Help!

Date sort Score sort
wwilson0911

wwilson0911

Hatching
Oct 2, 2016
1
0
7
Of all the years I have owned chickens, I've never ran into this problem!
It was a normal day, I went out to feed and check on my girls. I got done feeding them and was on my way out of their coop,I looked down to see a runny pile of chicken poo with a white ribbon sitting inside the pile. . To what I say, "you've got to be kidding me!"
I got a stick to investigate and sure enough, I pull out a long, flat white worm
1f623.png

I assume it's a tapeworm. My problem is, I have read for hours trying to find a solution, but apparently tapeworms in chickens is a rare happening.
The more I think about it, there was a dead skunk by their coop and I left it thinking it could be a treat for the crows that hang out on my property....didn't think about the chickens pecking at it! Stupid mistake on my part. But that's where I think they may have gotten the worms from.
Help!!!
What can I do to get rid of the worms?
 
I'm only familiar with tapeworms in dogs (used to raise), don't know if it's the same as with chickens. In dogs, tapeworms passed segments, not a long, flat worm. They had to pass through a carrier before infecting something else. In dogs, swallowing a flea could cause tapeworm to develop.You may want to checkout "tapeworms," by putting that in the search box.
 
Welcome to BYC! It's great to have you.

I would actually guess you have found a roundworm. While chickens can pass whole tapeworms, it's rare. Mostly you will see small, twitchy, rice-like grains (eggs/segments). Roundworms, on the other hand, are very obvious whole worms. I'd recommend starting with the treatment for Roundworms, which is Wazine. Dosage for Wazine is 1oz/gallon in the drinking water for 1-2 days. If that does not work, you may try Praziquantel for tapeworms; Praziquantel is easiest to give via the horse worming paste Equimax, and dosage is 1 small pea sized amount per standard hen (by "small pea" I mean 1/2-2/3 the size of a pea). In the case of either wormer, you should follow a 2-3 week egg withdrawal period post worming.
 
Last edited:
Pew. Those old skunks. And worms to boot?!

Here's my two cents. Since there's a question on what type of worm it is (I also suspect round worm) there are broad spectrum wormers. Safegaurd is one. It is also a horse wormer. It will remove cecal worms, round worms...the works. Wazine is super inexpensive...but it's put in the water. And if you have a flock that ranges your yard, skunks
wink.png
and have various water sources...that medicine in the waterer may not be as efficacious. Just a pea-sized amount. Repeat in 9-10 days. Hold eggs for two weeks after that. Also...here's a tricky bit: If your flock is molting right now, some of these wormers will fret the feathers. They'll grow in funky. If your location is somewhere warm...then maybe not a big deal. If your flock is highly dependent on those feathers to stay warm this winter...then you might want to wait until they have their feathers in and then treat for worms. Maybe check the label of the medication or do an online search for the side effects. There are also some very knowledgable members here on BYC that know the ins and outs of worming. I think it's just Valbazen that does that. But I always do it for Safegaurd too.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom