Green poop and a dead chicken.

[Sharwig]

Hey all. Need some help. Sorry for the lengthy post, but want to provide as much info as I can in hopes someone might know what is going on with my flock and how to treat.

I'm in Idaho -- a desert climate -- and we've had 90+ temps this week.
We've had trouble freeing our flock of tapeworm and have treated them several times with Praziquantel as previously prescribed by a vet, but they keep returning, so last weekend, we started treating them with Safeguard liquid in their water (trying to rotate dewormers). After reading all the posts saying this won't kill tapes, we aborted the treatment after 2 days and were preparing to treat with Valbazen this weekend.
When we treated them last week, I gave them all a quick health check. No lice/mites; no sneezing; clear eyes, etc but I did notice a couple of them seem to be fluffed up and I thought it might be the heat.
Yesterday, I came home at lunch and spotted this green yuck but don't know who it came from.
Everyone seemed ok this morning. I came home at lunch and cleaned their waterers and filled them with cold water. Didn't notice anything out of order when I got home, but when my husband went out to lock them up for the night he found our 1 year old Sexlink dead . I suspect it may have something to do with the green poop? Has anyone seen this? Any suggestions for treatments?

 

[MissPoulette]

I’m sorry to hear about your Sexlink.

 

[AmyJane725]

I know chickens that die from overheating will poop bright green. I haven't seen it in person though, so I don't know if yours is bright enough. I've heard it's like fluorescent almost.

Sorry about your girl. Hopefully someone can shed some light. Were any of them panting at all?

 

[Sharwig]

I’m sorry to hear about your Sexlink.

Thank you!

 

[Sharwig]

I know chickens that die from overheating will poop bright green. I haven't seen it in person though, so I don't know if yours is bright enough. I've heard it's like fluorescent almost.

Sorry about your girl. Hopefully someone can shed some light. Were any of them panting at all?

Thanks! It was pretty bright green. Definitely not normal looking. Didn't notice any panting. Now I'm wonderimg if we should still continie dewormimg...

 

[Kiki]

Thanks! It was pretty bright green. Definitely not normal looking. Didn't notice any panting. Now I'm wonderimg if we should still continie dewormimg...

If they have tapeworms you need to get rid of them. The tapes will kill them.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss

If you have not disposed of the body, send it to your state lab for testing to get more information. http://agri.nv.gov/Animals/Animal_Disease/Animal_Disease_Home/

 

[Sharwig]

If they have tapeworms you need to get rid of them. The tapes will kill them.

We've been battling them for quite some time. I actually scoop the poop in the chicken yard, but they free range all day and I can't clean up the pasture. When I first got chickens 4 years ago I was told we didn't have tapeworm here because its such a dry hot desert climate, but clearly that is not the case. So the best I can do is try to controll them .... sand in run, scooping poop, regular deworming, etc. All because we were newbies and brought in new birds without quarantining first. Tough lesson learned. I'm to the point I want to cull my flock of now 17 and start over. Lost one a couple months ago to vent prolapse. Chicken keeping is not for the faint of heart!!!

 

[Sharwig]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss

If you have not disposed of the body, send it to your state lab for testing to get more information. http://agri.nv.gov/Animals/Animal_Disease/Animal_Disease_Home/

Thank you Wyorp.. Hubby already disposed, but if we lose anymore, I told him that's what we should do. We did treat them this am with Valbazen but I'm confused on whether its 3 days in a row or one dose now and another dose in 7-10 days?. I know you're pretty knowledgeable as I've seen some of you other posts. What would you recommend?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you Wyorp.. Hubby already disposed, but if we lose anymore, I told him that's what we should do. We did treat them this am with Valbazen but I'm confused on whether its 3 days in a row or one dose now and another dose in 7-10 days?. I know you're pretty knowledgeable as I've seen some of you other posts. What would you recommend?

Praziquantel is normally used for treatment of tapeworms.
@dawg53 is the worm guy, he may have some tips for you on better treatment options.