EYE WORMS!!! I cant get this under control!

[travifive]

OK so I got some birds from a lady who burned me with some sick birds. While they were in quarantine I lost more than 30 of the 62 I bought from her from eye worms. I finally got those under control and learned a valuable lesson to boot. I had those quarantined in my brooder house which is 10x20 seperated into two 10x10 sections by a wall of chicken wire. After taking the quarantined birds out I shoveled out the bedding and and disinfected the brooder house. I now have 50 Cornish cross on one side and about 10 asst laying breed chicks. These chicks are only 3 1/2 weeks old and one by one I've started to see eye worms in them. As I find them I have been bringing them into my sunroom and trying to nurse hem back to health with vetRX. I am sooooo frustrated because it seems like I just can't kill this thing. I'm tired of culling chicks but I will if I have to. Is there a better treatment out there? And how can I make sure that its gone for good? PLEASE HELP.

 

[dawg53]

In order to treat eyeworms, you have to understand the eyeworms lifecycle. In this link, not only will you have to treat the birds eyes, you'll have to orally dose your birds with a wormer. Feces excreted onto the ground contains eyeworm eggs, then eaten by a cockroach, then the chicken eats the infected cockroach...starting the worms lifecycle over again. Please read "Nematode Lifecycle," it uses the eyeworm as an example.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps012
Purchase valbazen (albendazole) liquid cattle/sheep wormer. Mix equal parts of valbazen and water, then flush all your birds eyes. Then use a syringe without a needle to dose each bird with undiluted valbazen. Dosage is 1/2cc given orally to standard size birds, 1/4cc for smaller birds. Repeat dosing again in 10 days. This will eliminate the worms lifecycle. You will have to set up a regular worming schedule, the ground will continue to contain infective eggs.
Valbazen can be purchased from Jefferslivestock.com if your feed store doesnt carry it.

 

[travifive]

Thank you! How often would I need to worm them after this is gone. And is there a way to treat the ground to kill the eggs too?

 

[dawg53]

Thank you! How often would I need to worm them after this is gone. And is there a way to treat the ground to kill the eggs too?

Worm eggs arnt treatable in the soil, they can last for years in the soil. Your soil conditions dictates how often you should worm as well as insects that carry the infective eggs. Warm moist/wet soil would be condusive for either, requiring frequent wormings. I wormed every 3 months due to our soil conditions. Cool, dry, rocky or desertlike soil may require less worming...perhaps every 5-6 months.

 

[travifive]

My vet recommended to use Tylan by mouth. After this is initial infestation is gone is there a good wormer that I can add to the water? I have over 200 chickens on rotating pastures. Bird by bird worming would be quite a task. Thanks for all the info. This has been a great help!

 

[dawg53]

Are you sure that you were dealing with eyeworms and not a respiratory disease? You can actually see eyeworms in the birds eye:


Tylan is used for respiratory diseases.

 

[travifive]

I have found eye worms in every bird that has a swollen eye so far. That being said, I have a friend that is a vet who has been helping me but he is not a poultry vet and is not very familiar with poultry meds. He is thinking there may be a possibility of infectious coryza. He said the problem with eye worms is not the worms themselves but the chance of bacterial infection that can follow. I'm having a hard time finding valbazan(albendazole) so I'm going to try fenbendazole today and see what happens. I sell my meat birds and I really don't want to use tylan in them. I may have to use it in my young laying pullets though if this doesn't work.

 

[Xmlgeek]

I thought I was dealing with eye worms, but after seeing the photos its not that. I have what looks like a big bump next to the eye. Someone I know who has chickens told me it was eye worms. I am not convinced now. Don't know how to help the chicken. The hen seems to feel fine, has the eye open now, did have it closed for a few days. The bump is movable under my finger. Hen will let me touch it. It almost looks like a big zit, but no middle to squeeze out. Yuck!

I just finished going through a respiratory infection and have treated all of the chickens with Terra Vet 10 and Wazine. They seem to be over the infection. This one chicken has the only problem.

They are not meat chickens, so I could try some other remedy of medicine. Anyone got any ideas?