Gapeworm Diagnosis

[JoieD]

Everything seems to have just gone to hell in the last few weeks! First I had an Easter Egger pooping green/yellow and very lethargic. I started her on Penicillin and kept her in the house one night and she perked right up. Next day my big Brahma hen starts wheezing. I gave her a shot of Penicillin,gave her a misting of oxine overnight, ordered Valbazen at that point and took a fecal sample of everyone to OSU large animal services (had to beg them to do fecal testing the first time last year because "We are a large animal facility" Convinced them that worms are worms regardless. When they were tested a year ago and they were clean. Anyway got the results last night and they found gapeworm and roundworm. They are eating very well, but the brahma is shaking her head a bit. Lab person told me to use ivermectin ,but I'm wondering if I should wait until tommorrow for the Valbazen to arrive. I suspect they might have mites also and tractor supply has the ivermectin and safeguard. What to do? Can I give antibiotic and worm at the same time? Can I use ivermectin and then Valbazen in 10 days? Will that kill those nasty gapeworms or kill my chickens? Advice?

 

[FarmGirl4MS]

Are you giving garlic to your chickens? It helps with worms. So does pumpkin. I would only do one treatment at a time. Found this on another post: before you use Valbazen, you'll first want to get some Wazine from TSC and kill all the round worms in your chickens. Valbazen will kill ALL worms, but killing roundworms and others at the same time more than likely will overload your chickens' ability to dispose of them from their overloaded system. That could kill your chickens.
For more information on this, read: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=385238

 

[JoieD]

That's just it. I read on this forum that Valbazen didn't have to be preceded by wazine. Just the 2 doses 10 days apart according to Dawg53 Did I read correctly? Also I think the gapeworm needs to take priority if it's possible. I am at tractor supply now. Think I'll just buy out the entire pharmacy in case I need it!

 

[JoieD]

Oh and yes I use all of the herbal and probiotic preventions. My girls have always been fat and sassy. Maybe this winter was just too much stress.

 

[FarmGirl4MS]

Yeppers! I think you read it right. I can double check on the FB page of Backyard Chicken that is not affiliated with this site. They seem to have a wealth of knowledge (as well as attitude and cussing).

 

[Eggcessive]

Are you giving garlic to your chickens? It helps with worms. So does pumpkin. I would only do one treatment at a time. Found this on another post: before you use Valbazen, you'll first want to get some Wazine from TSC and kill all the round worms in your chickens. Valbazen will kill ALL worms, but killing roundworms and others at the same time more than likely will overload your chickens' ability to dispose of them from their overloaded system. That could kill your chickens.
For more information on this, read: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=385238

There is no need to use Wazine first to kill roundworms. There is some outdated info here on BYC about doing that, but you can give the Valbazen once, then repeat in 10 days. Ivermectin is no longer very effective against chicken worms due to it's overuse in chickens for mites. For gapeworm, Valbazen (albendazole) and SafeGuard (fenbandazole) should probably be used 3 days in a row, then wait 10 days, and repeat 3 days in a row. Valbazen dosage is 1/2 ml by mouth.

 

[enola]

There is no need to use Wazine first to kill roundworms.  There is some outdated info here on BYC about doing that, but you can give the Valbazen once, then repeat in 10 days.    Ivermectin is no longer very effective against chicken worms due to it's overuse in chickens for mites.  For gapeworm, Valbazen (albendazole) and SafeGuard (fenbandazole) should probably be used 3 days in a row, then wait 10 days, and repeat 10 days in a row.  Dosage is 1/2 ml by mouth.  

?????? 10 days in a row? ???

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that was 3 days in a row.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: No, three days in a row.
Syngamus trachea = Gapeworm

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6750887
Efficacy of fenbendazole against helminth parasites of poultry in Uganda.

Ssenyonga GS.
Abstract

Fenbendazole 4% (Panacur, Hoechst) administered in feed was used to treat chickens infected with Ascaridia galli, Heterakis gallinarum and Railletina spp. It was also used to treat Syngamus trachea in broiler birds. There was a marked drop in helminth egg counts in the faeces on the second day of treatment and the faeces became negative by the seventh day after the last treatment. Post-mortem examination 15 to 21 days later showed that the drug was 100% effective against Ascaridia galli and Heterakis gallinarum at 10 mg/kg. However, for complete removal of Railletina spp. 15 mg/kg was required. Similarly 20 mg/kg fenbendazole was effective against Syngamus trachea. It was concluded that fenbendazole is suitable for the treatment of the important intestinal and tracheal worms of poultry, a dose of 15 to 20 mg/kg for 3 consecutive days being recommended for use under field conditions.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is some information concerning the use of Valbazen (albendazole) usage in chickens and turkeys for treatment of gapeworm:

Comparative anthelmintic efficacy of mebendazole thiabendazole and albendazole against syngamus trachea infection in chicken

Devada K.; Sathianesan V., 1989: Comparative anthelmintic efficacy of mebendazole thiabendazole and albendazole against syngamus trachea infection in chicken. Kerala Journal Of Veterinary Science. 20(1): 59-64

Three anthelmintics viz., mebendazole, (Gulfic) thiabendazole (MSD) and albendazole (SKF) were tried against Syngamus trachea infection in chicken under experimental conditions. Mebendazole dosed at a rate of 40 mg per kg body weight was found to be most effective with 96.22 per cent reduction of eggs in the droppings, 88.1 per cent of disappearance of worms in the trachea and 95.52 per cent of weight gain of the treated birds. This was closely followed by albendazole administered at 15 mg per kg body weight, which had an efficacy of 95.14 per cent 76.19 per cent and 95.02 per cent in the respective three parameters. Thiabendazole given at a dose rate of 500 mg per kg body weight showed anefficacy of 89.27, 45.24 per cent and 94.18 perc cent based on the egg counts, worm counts and gain in body weight of the medicated chicks respectively. Thiabendazole was found to be the least effective when compared to the other drugs tried.
Efficacy of albendazole against Syngamus trachea in experimentally infected turkeys

Istvan, Varga; Gyorgy, Banhidi; Zoltan, Szell; Csaba, Balint, 1998: Efficacy of albendazole against Syngamus trachea in experimentally infected turkeys.Magyar Allatorvosok Lapja. 120(6): 336-338, E

Efficacy of albendazole of Syngamus trachea tested in groups of 8 to 9 turkeys experimentally infected with 500 larvae each at the age of 8 days. From day 17 after infection, the animals were orally dosed with albendazole at 10, 5 or 2 mg/kg b.w. over 3 to 5 successive days. The efficacy was evaluated by daily inspection of symptoms, daily faecal egg counts and worm counts at post mortem on day 24 after infection. The efficacy in the treated groups amounted to 100%, 100% and 94%, respectively. Remnants of wormpairs - mainly disintegrating males - were found in several animals of medicated groups as against all alive wormpairs in the control turkeys. The study shows high efficacy of albendazole at reduced dose rate against patent gapeworm disease in turkey.