serve as intermediate hosts.

Oxyspirura mansoni is a slender nematode, 12–18 mm long, found beneath the nictitating membrane of chickens and other fowl in tropical and subtropical regions. The parasite causes various degrees of inflammation, lacrimation, corneal opacity, and disturbed vision.