Need deworming options, what can I use?

[Solanacae]

I have a chicken that I think has worms. Last night I brought her inside after finding her sleeping on the floor of the coop rather than roosting. She was so light when I picked her up and after examining her, she’s very skinny. She has been acting off for a while, but she had a very hard, late molt this winter, and I had chalked the behavior up to that. Her appetite is good and she drinks a lot of water - she has seemed unusually thirsty lately. Her color is normal for this time of year - she’s not laying yet, sorry for the poor lighting in the pictures. I brought her inside to monitor her and to see how her poop looks. Her poops are on the runny side, though still hold some shape and are very smelly. Her butt is damp and dirty. Her crop seems a little firm but she did eat this morning so I’ll check tomorrow morning before giving her food to see if her crop is clear and treat for impacted crop if needed.

If it’s not impacted crop, then what are my options for treating for worms? Or is there something else these symptoms are pointing to that I’m missing? The hen in question will be 2 years old in a couple months, is not laying, and is gets 18 or 20% protein feed (depending on what’s available, just finished an 18% bag this last week and added some 20% pellets) from a local mill. I do ferment some feed, it is served as a mash in the morning and doesn’t constitute their entire diet.

I have 16 chickens, two of which are 19.5 week juveniles that are growing adult tail feathers at the moment. I read some articles late last night about dewormers but the names are all a jumble in my head right now. I do remember reading that one type (Safeguard?) is not recommended when you have chickens growing feathers. I currently have three ladies laying, though I have 5 more that I expect will start any day now. I’d like to use something that doesn’t have an egg withdrawal period for that reason, though I understand I probably can’t have everything I want. More important is that I get whatever is wrong cleared up so she can gain some weight back.

 

[coach723]

I circled two spots above. In the red circle, the rice looking things, have you seen those in droppings before, any of them moving?
The green circle, what is that? Mushy, firm, etc?
Is it possible to get a fecal test done? If the segments in the red are tapeworm segments then the wormer needs will be different. The stuff in the green circle could be a cecal core, which would perhaps be a different type of cause.
If you can't get a fecal done then I would probably go with praziquantel, to make sure if it's tape you get those, the other wormers are not as effective for those. If it's tapes then you only need to treat the bird or birds that are symptomatic. For roundworm and some other types you would treat the whole flock.
You can get praziquantel in horse wormers, Equimax or Zimectrin Gold. Dosing is here in post #6:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tapeworms-that-wont-go-away.1130035/

 

[Solanacae]

View attachment 3402844
I circled two spots above. In the red circle, the rice looking things, have you seen those in droppings before, any of them moving?
The green circle, what is that? Mushy, firm, etc?
Is it possible to get a fecal test done? If the segments in the red are tapeworm segments then the wormer needs will be different. The stuff in the green circle could be a cecal core, which would perhaps be a different type of cause.
If you can't get a fecal done then I would probably go with praziquantel, to make sure if it's tape you get those, the other wormers are not as effective for those. If it's tapes then you only need to treat the bird or birds that are symptomatic. For roundworm and some other types you would treat the whole flock.
You can get praziquantel in horse wormers, Equimax or Zimectrin Gold. Dosing is here in post #6:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tapeworms-that-wont-go-away.1130035/

Thank you for responding! I was gone for much of today and now there’s a lot more poops on the towel. Would there be a chance they’ll still be moving after 12 hours? Or would they be dried out?

I’ll call around to see if I can find someone that will do a fecal float. Do you know the egg withdrawal time for praziquantel? I know it’s off label use, just trying to figure out what a safe margin would be if I end up needing to use it.

 

[Solanacae]

View attachment 3402844
I circled two spots above. In the red circle, the rice looking things, have you seen those in droppings before, any of them moving?
The green circle, what is that? Mushy, firm, etc?
Is it possible to get a fecal test done? If the segments in the red are tapeworm segments then the wormer needs will be different. The stuff in the green circle could be a cecal core, which would perhaps be a different type of cause.
If you can't get a fecal done then I would probably go with praziquantel, to make sure if it's tape you get those, the other wormers are not as effective for those. If it's tapes then you only need to treat the bird or birds that are symptomatic. For roundworm and some other types you would treat the whole flock.
You can get praziquantel in horse wormers, Equimax or Zimectrin Gold. Dosing is here in post #6:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tapeworms-that-wont-go-away.1130035/

Also, what is a cecal core?

 

[coach723]

Most wormers come with a 10 to 14 day withdrawl recommendation after treatment. Most haven't really been studied in chickens. Many people ignore the withdrawl, but do what you are comfortable with. A cecal core is infectious material shed from the cecal pouches, sometimes seen with parasites, usually some coccidia strains, but other irritation from other parasites could cause it. Can't really tell if that's what I see in the picture, or if it's just a mucousy bit of dropping.

 

[Solanacae]

Updated pictures from this morning. Her crop was clear, had a good appetite and drank a lot. I poked the shiny stuff in the poop, it’s got the texture of firm boogers, slippery but holds its shape. It was in several places. I poked apart the firmer poops and didn’t see anything moving.

I haven’t considered cocci as a potential problem considering that we’ve been having freezing temperatures every night for months. Doesn’t cocci need warm moist places to live?

 

[coach723]

It's probably not coccidia, that's just one cause of cecal core shed. Looks like it's probably all just mucousy stuff. I see some undigested feed in there also, that may be what the spots circled yesterday were also. Sometimes a picture doesn't have enough info to make a for sure guess. If you can't get a fecal done, then at this point I would use Valbazen (first choice) to worm, it's labeled for cattle and you will probably have to order it online. It's a smaller dose than Safeguard and covers most of the parasites with two doses 10 days apart. If you can't get that then I would use Safeguard liquid goat wormer and dose her 5 days in a row. Valbazen dose for a standard sized bird is .5 ml (actual math is weight in lbs / 2.2 X 20 / 113.6), given orally, repeat dose in 10 days. For Safeguard the dose is .23 ml per pound of bird weight given orally, dose 5 days in a row. That will take care of most things. You can also use Safeguard Horse paste, same dosing if you can't find the goat wormer. Make sure you shake up the liquids well before drawing a dose, they settle out.
If that clears things up, then you might consider worming all the others that are in the same coop/run with her, since you won't know what parasite it was and if they were all exposed.

 

[LabMomma]

I know that this is a very controversial subject, but I use DE for deworming my chickens. I know some people like it and others are strongly against it. Personally, I really like it and there is no egg withdrawal with it. You can use it if you want, or not use it. It’s just a matter of opinion

 

[coach723]

DE doesn't work when it's wet, which it is in the digestive tract. I learned the hard way, many years ago. I have probably tried just about every 'natural' method that is out there. I had sick birds, and lost some. The chemical wormers are very safe, very effective, and IMHO it's not worth taking the risk, or wasting time and money on something that isn't effective. The best way to know for sure is to have a fecal done. But many don't have access to a vet that will do one for them.

 

[Solanacae]

It's probably not coccidia, that's just one cause of cecal core shed. Looks like it's probably all just mucousy stuff. I see some undigested feed in there also, that may be what the spots circled yesterday were also. Sometimes a picture doesn't have enough info to make a for sure guess. If you can't get a fecal done, then at this point I would use Valbazen (first choice) to worm, it's labeled for cattle and you will probably have to order it online. It's a smaller dose than Safeguard and covers most of the parasites with two doses 10 days apart. If you can't get that then I would use Safeguard liquid goat wormer and dose her 5 days in a row. Valbazen dose for a standard sized bird is .5 ml (actual math is weight in lbs / 2.2 X 20 / 113.6), given orally, repeat dose in 10 days. For Safeguard the dose is .23 ml per pound of bird weight given orally, dose 5 days in a row. That will take care of most things. You can also use Safeguard Horse paste, same dosing if you can't find the goat wormer. Make sure you shake up the liquids well before drawing a dose, they settle out.
If that clears things up, then you might consider worming all the others that are in the same coop/run with her, since you won't know what parasite it was and if they were all exposed.

I’m hesitant to keep her inside for an extended period of time, she has a friend that sticks around with her and I d like to avoid complicated reintroductions back to the rest of the flock. She wasn’t particularly high on the pecking order to begin with. She has definitely enjoyed being warmer, but I also don’t want her becoming acclimated to the warm and then getting shocked by the cold. We still have several weeks of cold weather before it will start to warm up. What benefit is there to keeping her inside while I treat her?

I called half a dozen vets, only two do fecal tests but require an in person exam prior to doing a fecal, and none of them see chickens. I’m not surprised, but had to try. I’ll call and see if I can find Valbazen or Safeguard in stock at either of the farm stores within reasonable driving distance. Thanks again for your help!

@LabMomma , thanks for the suggestion on DE. I use natural treatments as much as possible, but this gal is so skinny I’m not comfortable with trying something of that may or may not work. Like @coach723 said, DE works really well when it’s dry, but everything I’ve ever read says if it gets wet, you have to reapply. Sometimes a chemical solution is necessary, and I’ve learned that the hard way.