Dogs have whip worms. Does that mean my chickens do too?

[DangerChickenHouse]

I have never heard of whip worms until my 13 and 11 year old dogs became infested. I have no idea where they could have gotten them unless it was from eating chicken poop. I have never wormed my chickens. Should I?

 

[Bunnylady]

Most parasites are host-specific, meaning that there are only a few kinds of animals (or maybe just one) that can be infested by them. Whipworms are mainly seen in dogs, though occasionally people can get them. The eggs are passed out of the dog's body in its feces, and can persist in the soil for a long time; there is no need for an animal to eat the feces directly to pick up the eggs. I haven't seen anything to suggest that chickens play any role at all in the canine whipworm life cycle. If your dogs have never had whipworms before, is there any chance that they have been in an area where another dog has been, or perhaps wild canids (foxes, maybe)?

 

[Tigertrea]

Whip worm is species specific. BUT, it is very, very difficult to get rid of. Talk to your vet and get recommendations on how to deal with it in your dog and the environment.

I had a fight with whips a few years ago with my dogs. I only found it in one but, I treated everyone (11 at the time). We sanitized the kennel every month or so but, our dog yard is just too big to do. We wound up treating them monthly with Interceptor/Sentinal for 24 months straight. (we usually only do heatworm preventive for 6 months a year here).

 

[DangerChickenHouse]

I think I am going to have to treat my dogs with Inceptor too. They are too old to have to deal with worms.

Thanks guys! I'm glad my chickens won't get whip worms!

 

[StateChick]

I have 2 questions. We recently adopted a new dog (2 weeks ago). We're getting him caught up on the routine preventative care and the fecal sample came back positive for whipworms. We have let the chickens out a handful of times since we got the dog (usually they have been kept in because the dog would probably unalive them). Question 1, So far the chickens seem to be fine, but I am wondering if I should proactively treat the chickens along with the dog? Also, I had planned on letting the chickens and the dog "share custody" of the yard, but now I am wondering if I should keep them in so that they don't have access to the contaminated soil. That's kind of a bum deal for the chickens not to get yard time at all. They do have a large run, but I like to let them out to forage for bugs. Currently, we have no grass because the chickens destroyed it all! We will be fencing off a majority of the yard soon anyway so we can replant the lawn. We planned to leave a "dirt lot" area in one section of the yard, around our fire pit for the chickens to use. Question #2, should we just keep them in permanently to avoid exposure? Any suggestions?