I am sure it has been talked about a lot, Worming Questions

[casportpony]

My six, who were not hand raised and have had pills, tubes and syringes more times than I can count, still beg for treats at the back door, let me pick them up and they'll even come perch on the sofa with me. P-dawg, the one that was hand raised and tube fed still tries to swallow the tube if I have it around him, he'll actually eat the Fish-Zole pill out of my hand.

My other six peas and five turkeys aren't as tame, but they sure aren't bothered by it.

My point is that handling and giving meds has not made my peas afraid of me. Do they like it, no but they are way less bothered by it than horses are after I worm them. Heck, I have some horses that won't let me catch them if they see a tube of wormer.

 

[Bigcreekpeafowl]

What I was curious about the discrepancies in the reasonings not to catch for oral administration but to catch for applications.

I never SHOVE anything down their throats. Sure way to have trouble. I think that is exaggerated.

We do not have much of a issue in giving oral meds. We always worm.at night when oral dosing. Much easier. The only birds who are problems are the pure greens. And that is because they are bigger, stronger, and will want to resist anything we want to do.
The greens can give us a fight but they are better after working with them over time. Overall after repeated handling they are generally easier to work with.

Administration methods regarding worming is one area that varies and of course whether you are doing a preventive routine worming or it is a case.in which you are battling a existing infestation IMO is a marked difference and should be handed differently in administration.

I am one who is wary of always using adding wormers to the water versus giving a individual dose. Since there are many variables that can affect all birds getting adequate protection consistently.

Each individual owner and their situation differs greatly so it is not always easy to blanket applications and have adequate protection.

Routine fecal analysis is a great way to know if your worming program is working and gives owners the opportunity to prevent problems.
Even some fungal and mold spores can be identified beside parasites being discovered.
It has helped us a lot.

Doubt if you had blackhead. Fish zole is not a instant miracle drug and I doubt if one pill would be a instant cure. JMO.

 

[casportpony]

Bigcreekpeafowl, when I have one that looks fluffed, has droopy wings or look/acts off in any way, I'll follow them around and check their poop. Then I'll bring them inside and weigh them. Since I'm so anal about weighing, I'll know if they have lost weight, or in the case of young ones, not gained. In my cases, when it's been blackhead, their stools looked a certain way (bloody, too runny, foamy, yellow urates, etc.), so I start treatment which is 30mg/kg metronidazole by mouth once a day for five days and I worm with Safeguard (Fenbendazole 100mg/ml) at 50mg/kg by mouth once and repeat in ten days. If I don't see improvement after five days, we go to the vet. During these five days, if they aren't drinking/eating, they get tube fed baby bird food or 27% turkey starter mixed with Pedialyte.

FWIW, since the summer of 2011 I've had four necropsies done by UC Davis that listed blackhead as the primary cause of death, but they also had secondary fungal and bacterial infections.

 

[Joe.G]

Why are yours getting blackhead?

 

[casportpony]

Why are yours getting blackhead?

 

Do a google search for "histomoniasis turkey" , "histomoniasis peafowl", "histomoniasis poultry" or "histomoniasis chicken".

 

[Yoda]

Blackhead disease (also known simply as blackhead) is a commercially important avian disease that affects chickens, turkeys and other poultry birds. The disease carries a high mortality rate and primarily affects the liver and cecum. It is a form of histomoniasis which is transmitted by the protozoan parasite Histomonas meleagridis. The protozoan is in turn transmitted by the nematode parasite Heterakis gallinarum.[1][2] H. meleagridis resides within the eggs of H. gallinarum, so birds ingest the parasites along with contaminated soil or food.[3] Earthworms can also act as a paratenic host. A characteristic symptom of the infection is the development of cyanotic (bluish) discoloration on the head, giving rise to the common name of the disease, "blackhead".[4]
Poultry (especially free-ranging) and wild birds commonly harbor a number of parasitic worms with only mild health problems from them. Turkeys are much more susceptible to getting blackhead than are chickens. Thus chickens can be infected carriers for a long time because they aren't removed or medicated by their owner, and they don't die or stop eating/defecating. H. gallinarum eggs can remain infective in soil for four years, thus there is a high risk of transmitting blackhead to turkeys if they graze areas with chicken feces[5] in this time frame.
The most common symptom of blackhead disease is yellow watery bird droppings. To reduce the spreading of the disease, sick birds must be removed and their litter changed.

 

[casportpony]

Thanks Yoda... What's interesting is that I had none of theses issues until we moved here. Same flock, no new birds, same worming program. Maybe the soil has something to do with it?

 

[Haunted55]

Thanks Yoda... What's interesting is that I had none of theses issues until we moved here. Same flock, no new birds, same worming program. Maybe the soil has something to do with it?

wood ash if you can get it, if not lime the ground well. It works for me here.

 

[Yoda]

Thanks Yoda... What's interesting is that I had none of theses issues until we moved here. Same flock, no new birds, same worming program. Maybe the soil has something to do with it?

Watch out for birds like robins and sparrows they eat worms too. I have sparrows eating whatever is left by the birds in the morning. There is wild bird poop in the feeders. That will spread blackhead as well.

 

[Joe.G]

I know what blackhead is, I was just wondering why so many of there birds got infected, I was wondering if they had chickens with there birds or if it just is in there soil.