Yup, that's what I figured...those are tapeworm segments. Each one of those segments carries a couple hundred tapeworm oocysts (eggs.)
The segments work there way into the soil where the eggs are eaten by earthworms, beetles, ants, flies and other insects. Then a chicken eats the infected insect. Then the chicken eventually becomes infected. Tapeworms are flat and segmented, vary in length and can stretch, some are stringy as well. I've dealt with them and they are tough to get rid of.
Purchase Zimectrin Gold equine paste wormer. Before you administer the wormer, I recommend that you withhold your chickens feed for 24 hours...dont withhold their water. Withholding feed from your chickens will weaken the tapeworms. After 24 hours dose each of your chickens one by one orally with a "pea" size amount of the zimectrin gold. You can put the pea size amount on a small piece of bread and give the piece of bread to each chicken individually if you wish. You have to be careful because they will try to steal the bread from each other, then you wont know which ones got properly dosed and you'll risk overdosing. It's best to seperate them somehow and give a treated piece of bread individually. Once they are dosed orally, the chickens will most likely wipe their beak on the ground, this is normal. Then wait a couple of hours after dosing them before you give them their feed. Only give them a little feed at a time in their feeders, they will try gorging themselves and might become crop impacted from not being fed the last 24 hours if you dont do it in this manner.
Then wait 10 days and repeat this procedure.
There's a 14 day withdrawal period after the last dosing. Toss the eggs in the garbage or give them to your dogs during treatment and after treatment if you wish.
You may or may not see the tapeworms excreted after dosing them. Good luck.
