Please someone answer ASAP - I've already lost 1 chicken to this sickness -

[MaidenShade]

Hi again - Me too, thanks. Very hard decision, but I can't stand to see them unable to breathe and struggling.

So, for the rest of them:

One of the necropsy findings (just got the preliminary report last night) was that she had raillietina (tapeworm) and heterakis (roundworm) , so I know our other chickens have them as well. We have tried Verm-X, repeatedly. It obviously hasn't worked. I occasionally feed them garlic, give them ACV in their water, and healthy treats like yogurt, herbs, etc.

I googled, read threads on here, etc. I want Flubenvet, but we can't get that here. I am overwhelmed by the other options touting the use of medicines not meant for chickens. Wazine (and some other meds) says not to use it in egg laying chickens. I don't want residual chemicals in the eggs - so that's out.

One thread said, "Valbazen is an excellent wormer for chickens, it gets everything a chicken can pick up." Both kinds my chickens have? What about the eggs? How much do you give? How often, and how long? I've read so many threads I don't know what to do, Kathy.

Excuse my abbreviated swearing, but wt- are we supposed to do? On top of the treatment problem, there is the fact that our entire yard (acres and acres) is contaminated and will be for years. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I feel like throwing in the towel.

Thanks for listening...

 

[casportpony]

All effective wormers will have a withdrawal, so you don't have a choice there. Your best bet would be to buy a bottle of Valbazen and give it at 0.08ml per pound once and repeat in ten days. It will get large roundworms, cecal worm worms, capillary worms, but it might not get tapeworms and it won't get gapeworms unless given several days in a row, but don't worry about that, 'cause I don't think you need to treat for gapes.

For tapeworms you need something with praziquantel. Some people use Zimectrin Gold horse wormer, but there's also a pill called Mediworm. Does that help?

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

This is Mediworm:
http://www.pigeonsproducts.com/mediworm-100-pills-by-medpet.html

I need to do the math, but I think one bottle will treat tapes in 100 pigeons or 20-25 average sized chickens.

-Kathy

 

[MaidenShade]

Yes, thanks Kathy. I have cognitive issues (including figuring out the math), and need step by step instructions with these things.

You were in that thread I was talking about - here are some of the things I saved to a Word doc. But they don't exactly say how, when, length of time, amount etc. Plus, I'd have to somehow weigh each chicken I guess and treat them all individually? What I'm saying is I read things, but am overwhelmed and don't know what to do with the information -

• “Diagnosis: if you see moving whitish colored things in the poop (proglottids - sections of eggs), it's tapeworms. However, just because you don't see proglottids does not mean your chickens don't have worms. Non-tapeworm eggs are not visible to the human eye. To confirm infestation, you will need (to have) a fecal float conducted.
• Medication: Medicate with Albendazole (Commercial name: Valabzen) @ ~20-30mg/kg of chicken per dosing period. Do a search of this thread for the dosing timetable. You can also medicate with Prazequntel @ ~10mg/kg. Albendazole will kill almost any worm. Praziquntel is only effective (but very effective) for tape worms. Ivermectin is no longer effective as a dewormer...it has lost its efficacy over the years. Worms are persistent, and can develop resistance to medicines. So you have to kill them off completely when you dose with these medicines. Withdrawal periods vary by opinion...everything from Praziquntel is used in humans and thus consumable immediately, to a very safe withdrawal period of 14 days.
• Homeopathics: Maybe they work, maybe they don't. There's no proof that 'natural remedies' actually work, but there's no harm in tacking it on. Suggestions have been: yogurt/buttermilk/probiotics to help rebuild good digestive bacteria after treatment. Apple Cider Vinegar in the water to discourage worm proliferation in the system, possibly even papaya enzymes.
• Long Term: In the long term the primary suggestions have been to: monitor your chickens closely to see if there are weight changes, behavioral changes. Control the fly and vector population so worm eggs are not as prevalent in your coop/yard. If worms are a problem, and you don't mind medication, you should consider a regular de-worming schedule...2x/yr, coinciding with the Fall and Spring. Rotate your medications so the worms in your area are less likely to build up a resistance to any one medication.”

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“Valbazen is an excellent wormer for chickens, it gets everything a chicken can pick up.”
“Fenbendazole, which has been proven safe all the way up to a full gram per kilogram of body weight, will kill every worm w/in your chickens *except* tapeworms (which can be ruled out by visual inspection of their dropping w/ the naked eye) provided that they are given a minimum of 20 mg/kg of bw for three consecutive days.”
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“If you see tapeworms? Then, Valbazen (albendazole), which has been proven to eliminate 100% of R. tetragona at 25 mg/kg of bw for three consecutive days.”

“From: http://healthybirds.umd.edu/Disease/Deworming Birds.pdf

"Piperazine is the only FDA approved drug for treatment of roundworms in poultry. Currently, there are no approved drugs for treatment of Capillaria, tape or cecal worms in poultry. As a result, the drugs below (other than Piperazine) are used extra-label in drinking water when prescribed and monitored by a licensed veterinarian. FDA prohibits extra-label drug use in feed; therefore all treatments must be administered via drinking water. Follow all manufacturer recommended doses. Consult your veterinarian for prescriptions and withdrawal times."
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“Third round of Albendazole (30mg/kg) soaked into bread cubes. This time I added in 10mg/kg of Praziquntel with a bit of water and also soaked the bread cubes in the mixture.

No proglottids in the poop, and no roundworms to be seen... I'll try to do another fecal float later this week and see if I can find any eggs...though I don't seem to be very good at it :/

Chickens all seem to be vibrant and active. They still seem a bit skinny, I can still feel their keel bone....about how long does it take for them to put weight back on?

The roundworms are history with albendazole, it's the tapes that are persistant, the praziquantel will finish them off. Be patient and give your birds time to put weight back on. Buttermilk mixed in their feed for a few days will help rebuild their immune system.”

 

[MaidenShade]

PS - we only have 10 chickens left now. One is a teeny-tiny bantam mix, one is a small Phoenix, the roo is an American Game Cock who is slight, and the rest of the 5 adults are either 1 year old EE's, and 2 of them are young (3 month old) Olive Egger/EE mix

 

[casportpony]

Piperazine = Wazine and PiqSwig and it only treats large roundworms (Ascaridia galli).

The roundworm they found in your necropsy is a cecal worm (Heterakis gallinae). So you need something like Valbazen for them because piperazine will not treat them. As for weighing each one, don't worry about that, just guess and I'll help you come up with a dose. It might help to ask the lab what your submitted birds weighed... from that we can come up with doses for you.

Tapeworms are harder to treat, so you may end up needing to buy a second wormer for them.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Quote:
Okay, I can work with that. -Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Can you buy a bottle of Valbazen?

-Kathy

 

[MaidenShade]

Can you buy a bottle of Valbazen?

-Kathy

Hi Kathy,
UPDATE: It's been a week and no one else has died - I'm going to take that as a good sign. We got an interim report stating our bird did NOT have ILT, APMV, or bird flu. So far nothing definitive.

Back to worming. The feed store only had a giant bottle for $100, we can't afford that and only have 10 chickens anyway, so we are waiting for them to get in the smallest one they can for us. My husband bought something called "Strike III" - until the Valbazen comes in. I figure an antibiotic might help whatever the other problem is, but I sure don't see how the heck it can worm???

We'll use the Strike III, then the Valbazen, I guess? We also got Zimectrin Gold - ivermectin/praziquantel which we'll use after the valbazen.

Any help on how much for each would be appreciated, the necropsied hen was a 1.63 kg Andelusian. Also, how do you get them to eat the pasty stuff??? We made a mash out of the Strike III, and they are not eating it very well... The valbazen can go in water, correct?

Thanks, your expertise is appreciated.