HELP.... Enlarged Crop and worms

[AMF447]

I must add every morning I'm adding organic AVC and a two of minced garlic to their water... They love it! I feel it's just my one hen, I am going to spend time in the coop tomorrow morning to confirm it's just the one. And treat her. Thank you!!!

 

[AMF447]

Free ranging really doesnt have anything to do with it.
Tapeworms have an indirect lifecycle. A chicken would have to eat an infected insect in order to get tapeworms. Even if your birds were penned, a chicken will eat any bug that wonders into the chicken pen. Flies, termites, earthworms, and ants are vectors as well as other insects. Dont get me wrong, not all insects are infected.

Each of those segments you saw in the feces carries hundreds of eggs. The segments work their way into and onto the soil where the eggs are deposited and insects eat them.
Chickens peck the ground and soil all the time. If they pick up a tapeworm egg, your chickens will not get infected. However, it's a different story with roundworms. When a chicken picks up a roundworm egg, it basically makes its way through the chicken and is excreted and becomes infective. Then another chicken comes along and picks up the infective egg and the rest is history, it matures in the digestive track feeding off nutrients that the bird should be getting. Then the worms lay eggs again repeating its lifecycle all over again.
Penned birds are more susceptible getting roundworms than free ranging because they are kept on the same soil all the time.
That's why I worm monthly, my birds are penned. How often you worm depends on your soil conditions. Warm moist or wet soil requires frequent wormings.
I eat eggs after worming my birds, I'm still here.
If you think you might be allergic or sensitive to the minute residue in the eggs, feed the eggs to your dog or toss them in the garbage. Dont sell the eggs nor give any away. Dont feed the eggs back to your chickens. No matter how minute residue there is, the next time you worm your birds, the worms may be resistant to the wormer. You would have to increase dosage or use a different wormer. I rotate wormers occasionally. Good luck.

what wormer do you use regularly and how often??

 

[dawg53]

what wormer do you use regularly and how often??

I use several wormers; wazine, valbazen, safeguard, pyrantel pamoate and I worm monthly. I havnt had to deal with tapeworms since moving to Jacksonville 6 years ago. But Equimax is readily available in feed stores around here if I need it.
My BR's have been eating small snails in shells due to all the rain we're having. I'm concerned that they might get flukes. Valbazen and Equimax treats flukes.

 

[AMF447]

I use several wormers; wazine, valbazen, safeguard, pyrantel pamoate and I worm monthly. I havnt had to deal with tapeworms since moving to Jacksonville 6 years ago. But Equimax is readily available in feed stores around here if I need it.
My BR's have been eating small snails in shells due to all the rain we're having. I'm concerned that they might get flukes. Valbazen and Equimax treats flukes.

do you do egg withdrawal since you worm monthy? If so how many days?

 

[dawg53]

do you do egg withdrawal since you worm monthy? If so how many days?

We eat the eggs after using the wormers that I mentioned. Generally, there's a 14 day egg withdrawal period after the last worming.

 

[AMF447]

We eat the eggs after using the wormers that I mentioned. Generally, there's a 14 day egg withdrawal period after the last worming.

Ok thanks for all your help!!

 

[AMF447]

I could not keep my chickens put up in their coop and run all day because they absolutely love to free range and check out what is out there each morning. They love hanging out under their shady spot under their favorite pine tree during the afternoon heat.

Tapes are rare in chickens, and come from ingesting hosts such as worms, flies, and snails. Some dogs and cats get them from eating fleas or moles. Removing the intermediate hosts can reduce the possibility of recurrance.

yes mine, as I'm sure all do, love being out of coop!! May I ask how often you worm your flock? I'm trying to get different opinions... And do you do an egg withdrawl?

 

[coach723]

There is no one right answer for how often to worm your flock. Some people can do it once or twice a year and that's enough. You will read from some that never do. Some worm 3 or 4 times a year, or more. It's entirely different for each individual flock based on the worm load in that particular environment, and what it takes to keep yours healthy. The optimum situation would be to worm the birds, have a fecal test done after treatment to make sure the worms are gone and treatment was successful. Then have another fecal done in 4-6 months to see if you have any reinfection, unless you see signs or symptoms before that. If getting a fecal done is not an option (and there are mail options for those that don't have a willing vet), then it will be observation on your part to determine how often it needs to be done. If you worm regularly, then alternating wormers is a good idea, to minimize breeding any resistance into the parasites. As far as withdrawl, you need to do what you are comfortable with. Some people ignore the withdrawl completely (I've never personally heard of a bad reaction from eating the eggs, that's just me), some feed them back to the chickens, some toss them. Many of the medications are also used in humans, so it's more a risk of allergic reaction or the resistance to the medications concern. But there are no studies that I know of to even know for sure if there is actually any residue passed into the eggs. Again, do what you are personally comfortable with.

 

[AMF447]

There is no one right answer for how often to worm your flock. Some people can do it once or twice a year and that's enough. You will read from some that never do. Some worm 3 or 4 times a year, or more. It's entirely different for each individual flock based on the worm load in that particular environment, and what it takes to keep yours healthy. The optimum situation would be to worm the birds, have a fecal test done after treatment to make sure the worms are gone and treatment was successful. Then have another fecal done in 4-6 months to see if you have any reinfection, unless you see signs or symptoms before that. If getting a fecal done is not an option (and there are mail options for those that don't have a willing vet), then it will be observation on your part to determine how often it needs to be done. If you worm regularly, then alternating wormers is a good idea, to minimize breeding any resistance into the parasites. As far as withdrawl, you need to do what you are comfortable with. Some people ignore the withdrawl completely (I've never personally heard of a bad reaction from eating the eggs, that's just me), some feed them back to the chickens, some toss them. Many of the medications are also used in humans, so it's more a risk of allergic reaction or the resistance to the medications concern. But there are no studies that I know of to even know for sure if there is actually any residue passed into the eggs. Again, do what you are personally comfortable with.

Great information!! Thanks so much!