Help with identifiying type of worms and treatment.

[DougB]

Have a small flock of girls.
This last month I noticed some white items in the poop. Surmized them to be some type of worm. Have treated with Valbazen...3 doses with 7 days between each dose. I have also put food grade DE in their feed. Checking there poop today one of the girls still has the white looking items in the poop. Can anyone provide info on the type of worm and best treatment

 

[Morrigan]

How long between the last time you dosed them was it before you saw the white segments again? Chickens can acquire new tapeworms within 3 or 4 weeks if they are on the same ground, and eating the same insects, which serve as carriers for tapeworms. If you saw segments a week after dosing, it's likely that the valbazen is no longer working, and you might want to try a product with praziquantel, like EquiMax (sold for horses, off label use for chickens)

The last option, if your chickens otherwise seem to be in excellent health, is to do nothing. Fair warning -- this is an extremely unpopular opinion, but it is what I did. My husband was opposed to giving off label drugs to chickens whose eggs he was eating, particularly given how healthy our chickens looked and acted. I found research suggesting that poultry can self-eliminate many common types of tapeworms. I also made cucumbers and squashes from my garden available to them, as other studies suggested that the seeds of those plants help control tapeworms. Lo and behold, the segments slowly went away with the summer and were completely gone by Fall. I did not have a single chicken fall ill.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I could be wrong but I think Valbazen kills all worms. @casportpony
That's some odd looking feces. Are they getting appropriate sized grit?
You could send a fecal sample to your state diagnostic lab to know for sure what is up. What state are you in?

 

[DougB]

Live in Colorado Springs, the have a whole construction sand pile they scratch through. I thought Valbazen did too, but still seeing these things.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That indicates a fecal sample being read would get to the bottom of it.

Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (Main)
300 West Drake Road, Building C
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1644
Phone: 970-297-1281
Colorado Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory-Rocky Ford (Branch) 27847 County Road 21
Rocky Ford, Colorado 81067-9466
Phone: 719-254-6382

 

[DougB]

Thank You!

 

[Morrigan]

Those white pieces look like tapeworm segments. Were they moving? If they are tapeworms, there have been reports of Valbazen losing in efficacy for them.

 

[DougB]

They did not seem to be moving but the photo was enlarged to show the spots. I have seen them moving in the past whick is why I doesed them 3 times.