Hello, I am so bummed I have just started this exciting new adventure with three beautiful hens. We have had them for about 2weeks. My black Maran has had poop stuck on her back feathers a few times and I have cleaned it off twice now with warm water. This last time I was cleaning them, I noticed some white clusters at the base of a few feathers. Discouraged, I started researching on here and I'm sure it is lice eggs. Also, I pick up their poop everyday, (they range in my small backyard) and just today I noticed, what I am sure now after researching on here, is tapeworm! (small clearish white rice like worms). ugh! They are so happy eating and laying and I keep a clean pen, I wouldn't have thought anything was wrong. There is so many opinions on here about treatments, I'm confused on what to do
There aren't that many opinions for a known infestation. I would go with what is proven to work, which is Sevin 5% for lice / mites and Valbazen for tapeworms. Valbazen is given as o.5 ml orally per large fowl (such as a Marans) and repeated in 10 days. Toss eggs for 24 days. Dust the birds with Sevin, and treat the coop as well (include undersides of roosts, cracks, etc.) Sevin can also be obtained in liquid form which is easier to treat cracks and crevices in the coop with. This also needs to be repeated in 10 days. http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140 http://healthybirds.umd.edu/Disease/Deworming Birds.pdf https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/732910/deworming-experience-from-start-to-finish https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...o-still-seeing-live-worms-in-poo#post_9315842 (see post #7)
Thanks so much for all the information Can the sevin be used in their coop under shavings as a preventative measure even after they are all treated, or do you not want to exposed them that often? Also, should I toss the eggs that I have collected before I discovered the worms?
I believe eggs from chickens with worms are perfectly safe to eat. The reason you toss the eggs once you start the treatment is that you don't want to eat the medicine/poison in the eggs. --Julie
I have seen photos of some types of worms actually living inside eggs though I'd guess only some types do.
