Gross - white worms!

[iluvmichickens]

Yuck. I noticed some solid white worms in fresh chicken poo today.

They are very small, very white and seemed to have a round head and slightly thinner body. Lots of them. Moving around. Gross. By the time I got my camera to take a picture, they were all dead and kind of shriveled. I suspect this poo came from a hen whose broody and I'm trying to break. I had just got her up off the nest.

Does anyone have any idea what they are? We've had so many knats here bothering the chickens. I wonder if that could be it? I've never dealt with worms, so any ideas on how to deal with this would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Fraunie]

Hi,

What you are describing are tape worm segments. I have battled them on and off, and they are not easy to get rid of. Do a search for various treatments, but what I did was treat with 1/4-1/2cc of Valbazen 3 times, 5 days apart with an egg withdrawal period of 2 weeks after the last dose.

Good Luck

 

[Eggcessive]

I would take in a good sample of several stools to your vet for testing. There are several types of worms that affect chickens. Also if you can post a good picture it may help. If it is tapeworm, those can be very difficult to get rid of. Dawg53 is kind of an expert on tapeworms, and any of his posts can be easily looked up above on the search by entering "tapeworms." I believe he recommends Zimectrin Gold or Valbazen, and he usually recommends withholding feed for tapeworm before treatment. But I would read his posts first.

 

[Akrnaf2]

Read this articles for some professional knowledge about worms in chickens, signs,infection and treatment.
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p...sis_in_poultry.html?qt=Worm in chicken&alt=sh


http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/aa078

 

[iluvmichickens]

Thank you to everyone for your help!

Here's a picture. You can see 3 of the worms. They don't look like a sesame which is what I've seen tape worms described as. They have sort of a hammer head or bulb shaped head. Yuck!

I know they are hard to see in the picture. If I see a better sample, I'll take another picture. I didn't think I'd ever be taking poop pictures!

 

[dawg53]

They are tapeworm segments. Purchase Zimectrin Gold equine paste wormer at your feed store. Withhold their feed for 24 hours prior to dosing, water is okay. Give a "pea" size dose orally to each bird. Repeat dosing in 10 days.

 

[iluvmichickens]

Thanks for the info! I plan to buy the paste and hopefully figure out which chickens have tapeworms. Funny how they always poop until you are waiting and watching for it! Does it make sense to only treat the ones that have tapeworms? My chickens are 8 months and I've never done a general wormer. So... What should I use for that and when should I do it?
I've never had problems like I've had with this batch of chickens. It's been a nightmare since day 1. This Spring they had lice. I think those are gone, but their feathers are all broken and fuzzy looking. And it seems that they are being pulled by other chickens or possibly mice. They have some bare spots working their way up their backs on some. Let's just say they aren't pretty, but they are in their laying prime.
I feed them high protein feed and they have lots of space in the run. Just wish they were pretty.

 

[iluvmichickens]

Well, I just went to check on the chickens and noticed some different worms in the poop!! Ewwwww! These were hair like, almost clear, short and flopping around. I feel sick. What next?!

 

[h2oratt]

Follow this thread.

 

[dawg53]

Well, I just went to check on the chickens and noticed some different worms in the poop!! Ewwwww! These were hair like, almost clear, short and flopping around. I feel sick. What next?!

Follow the instructions in post #6 regarding worming ALL your birds.
The broken feathers, fuzzy look, and bare spots were caused by your chickens scratching themselves trying to get rid of the irritating lice. The feathers will regrow in time or after molt...IF you've completely gotten rid of the lice. Hopefully you dusted inside their coop also.