Author Topic: Rattly hen (Read 1615 times)

Oopsiboughtasheep · « **on:** April 06, 2015, 03:12:31 pm »

One of my hens. Lilly, has developed a 'rattle'. Sort of sneezy/coughy/snotty sound. She also does that sort of gape thing but not very pronounced, so I am wondering if this might be gape worm?
She is otherwise bright in herself, eyes are OK and no disharge from her beak or nostrils. All other 11 hens are OK. They were all wormed together 3 weeks ago with Marraiges feed that has Flubenvet in it.
I have a pot of Flubenvet powder in the cupboard and wondered if I could give a 'pinch' of this in some water to her in a syringe? Maybe once a day for 7 days or so? I searched this forum for advice and this was mentioned by someone as an option in a previous post. Has anyone else tried this with success.

Thankyou for your help

lord flynn · « **Reply #1 on:** April 06, 2015, 08:50:17 pm »

your new hen, in the other thread-why was she given baytril and did she have the full course?

It could be gapeworm -I lost a few to it last year despite having wormed a month previous. If the hen is lower in the pecking order or if they were free ranging while having the flubenvet pellets she may not have had enough. Gapeworm is horrible so if you think it a possibility I would worm them all again-restrict them and maybe put the flubenvet pellets in a couple of different feeders so everyone gets their fair share. By the time you see them gaping (and it is actually gapeworm) its 50/50 whether they survive even after treatment (I lost 3 after treatment, 2 survived) so even if the others aren't showing signs yet, they have probably picked it up. If you have a lot of crows/starlings around, well they carry it.

It could be that the new hen bought something in with her-not necessarily what she was being treated for either and it might not be serious. However, its why many of us don't buy in stock or if we do, we quarantine for several weeks.

nutterly_uts · « **Reply #2 on:** April 06, 2015, 09:01:46 pm »

Grapes are a good way to dose individual hens

Oopsiboughtasheep · « **Reply #3 on:** April 06, 2015, 10:17:46 pm »

Thank you Lord Flynn and Nutterly_uts,

Yes, the hens were free ranging while on the Marraiges/Flubenvet mix and we do also have lots of crows round here. I will worm them all again and use several different feeders as suggested to make sure they all get enough of it. I think I will also give Lilly some additional Flubenvet powder (I wonder if I should do this for 7 days?) in a grape as advised so that she gets some extra for her gape worm. She is such a lovely hen so I hope this works for her. I'm very grateful for your help.

HesterF · « **Reply #4 on:** April 07, 2015, 12:51:38 am »

Personally I would try and get some Panacur from the vets. Downside is they'll probably want to see her which clearly costs and it's not licensed for poultry but our vets certainly prescribe it after having explained they're not allowed to! Upside (the biggy) is that you dose it direct. Which does mean catching her daily but guarantees she's getting the correct dose. Flubenvet only works if they are fed exclusively on the pellets for the full week - no foraging. So unless you shut them up in a house for a week, you can't be sure how much they're getting.

Oopsiboughtasheep · « **Reply #5 on:** April 07, 2015, 10:10:26 am »

Thankyou HesterF,
I have actually already called the vet this morning before seeing your post as I realised the Flubenvet in the cupboard is out of date! They know me very well there and gave me more without the need for an appointment which is great. I am now feeding all the hens marraiges with the Flubenvet in it again and have isolated Lilly and will give her a grape with Flubenvet powder in as well, then a few more as a treat. Will do all this for a week. Fingers crossed.
Will bear the Panacur in mind for the future though.