Help! I am in Coccidias and Worm Hell!

[LoLoGarrett]

Hang in there. So sorry for you and your girls.

Thank you. Just left a message with Vet to see if I need to Cull the really sick ones.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I clean out the hen boxes and the eggs are infested in millions of little white worms still wriggling around, is this normal after worm treatment? and then NEXT is that the hen boxes are also infested with millions of Mites and then notice the rest of the coop under their roost is the same. I have been putting DE dust down everyday, cleaned out coop everyday...WHY????

I'm sorry you're having so much trouble.

Let's do something here. Please get some photos of the birds, that eye, your coop/run, the poop, the worms you are seeing wriggling around...
No judgement on our part - just some photos of what you see and what you are dealing with so we can understand better and help you get this under control.

Now. You mention that the hen boxes and egg have little white worms wriggling around. Do the hens sleep in the nesting boxes, is there poop in there? Could it be maggots that have hatched on the poop instead of intestinal worms?

It would be a really good idea to inspect each hen around her vent, pull the feathers away so you can see the skin. Anybody have a poop butt or maggots on those feathers or skin?

Sadly, DE is not an effective treatment for parasites. You can find Permethrin dust or spray at stores like Tractor Supply. The most economical way is to buy the concentrate. Get a spray bottle and a garden sprayer if you can find those. Spray each bird under the wings, around the vent, along the back. Spray down/treat your coop removing the bedding from the coop and nesting boxes first and disposing of it is a good idea before you treat the coop. Do this in 7 day intervals.

Alternatively, use spray for the coop and dust for the birds - this is what I do. I prefer to use a dust on the birds-easier for me it seems. I put the dust in a sock or pantyhose, then I can move feathers and pat the dusty sock onto the skin and rub it in. If that makes sense.

Let's revisit the eye and the treatment the vet gave you. Have you been putting some ointment in the eye and tried again to push out any pus? What antibiotic did the vet give, I'm not finding what it was - I may be missing it.

Take a deep breath. You've got this, don't give up just yet

 

[dawg53]

When worms are excreted, they are either dying or are dead. Worms cannot survive outside their host.
I agree with @Wyorp Rock, pics will help. It's possible you might be dealing with fly strike which is bad news. Inspect all your hens closely for any injuries, cuts, wounds, caked feces in and on feathers or fluff etc, especially around the vent area that might contain maggots.

 

[LoLoGarrett]

I'm sorry you're having so much trouble.

Let's do something here. Please get some photos of the birds, that eye, your coop/run, the poop, the worms you are seeing wriggling around...
No judgement on our part - just some photos of what you see and what you are dealing with so we can understand better and help you get this under control.

Now. You mention that the hen boxes and egg have little white worms wriggling around. Do the hens sleep in the nesting boxes, is there poop in there? Could it be maggots that have hatched on the poop instead of intestinal worms?

It would be a really good idea to inspect each hen around her vent, pull the feathers away so you can see the skin. Anybody have a poop butt or maggots on those feathers or skin?

Sadly, DE is not an effective treatment for parasites. You can find Permethrin dust or spray at stores like Tractor Supply. The most economical way is to buy the concentrate. Get a spray bottle and a garden sprayer if you can find those. Spray each bird under the wings, around the vent, along the back. Spray down/treat your coop removing the bedding from the coop and nesting boxes first and disposing of it is a good idea before you treat the coop. Do this in 7 day intervals.

Alternatively, use spray for the coop and dust for the birds - this is what I do. I prefer to use a dust on the birds-easier for me it seems. I put the dust in a sock or pantyhose, then I can move feathers and pat the dusty sock onto the skin and rub it in. If that makes sense.

Let's revisit the eye and the treatment the vet gave you. Have you been putting some ointment in the eye and tried again to push out any pus? What antibiotic did the vet give, I'm not finding what it was - I may be missing it.

Take a deep breath. You've got this, don't give up just yet

Thank you for the support. I missed this post yesterday when checking for replies. We are all still alive! . After cleaning everything yesterday and doing a good dose of poultry spray around coop and along the walls and then Seven Dust, I am not seeing wriggly worms right now and hoping mites are done in.
Most of my Red Sex Links have always had poopy butts, have I been missing a problem for the past year? I feel ignorant as I thought it was a thing. I have always had one layer that lays soft or very fragile shells. When poopy butts get really bad, I have bathed them. I have had stuck eggs a couple of times and did the epsom salt soak and massage until the egg popped out. Sorry getting lengthy here, just providing some background information.

For the respiratory infection I am giving them a dose of VetRX and putting ACV with garlic, oregano and electrolytes in the water. Surprisingly they drank almost the entire gallon of water yesterday, so hopefully that did them a lot of good. Also gave each one a dose of Nutridrench.

Reluctantly dusted each girl with Sevin Dust yesterday evening, based on advice from a friend who raises chickens of their own and said this has always resolved the problem. Scared me to use this, but girls seem okay. As I was rubbing the dust on them I was not spotting any mites, just bare skin from their feather loss. None for f the young girls have lost their feathers. Sadly the young Lavender Orphingtin with the bad eye, was really rattling yesterday evening, I did not treat her with the dust for fear of creating more breathing issues for her, so just sprayed her the the poultry spray.

In regards to the eye treatment the vet gave me Clavamax and then prescription eye drops after that. I was using Terrimycin ointment on her eye as well and flushing with saline. Have given her a break from messing with her eye, after the last Vet appointment where the vet could not get anywhere with getting any pus out either and thought the white in her eye looked more like a tissue or possibly a tumor. I think it looks exactly like other pictures I have seen of a respiratory infection. See pictures of her eye below. Also yesterday evening along with her rattled breathing I noticed her neck feathers have become very dirty, which they have not been.

They do not sleep in nesting boxes they sleep on the top roost. Was wondering if the worms on their eggs were a result of the de worming?

I will try and get pictures of the coop and run setup this morning and pictures of the girls. Also something else I should mention, which makes me wonder… I let the girls run around outside of their coop free range a few times a day, here lately they have been roaming a lot more. Could they have gotten into something while free ranging in the open? And now I am stressed about my dog getting into any droppings they have left in the yard and the times he has walked into their coop yard and sniffed butts. Ughhhh… is this ever going to end?

I have my best friend coming in for a week today and was hoping to relax and enjoy our small farm life with her…. Sadly I will be continuing with the infections and infestation.

 

[LoLoGarrett]

I think dawg53 maybe onto something with the fly strike, as flies have been a HUGE problem this year and have tried about every method to get rid of them. Checked all girls this morning and did not see signs of maggots or mites in their bodies. Two poopy butt chickens, rest seem to have clean rear ends. Back to feeling itchy myself after doing my morning exams. Psychological I am sure. I took several pictures to show their surroundings and typical run around outside coop yard. I also have included poop pictures. Seems to me Cocci is still showing. Spotted small worms in some poop, but no wriggling, and lots of gooey dark green poop?

Also took picture of bug on top of work bench where I have been doctoring. Small fly or mite?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The poor little Lavendar still has a lot of pus in her eye doesn't she. Do you have someone that can help hold her so you can work on her eye and see if you can press out the pus? I know it's frustrating, but until the pus is removed, the eye won't heal.
Tylosin would be a good choice to use to treat her infection as well. IF the cause if MG or similar then unfortunately Clavamox is not that effective since it works on the cell wall and MG has no cell wall. Tylosin can be ordered online. https://www.jedds.com/shop/tylan-soluble-100-g/ (her neck feathers are getting dirty due to discharge from the eye and likely ointment too, she may be rubbing her eye on her feathers as well)

I agree with you on dusting her. I would make sure the mites are gone from her though, birds that are not well often get infested more quickly, so just check her well. If you need to and have spray, you can always wet a q tip with the solution and target areas around her face/head or use a small syringe and drop drops of the permethrin spray and work it into her that way if you're worried about her breathing the mist.

Imho, Sevin dust is fine to use. I have it and have dusted my birds with it before. I do like Permethrin spray for treating the large areas like my coop/housing though. Make sure to get the spray in cracks/crevices and on roosting bars, etc. Repeat both the dusting and spray in 7 day intervals.

Some birds can have poopier butts than others, especially those with a lot of fluff. Washing as needed is good. I've also had one that was extra fluffy, I trimmed the fluff and that helped. Of course, the butt wasn't as pretty with a trim, but the poop didn't stick as much either. Do wear a mask when trimming if you go that route, that fluff is extremely fine and flies all over.

Hard to know if they got into something, I have birds roaming during waking hours. There's always a chance they might find something to get in to.

As for the nesting boxes to find hundreds of worms - that still doesn't sound like roundworms. If you see more of them, please get photos. I'm still thinking it may be maggots (photo) or could it be tapeworm proglottids (see videos below).

Chicken worms are generally species specific, so your dog shouldn't be affected. Gross I know and I try to keep mine from eating droppings as well, but it happens LOL

You are doing the best you can. You need that good friend this week! This is a blessing for you. May not be completely what you've planned in your head, but I bet they will jump right in and give you encouragement and a helping hand that you need so much.
You've got this

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The gooey poop is cecal poop.
I'm not seeing worms in the poop - maybe I'm missing it. I do see some keratin sheaths from feathers.

 

[dawg53]

I didnt see any worms neither. I noted dander as well, nothing to worry about.

 

[LoLoGarrett]

Yes, Lavender's eye is still bad. I attempted to squeeze the eye per that video demonstration, which I actually saw last week. I was able to squeeze a very small amount of pus out. So took her to the Vet and she did not have any success and said she was causing her more harm than good and that we need to try to leave it alone for a couple of weeks and then put her under is it has not improved, so that she is able to get to it without hurting her. Here is the new thing with her though, Vet has been confident she is going to bounce back because she is continuing to gain weight, but this morning I noticed she looks like she has lost her weight and has gone from being the largest of the young flock to the smallest. I am going to go with the Tylosin medicine as recommended by Wyorp Rock. The good news is she does not sound rattelie (is that a word?) any longer and I am not seeing any signs of mites on her and the other chickens are no longer showing any either. I did have to treat one of the Sex Links with VetRX this morning and added the ACV with garlic and honey to their water again this morning.

Thank you Wyorp Rock for the comfort about my dog, Cash. He is my baby big time! And for your other sweet words of comfort. You are right, my friends visit is a blessing indeed!

Thank you to everyone on here for all your help and support! You have saved my life and my flocks! Praying that they continue to get better and we all pull through this mess soon!

 

[Banana01]

I feel the same situation as you. Worms are the least of my worries now, because i have the chronic respiratory fight on my hands. I hover around a flock size of 60 birds, all varying ages. Worms is the easy part, it's the mucous and puffy face. I will follow this thread to see how you turn out. At least you don't have mites too. Mites are more destrucrive than worms.

Anyway, i treat the puffy face with a sulfa antibiotic and tilosin. The first sign of illness, i always deworm the night before so i know they are out of the equation.

My sulfa medicine is not working well, but it does something a little bit, helps with the puffiness. The best thing i do is keep their face and eyes clean for them. They really appreciate it, and it makes them fight harder knowing you are there helping. I can get rid of the puffy face, but they have chronic mucous the medicone does not treat 100%

Update from Vet visit. Unfortunately, the vet could not get any further than I was able to, because there is too much tissue in front of her eye and is causing her too much pain whenever she tried to attack the situation. The only way to really get in there is to put her on anesthesia, which would be risky for her age. There is a slight possibility that the mass maybe a tumor, but Vet thinks she is too young for it to be that. Her advice was to give my girl a rest from messing with her eye, since she seems to be functioning well with everything else and hope that the mass goes down on its own. If it is still an issue or has gotten worse in the next couple of weeks, then we will see where to go from there.

In regards to possible respiratory problems... she needs to see those hens to determine if that is what is going on. I just cannot afford to keep bringing my girls in... So I am going to finish tackling the treatment for the Coccidias and Worms. I spoke with the vet about the Valbazem and she has heard of it, but never used it. She told me that she recommended the Ivermectin due to the type of worms that they have. I think that they are the Cecal Worms and one other type of worm that they are carrying. She said if I wanted to use both the Ivermectin and the Valbazem that I could, she just could not find the right dosing for the Valbazem. She read the info on the Valbazem and still feels strongly to cover the worm issue to use Ivermectin and if I felt comfortable with the recommended dosing for Valbazem to use that with the Ivermectin.