Giardiasis treatment?

[casportpony]

If you want to read up on various treatments, google avian medicine giardia, lots of data, lol.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

This is such good information to have. Thank you so much! I will call my pharmacy right now to get pricing and then at least I'll have an idea when I go into the vet. Do you know if it's metronidazole that they usually prescribe for this? Have you ever had to treat your birds for this?

Sorry, forgot to answer that... No, I have not had to treat giardia, but I have had to treat *many* birds for blackhead, which is also a protozoal disease.

FWIW, my search for the proper way to treat blackhead is how I found BYC two years ago. Had I found BYC before blackhead found my poults, they might still be alive.

-Kathy

 

[tarahharlin]

If you want to read up on various treatments, google avian medicine giardia, lots of data, lol.

-Kathy

That is how I spent my morning here at work....googling and reading all about avian giardia. lol...

Sounds like it can be difficult to treat and re-infection is common. ugh.

One thing I find a little interesting is, my hen who tested positive for this has always been the skinniest out of our 5 girls. They are all a year old, but the others have more meat on them and feel more muscular. They've always felt good and healthy and she has always felt so light and kind of skinny. From time to time, it would concern me, but she always acted completely normal and is the queen of the group, so it's not like she gets pushed away from the food. Plus, she was always that way, so it wasn't like she had more weight at one point and then lost it. Now I'm wondering how long she could have been infected and if this has anything to do with that. Will be interesting to see if she gains weight after treatment.

 

[tarahharlin]

Sorry, forgot to answer that... No, I have not had to treat giardia, but I have had to treat *many* birds for blackhead, which is also a protozoal disease.

FWIW, my search for the proper way to treat blackhead is how I found BYC two years ago. Had I found BYC before blackhead found my poults, they might still be alive.

-Kathy

No worries. I know, I'm so glad that I've found BYC. I've read through a lot of information on here and have learned a lot. I've read all your articles and watched tube feeding videos and have bookmarked everything, so in case that day comes, hopefully I'll have some idea on what to do. lol.

Thanks again for all your help! I'll post tomorrow on what the vet says and his recommended treatment.

 

[tarahharlin]

Took her into the vet and they are treating her with Panacur. He suggested that I should treat all 5 of them. 1ml by mouth to each of them, once daily for 5 days. So, hopefully this takes care of it. I have to say I'm a little nervous giving them medicine orally, but it will be a good thing to learn.

 

[dawg53]

Took her into the vet and they are treating her with Panacur. He suggested that I should treat all 5 of them. 1ml by mouth to each of them, once daily for 5 days. So, hopefully this takes care of it. I have to say I'm a little nervous giving them medicine orally, but it will be a good thing to learn.

That'll work. Good luck.

 

[tarahharlin]

That'll work. Good luck.

Thank you!

 

[casportpony]

And the Panacur will treat the majority of worms any might have!

-Kathy

 

[tarahharlin]

And the Panacur will treat the majority of worms any might have!

-Kathy

A win win for everyone!

How long do you typically not eat the eggs for after using Safeguard, or Panacur? When I asked the vet, he said he looked it up and the manufacturer's site said no egg withdrawal period. When I looked around, I saw anywhere from 7-14 days.

 

[tarahharlin]

*Update on hen with Giardia*

So, earlier this past May, I treated our 5 hens with Panacur for 5 days because one had tested positive for giardia. Her laying seemed to come back to somewhat normal. Now for the past 2 weeks, her laying is not normal and she's hardly laying at all. Her butt feathers are messy and when I pick her up, it seems like some liquid will drip out of her vent. Seems to be clear. I've smelled her butt area (yeah, i know) and it just smells like urine. Other than that, she's eating, drinking and running around like normal. So, I was thinking of taking in another fecal sample because I don't know if the Panacur got rid of her giardia. Unless, there's also something else going. Anyhow, yesterday morning, when I was scooping up some of their poop, I noticed one that had white worms in it. Not sure who it came from, but I guess I would assume it was hers. So, maybe she picked up some worms after the treatment for giardia and maybe that explains the not laying and messy butt? Am I okay to worm all of them again? My husband went to the feed store and I gave him the names of Safeguard or Valbazen to look for. Guy there said they didn't carry that and gave him Durvet Srike III. Am I okay to use this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!