# Choking/Convulsing Hen Died in my Arms



## Rechellef (Oct 5, 2010)

I just held a hen in my arms while she died. I have no idea what happened, but I went to the shed to check on the birds, and she was gasping, and convulsing all while roosting. In fact, she was scaring the turkey hen next to her. I took her down to see what was wrong with her and within less than 10 minutes, she died. Because she was gasping, and I checked to see if there was anything stuck in her throat, but couldn't find anything and then one giant seziure and she threw her head back and she died right in my arms. I have no idea what killed my poor Rosie. So in a week, I have now lost 4 chickens. One of them being my favorite black silkie hen, Beauty. She would sit on my lap while I milked the goats on cold mornings to warm up or at least come and say hello and she laied the cutest little cream colored eggs. Two others were eaten by something who will be trapped TONIGHT.

She was eating and drinking fine. She had not laid in about a month, but she just finished her moult, so I know why. She was not egg bound and had no swelling in her croup or belly. According to who I bought her from last year, she was only 1-1/2 years old, but people do lie.

I just can't figure out what killed her.


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## sawman65 (Sep 8, 2011)

have you wormed her latley? sounds like gape worm
A gapeworm (Syngamus trachea) is a parasitic nematode worm infecting the tracheas of certain birds. The resulting disease, known as gape or the gapes, occurs when the worms clog and obstruct the airway. The worms are also known as red worms or forked worms due to their red color and the permanent procreative conjunction of males and females. Gapeworm is common in young, domesticated chickens and turkeys.

When the female gapeworm lays her eggs in the trachea of an infected bird, the eggs are coughed up, swallowed, then defecated. When birds consume the eggs found in the feces or an intermediate host such as earthworms, snails (Planorbarius corneus, Bithynia tentaculata, &#8230, or slugs, they become infected with the parasite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gapeworm


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## Rechellef (Oct 5, 2010)

sawman65 said:


> have you wormed her latley? sounds like gape worm
> A gapeworm (Syngamus trachea) is a parasitic nematode worm infecting the tracheas of certain birds. The resulting disease, known as gape or the gapes, occurs when the worms clog and obstruct the airway. The worms are also known as red worms or forked worms due to their red color and the permanent procreative conjunction of males and females. Gapeworm is common in young, domesticated chickens and turkeys.
> 
> When the female gapeworm lays her eggs in the trachea of an infected bird, the eggs are coughed up, swallowed, then defecated. When birds consume the eggs found in the feces or an intermediate host such as earthworms, snails (Planorbarius corneus, Bithynia tentaculata, â¦), or slugs, they become infected with the parasite.
> ...


After reading it, it the symptoms are EXACTLY what were described. How do I treat the rest of my flock? I know worming chickens has it's pros and cons since over doing it can just as easily kill them as a parasite can.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Can you still cut the trachea open and see?


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## Rechellef (Oct 5, 2010)

Cyngbaeld said:


> Can you still cut the trachea open and see?


I wish I had kept her body, but it went into the woods across the street from our farm. No other chickens have exhibited any signs or gape worm and I am wondering if it was possibly pneumonia. I saw videos of both and the way she suffered is identical to both. Does gape worm kill so suddenly? There was never any indication of respiratory problems before except that she used to cough and shake her head, but that has been a chronic symptom for the entire year I have owned her. Chickens are difficult because you don't handle them on a regular basis and they seem to hide illnesses until they are death's door. 

Should I worm my flock just in case? I have heard that worming is both good and bad for chickens.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I would not worm without good reason. Possibly she had some object stuck that she had picked up at some time.


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## sawman65 (Sep 8, 2011)

Cyngbaeld said:


> I would not worm without good reason. Possibly she had some object stuck that she had picked up at some time.


so i take it you are of the mind that worming is something you do after you have worms? what is your take on it?


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## wildfire (Oct 17, 2011)

Several years ago we had three hens. Got them from differant people off freecycle. I had several rescue dogs and cats a a few pet bunnies. A rescued pot belly pig. Anyway I was at the feed store looking for wormer. We found pig swig. You add it to water. You withhold water for a day then offer up the medicated water. They all hot their share and it worked for them all. In some we got to see the nasty results. Directions on the back included all those animals.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

sawman65 said:


> so i take it you are of the mind that worming is something you do after you have worms? what is your take on it?


Why would you give wormer to an animal that did not have worms? I don't use it. I do put some copper sulfate in the water for the turkeys.


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## Rechellef (Oct 5, 2010)

sawman65 said:


> so i take it you are of the mind that worming is something you do after you have worms? what is your take on it?


I was mostly asking is because chickens can die from the wormer too and so sometimes it is better to not worm them. So, it's not whether or not to worm them after they have parasites, but whether or not to worm them at all. I have read conflicting reports on the topic and have known chickens that have died because of the worming meds. Then again, there are many who worm their chickens on a regular basis. I grew up raising chickens and my parnets never wormed them at all and they all lived for quite a while. Of course, that was the 70's and 80's and not too much was known on worming poltury.


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## sawman65 (Sep 8, 2011)

Cyngbaeld said:


> Why would you give wormer to an animal that did not have worms? I don't use it. I do put some copper sulfate in the water for the turkeys.


i worm as a preventive i have a rotation between different types of wormer but i dont wait to get worms first. i do the same with the goats, dogs and pigs. Too each his own I guess


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

That is how you end up with parasites that are resistant to all the chemical wormers.


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## sunshinytraci (Oct 20, 2007)

sawman65 said:


> i worm as a preventive i have a rotation between different types of wormer but i dont wait to get worms first. i do the same with the goats, dogs and pigs. Too each his own I guess


Wormers do not work as a preventative. They kill the specified worms. If the animal doesn't have the worms, the wormer has no effect.

If you see symptoms of worms, and deaths are being caused by them, by all means, worm according to the directions. Chickens might die; there's always a risk, even when you worm other animals. Massive parasite die offs in a weakened animal, combined with the poison of the wormer, is often too much to handle. 

There might be alternatives to keeping the animals from the cycle of getting re-infected. Disinfect the daylights out of the place and keep it that way. (hard to do with free rangers) If birds are obviously infected and you don't want to worm them, cull them all, disinfect like crazy and raise another flock in the spring from chicks from a well reputed hatchery. Never bring adult birds from somewhere else onto your premises.

I've kept my place pretty clean, and never brought an adult bird here and my flocks have had close to 0 problems. Knock on wood.....


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## sawman65 (Sep 8, 2011)

sunshinytraci said:


> Wormers do not work as a preventative. They kill the specified worms. If the animal doesn't have the worms, the wormer has no effect.
> 
> If you see symptoms of worms, and deaths are being caused by them, by all means, worm according to the directions. Chickens might die; there's always a risk, even when you worm other animals. Massive parasite die offs in a weakened animal, combined with the poison of the wormer, is often too much to handle.
> 
> ...


 some of my bloodlines i just cant wait till they show symptoms of worms most times it is too late at that point. to lose just one brood cock or hen could be disastrous to my breeding program. some have been handed down to me from my grandfather so replacement is not an option.
now i guess i used the wrong wording no one can prevent chickens from getting worms this is true, but you can minimize the effects and the damage by keeping them on a rotation of good wormers. as i said i use several kinds of wormers to keep them from becoming immune. i have never lost a bird to worms or wormer.
i have no problem with bringing older birds to the farm as long as rules are followed with the quarantining and worming i also treat for cocci and bugs at that point. so far so good and i was born into the chicken business


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