My 3 hens appear to have tapeworm, they are doing the neck wrenching and yawning type of thing and we've had. I eggs for 6 weeks. They originally looked poorly and I thought it might be a copy type problem but having read up on tapeworm I thing that's the problem. At the moment other than no eggs and the neck wrenching thing they appear in perfect health. Yet after a full 7 day course of flubs vet they still seem to have gape worm. My hens are in a permanent coop and so I change their flooring regularly and in fact just 2 weeks ago and we have stopped giving them food on their coop floor. Any advice ?
Worms
- Thread starter oleoleole
- Start date
chrismahon
Well-known member
Did they have only the medicated feed and nothing else OOO? Otherwise the concentration of Flubenvet will be insufficient. So no free ranging and no treats.
They can also do the gasping if they have respiratory infections. But they would have rattly breathing as well and be rather poorly.
Welcome to the forum by the way. What hens do you have and how old are they?
They can also do the gasping if they have respiratory infections. But they would have rattly breathing as well and be rather poorly.
Welcome to the forum by the way. What hens do you have and how old are they?
No , I cut out most treats and allowed only minimal ranging but I still fed hem on layers pellet with late afternoon corn. Should they be on medicated feed a d if so what ? I have actually been giving them the "smallholder" feed for new ex-bats , is that ok ? I gave the flub ember mixed in their pellets but also fed them treats with some on to make sure they all got a decent dosage ( doh ! Ok I did give them some treats ! )
Many many thanks for your help . Btw I have 3 ex-bats
Many many thanks for your help . Btw I have 3 ex-bats
chrismahon
Well-known member
I don't know how you mixed the Flubenvet OOO, but I find mixing the scoop with a little Olive oil and then mixing that with 2 Kg of pellets as instructed makes sure it sticks to the pellets and doen't fall off and lie in the dust at the bottom of the feeder. We started to use Marriages premixed with Flubenvet but the smallest bag is 10Kg -too much for 3 hens. Treats is fine if they are coated as well, but working out the dosage might be a bit tricky.
Are they still doing it? Did they get the full 7 days dosage?
Are they still doing it? Did they get the full 7 days dosage?
foxy
Active member
If you have had your hens a short while bearing in mind that they are ex-batts, then the chances that they are suffering from worms is very low, and highly unlikely they have gapeworm
No they're not new to usweve had one for two years and two for one year. I've bought an insecticide ( for coops) and will give the coop a thorough clean and spray with insecticide and then another7 days of flubnvet so hopefully that'll make some progress. Thanks
Another 4 weeks have passed and my hens seem mostly healthy but no eggs still. They're trying, we get regular shell-less eggs but not proper ones. One is still doing the occasional gape and neck shaking, ive pretty much run out of ideas.
Ole
Ole
chrismahon
Well-known member
You're giving them layers pellets OOO? Perhaps it's just an age thing, they have had a hard life. We had one that used to gape. Tried everything but she struggles to breathe sometimes. I think it may be a growth in her neck obstructing the windpipe, but a year on and she's still going!
If they are exbatts they would be two when you got them so they are now 3-4 years old, and have actually done well to stay healthy to this age, considering they had a couple of years in intensive conditions. No surprise about the shells on the eggs, this is to be expected for exbatts at that age. Not sure about the gaping problem, if theyvhave been properly treated with Flubenvet a worm problem is unlikely, only way to get this diagnosed properly might be the vet, but it would depend on how fond you are of them as pets whether you thought it worthwhile going that road for elderly hens.
Yes we are fond of them as pets and have accepted that maybe we will get no more eggs but still have them as pets. But
The age thing just doesn't seem to stack up, 2 are 1 year younger than the other 1 and all 3 stopped laying virtually on the same day. Btw, yes they are on layers pellets. They are in a fixed run and so maybe there is something in the soil ? I've sectioned it into 2 now and will thoroughly clean one side and replace the soil then move them into that half and then do the same with the other half. But now they're not impressed at having half a run (half is plenty big enough for 3 , around 40 sq ft) and are taking it out on poor janie who is bottom hen
she now has less room to hide tch 
19 .
Thanks for all your replies
Ole
The age thing just doesn't seem to stack up, 2 are 1 year younger than the other 1 and all 3 stopped laying virtually on the same day. Btw, yes they are on layers pellets. They are in a fixed run and so maybe there is something in the soil ? I've sectioned it into 2 now and will thoroughly clean one side and replace the soil then move them into that half and then do the same with the other half. But now they're not impressed at having half a run (half is plenty big enough for 3 , around 40 sq ft) and are taking it out on poor janie who is bottom hen
she now has less room to hide tch 19 .Thanks for all your replies
Ole
chrismahon
Well-known member
Stress stops them laying OOO. Have you anything recent which is disturbing them at night, like a fox visiting or rats under the coop?
