Egg withdrawal on valbazen

[Ninjasquirrel]

I suspect one of my birds might have worms. Shes been listless for a weak. Little to no interest in food or water. She laid an egg and it had blood in it, sorry no photo. She pooped yesterday and it was yellowish white and had little bits of poo in it...not enough for me to get a sample to test. Her crop is empty and her comb is slumped over. Not sure if its egg periontitus or worms but I would like to eliminate one possibility. Since I cant get a good sample from her I was going to pick up some Valbazen and treat. I have some questions though:

1. Should I treat all my birds to be safe? Can I put it in the water and what is the dosage?
2. I will treat her with a syringe orally to be sure she is getting the medicine. What is the dosage?
3. Is there any egg withdrawal on Valbazen?
4. How can I prevent this in the future? Should I disinfect my coop?

 

[Eggcessive]

You cannot disinfect for worms. They are in the soil and some worms have intermediate hosts, such as snail, slugs, beetles, earthworms, and flies. When those are eaten the chicken may get worms from that. Keeping coops fairly clean and stirred, adding fresh bedding, or changing it out when needed, is how to control worms. In warm or tropical regions, worming may be done more often. Some worm twice a year, or less or more depending on a fecal float or climate.

Valbazen dosage is 1/4 ml for bantams, 1/2 ml for regular 5 pound grown chicken, and 3/4 for an extra large hen or rooster. Give it once and then repeat it in 10 days. It has to be given orally or in a treat or food, because it is not soluble in water, and settles out. Some will worm one breed or color of chickens one day, and the other the next day or even a week later. Egg withdrawal is 14 days after the last dose—total of 24 days. But some people ignore the egg withdrawal.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

You cannot disinfect for worms. They are in the soil and some worms have intermediate hosts, such as snail, slugs, beetles, earthworms, and flies. When those are eaten the chicken may get worms from that. Keeping coops fairly clean and stirred, adding fresh bedding, or changing it out when needed, is how to control worms. In warm or tropical regions, worming may be done more often. Some worm twice a year, or less or more depending on a fecal float or climate.

Valbazen dosage is 1/4 ml for bantams, 1/2 ml for regular 5 pound grown chicken, and 3/4 for an extra large hen or rooster. Give it once and then repeat it in 10 days. It has to be given orally or in a treat or food, because it is not soluble in water, and settles out. Some will worm one breed or color of chickens one day, and the other the next day or even a week later. Egg withdrawal is 14 days after the last dose—total of 24 days. But some people ignore the egg withdrawal.

We clean the coop weekly and rake out the run weekly. Ive been inclined to think its not worms because we always put ACV in the water and her symptoms came on rather suddenly. One day she was fine and the next she was listless. Should I treat them all or just her?

 

[coach723]

For worms, the eggs are microscopic, so the only way to know for sure is a fecal test. Keeping things clean and not letting droppings build up can help, but there is no way to get rid of every single egg, if they are there. Roundworm in particular is very easy to pick up in the soil. ACV will not treat a parasite infection, I have my doubts about how much it really contributes to prevention either. If you had confirmation that you had a parasite then usually the entire flock is treated, if one has them then they have all been exposed. But since you are not sure, then that's hard to say. There are other possibilities, if she's having a laying issue, that could be the problem. It doesn't take a huge sample to get a fecal, so if you have a vet that will do that for you, then I would try to get that done. Some will also do a gram stain for you to check for bacteria in case it's infection. If you decide to worm her, then if she improves after that, then I would go ahead and worm them all. Since her crop is empty, sounds like she's not eating, I would crate her, offer some scrambled egg, moistened feed, see if she will eat, and then monitor the crop to make sure it's working properly. And see if you can get another dropping.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

For worms, the eggs are microscopic, so the only way to know for sure is a fecal test. Keeping things clean and not letting droppings build up can help, but there is no way to get rid of every single egg, if they are there. Roundworm in particular is very easy to pick up in the soil. ACV will not treat a parasite infection, I have my doubts about how much it really contributes to prevention either. If you had confirmation that you had a parasite then usually the entire flock is treated, if one has them then they have all been exposed. But since you are not sure, then that's hard to say. There are other possibilities, if she's having a laying issue, that could be the problem. It doesn't take a huge sample to get a fecal, so if you have a vet that will do that for you, then I would try to get that done. Some will also do a gram stain for you to check for bacteria in case it's infection. If you decide to worm her, then if she improves after that, then I would go ahead and worm them all. Since her crop is empty, sounds like she's not eating, I would crate her, offer some scrambled egg, moistened feed, see if she will eat, and then monitor the crop to make sure it's working properly. And see if you can get another dropping.

Thanks I will try that. I think its more a production issue but I'm not sure. I'm gonna check on her today and see if I can get a sample from her. If I cant I'll head to TSC tomorrow and buy the dewormer. We lost one this year due to internal laying and another has a heart issue.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

I put her on our porch where no one would bother her. She seems to be having a hard time walking up stairs. She ate about half the scrambled egg before abandoning it and didnt touch the bucket of scratch at all. Im keeping her on the porch so I can get a clean fecal from her

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

 

[dawg53]

I'd say it's more of a reproductive problem than worms.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Finally got her to poo

Not much of a sample but it will have to do

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

I floated the sample and examined under a microscope. No sign of worms at 100 or 300 power. I'm gonna have my fiancee double check it when he gets home but all I see is water and bits of plant matter.