Doing a fecal egg count at home

[HathawayHens]

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm015

perhaps of interest to you? I love the UF web site...

 

[junglebird]

ah, great link, thanks!

Here's another page with a bunch of linky goodness: http://netvet.wustl.edu/birds.htm#poultry

Not that I have much to compare with - this is my first flock of chickens (7 birds), but my chickens seem a bit unthrifty, have sneezed off and on since last fall, and one rooster sounds a little raspy at times. They were tested for some of the nasty stuff like like cholera, and were negative. I don't think they were tested for MG, but they don't have the other symptoms. No eye gunk, no snot, egg laying is consistent. I thought checking for worms would be prudent ... who knows, maybe they have gape worm. They eat worms and range on ground that's regularly visited by wild birds, and recently was open to wild turkeys.

While I was doing the laundry earlier, I marveled at how awesome a centrifuge the spin cycle would make!

 

[HathawayHens]

Lol!

 

[junglebird]

After saying my chickens are "unthrifty", I was reading "Basic butchering of Livestock and Game", and ran across the weights given for poultry ...

Type .......... Age ................ Weight
Broiler ....... 8-14 wks ......... 1-2.5 lbs
Fryer ......... 14-20 wks ....... 2.5-3.5 lbs
Roaster ...... 5-9 mos .......... over 3.5 lbs
Fowl .......... over 9 mos....... over 3 lbs
Rooster ..... over 10 mos ..... 3-6 lbs

I assume those would be carcass weights ... and at that standard, my birds aren't unthrifty at all! Even my littlest hen is beefier than that!

 

[scbatz33]

You don't spin a fecal sample. You take the sample, put it in a test tube, add the solution and let it sit for a few minutes. The eggs will float to the top and stick to the glass slide then you put the top piece on and look at it. Centerfuges are for spinning/seperating blood.

And as for how many is the magic number, If you have one egg, you have worms. I'd medicate at one. But that is me.

 

[Upcycled]

Just a quick tip; A salad spinner makes a great centrifuge in a pinch.

chicken poo + salad spinner =

 

[chuckzoo]

Quote:
If you have a piece of styrofoam you can cut a circle to fit the spinner and then two holes to fit your containers - opposite each other. It will be much smoother if you balance it. Put the same amount of fluid in each container to do so.

Yea, and I so would not use that spinner for my salad again

 

[chuckzoo]

Quote:
chicken poo + salad spinner =

I should have added a disclaimer;

"Don't use this spinner for anything else but samples again!"

 

[madimorg]

This is nice to know. Thanks for posting... I may have to look into this. For now I have been on occasion taking a sample to my vet’s office at random and having them check for me. They only charge $15 for this so not too bad but if I could do it myself I think it would be more practical.

 

[HathawayHens]

usually you have to spin the samples with the coverslip on top, touching the sample, to get the eggs to float up and adhere...