help --- worms on the butt

[msyrjama]

My hen just came home after being foster cared for for an entire year. We got the chicken ordinance passed here in Duluth Minnesota in August and I finally got my license cleared.

However!

My Australorp is looking a bit disheveled and lethargic. I examined under her wings. Nothing funny. But her butt!!! Tiny white wiggle worms, about 1/4 inch long, very thin, and a white pasty nugget of excrement there. She has lost weight. She is not too active. Not too interested in food. I tried to just give her some high protein cat food to help her wtih the stress of moving home, and now I find the worms. What shall I do????

 

[Attack Chicken]

I'd worm her. And wash her up.

 

[Matt A NC]

Not worms, it's maggots. Flys have laid eggs in the poo that was stuck there.

Clean her rear immediately. The maggots will cause infection. The infection will kill tissue and the maggots will move into the bird.

I lost a hen like this 3 years ago. She was an extremely fluffy cochin and I missed the problem. By the time she was lethargic, it was too late. Under the glob of poo was a hole. i could see here intestines and she was full of maggots. Euthanizing was the only answer.

I hope you have caught it in time.

Matt

 

[Buckaroo]

Maggots are good, they will only eat whats bad, rather it be poo or rotten flesh. Its not good that they are there, might get lucky and they are only eating poo, but sure there is more to it.

 

[rooster-red]

Quote:
Sorry, thats not quite true.

While gigantic maggots only eat necrotic tissue in living animals and are thus arguably symbiotic, certain types of maggots are parasitic, such as Botfly larvae. These larvae spend part of their life cycle as parasites under the skin of living animals. As a result myiasis can occur in the host causing symptoms from sores and irritating lesions to death. This is particularly a problem in warm and damp climates where flies multiply more rapidly.

 

[Buckaroo]

Well slap me with a sledge hammer, they say all that on the discovery channel. I just watched how they used them to treat dead tissue from frost bite, diabeates to save from amputation, cause they only ate the rotten flesh, must of fell asleep before it was over. I knew I shoulda gotten a room at the holiday inn express.

 

[rooster-red]

I had heard it both ways, so I did a lot of digging to find out, since I'm diabetic and you never know if you're going to need that kind of treatment.

In medicine the maggots are all the same species of gigantic maggot, grown in a sterile environment.

In livestock I just wouldn't take the chance.

 

[Bec]

Can chickens get tapeworms? That's what is sounds like from your description. They sometimes look like sesame seeds but when they stretch out they are long, skinny and white. maggots usually are pretty active and lift their heads up and wiggle around a bit.

My guess could be totally off, but sounds like tapeworms to me. I don't even know if chickens can get them, but definitely worm her good!

 

[Guinea Goonie]

You really should pick up one bird per day out of your flock. The unlucky one should get a complete looksie. Check the eyes, the nostriles, the mouth (open wide chickie), The legs, the feathers were they meet the skin and finally the vent.

I do this most every morning. I throw scratch on the ground and I generally have my pick. This really helps in determining if there are any problems with your birds. Do not worry, i feed them a nice treat when I am done with them.

I once caught a bird and ended up isolating her for a few days. She had a thick mucos in the top of her beak. I finally had to take it out by hand. It was crusted and I suppose a left over from my unfortunate problems with CRD.

I am a BIG follower of the Vet Rx treatments on my chickens. Just a few drops on the combs and your done. They smell better too. Yes, my chickens smell like well chickens.

 

[can you hear me now?]

my guess is if they have intestines they can get tapeworms. My advise is the same anyway. Worm that poor chicken and clean it up. Maybe even put vitamins in water for an energy boost so eating wont be so bad or hard fought.