Dealing with damage from gapeworm.

[akitafriendakita]

I have a chicken who had/has gapeworm. He has been dewormed twice (so far) and seems to be on a path of recovery (having less breathing trouble now,) the issue is that his trachea seems to be damaged or harmed by the infection and still needs time to heal because he's still breathing with his beak open while full even though maybe the worms are fully gone now. He's currently on a soft food diet because he can't seem to handle digesting anything beyond that without getting blocked up.

I was wondering if there were any tips to get him on a faster path to recovery. I was thinking about feeding him a little coconut oil everyday to see if that soothes the injury and maybe deal with blockages. His crop also moves very very slow compared to my other chickens (right now,) would that be because maybe worm die off is blocking things? He's not completely blocked up (still pooping) but he's very light weight and struggling to digest without frequent massage. His energy is okay (eating and drinking, walking around but a little wobbly) but no where near where he was when he was healthy.

I'm looking for any tips to help him recover from his internal injuries, thank you!

 

[dawg53]

The blockages would be in the trachea if it were gapeworm. How did you diagnose that your rooster had gapeworm? Did you take a fecal sample to the vet to verify gapeworm eggs under a microscope?
Capillary worms in the crop can mimic symptoms of gapeworm, however wormers will eliminate capillary worms.

Birds infected with gapeworm dont eat nor drink, they are too busy trying to breathe to stay alive by constantly stretching their neck.
Additionally, gapeworm eggs deposited in feces would be picked up off the soil by other birds, infecting them with gapeworms.
Take a look at the gapeworms lifecycle if you get the chance.

I suspect your rooster has a crop issue or maybe an impacted gizzard. I recommend giving him tomato juice orally for about 5 days, twice a day. The tomato juice should get things moving.

 

[akitafriendakita]

The blockages would be in the trachea if it were gapeworm. How did you diagnose that your rooster had gapeworm? Did you take a fecal sample to the vet to verify gapeworm eggs under a microscope?
Capillary worms in the crop can mimic symptoms of gapeworm, however wormers will eliminate capillary worms.

Birds infected with gapeworm dont eat nor drink, they are too busy trying to breathe to stay alive by constantly stretching their neck.
Additionally, gapeworm eggs deposited in feces would be picked up off the soil by other birds, infecting them with gapeworms.
Take a look at the gapeworms lifecycle if you get the chance.

I suspect your rooster has a crop issue or maybe an impacted gizzard. I recommend giving him tomato juice orally for about 5 days, twice a day. The tomato juice should get things moving.

Breathing through the beak (gape breathing,) crop slowed down, jerking neck (he's been doing it less now though,) it's likely he got it from eating slugs because they were everywhere recently due to heavy rain frequently. He's currently isolated. He was doing okay after getting dewormed initially but I believe the mass die off may have caused more problems again (blockage,) so I'm trying to push him through it.

His gape breathing is getting better, I am forcing soft food through him to prevent him from starving. He has been dewormed with ivermectin, but it is likely damage has been done and he's still recovering. His breathing is getting better.

I spoke to a vet.

 

[dawg53]

The only way to tell for sure if it were gapeworms is a fecal sample submitted for a look under a microscope. Good luck with your rooster.

 

[akitafriendakita]

The only way to tell for sure if it were gapeworms is a fecal sample submitted for a look under a microscope. Good luck with your rooster.

Thank you, although this does nothing to answer my question on speeding up the recovery process. It might be easier if you just said you're not sure instead of telling me information I'm already aware of.

I'll just keep doing what I'm doing since he seems to be bouncing back slowly!

 

[dawg53]

I recommended giving your rooster tomato juice in post #2. Use a syringe without a needle to administer it orally 1/2ml so he wont aspirate, for a total of 10ml each time twice a day for 5 days.

 

[Eggcessive]

Does your vet do fecal floats? That is the only way to diagnose gapeworms without finding them in the trachea after death during a necropsy. Your vet should do one to confirm it, because there are other conditions that may mimic gapeworm.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

It might be easier if you just said you're not sure instead of telling me information I'm already aware of.

I too question your diagnosis.. not rudely but sincerely.

Every failing bird will be gaping. Even chicks with no outdoor exposure and no possible chance of getting gape worms.

With the crop issues.. it could even be something like Marek's. Slow wasting is quite common for birds that made it past the initial stages without any mobility issues.

Are you using any supplement like Poultry Cell or other things that might otherwise help boost immunity?

Sorry you're not finding better answers!

 

[akitafriendakita]

I too question your diagnosis.. not rudely but sincerely.

Every failing bird will be gaping. Even chicks with no outdoor exposure and no possible chance of getting gape worms.

With the crop issues.. it could even be something like Marek's. Slow wasting is quite common for birds that made it past the initial stages without any mobility issues.

Are you using any supplement like Poultry Cell or other things that might otherwise help boost immunity?

Sorry you're not finding better answers!

His crop issue is definitely just weakness. He's too weak to jerk/push his own crop, I can feel the muscle getting weaker/stronger when he bounces back at times.

I tried talking to a bird vet in the area, but it was no-go because she was on vacation. I decided he had a secondary respiratory or trachea infection and debated a bit on how to get antibiotics, I went with feeding him terramycin because it's the only thing in my area that doesn't need a prescription and it's hard to overdose it/safe for him to eat. He seems to be bouncing back now and he's starting to tighten his crop on his own without me forcing the food through. I'm also feeding him monistat because he's too weak to fully empty his crop right now on his own - to prevent sour crop.

Just leaving this tip here for anyone who has a sick weak chicken on the verge of death (due to infection,) push his crop yourself because they may not be able to move it. Hold up food right to their face because birds with respiratory or trachea infections seem to have trouble bending down at times without sneezing/regurgitating. He's starting to regain his strength now and can bend down again, he isn't regurgitating so easily when I massage his crop. Definitely passing bigger poops than yesterday which seems important to getting his energy back up. I'm hoping he can start taking care of himself again tomorrow or soon, but he needed to be checked every hour or so to force food through him via hand feeding and crop massages (besides at night.)

This is him starting to eat on his own again with encouragement, which he couldn't do this morning when he woke up. I really pushed the antibiotics through him hard (intense massages) hoping that some would get digested today. I also pushed a lot of oil through him last night to dislodge anything slowing him down which seemed to get his poops more normal sized. Next time, I may attempt tube feeding when a chicken gets this weak but for now the massages are fine.

The gasping is lessening now, although still present when his crop is very full which makes me think that it's his trachea that's bothering him.

Note: I am not a vet, but I am a professional falconer who has studied bird diseases many times. I have only been able to attempt to speak to a couple vets on the matter but none can look at him right now, so I'm making due.