Hen's eating slow worms

[Hubert Cumberdale]

You cannot see roundworm eggs. Usually the only time you get a visual of a worm, it's a whole roundworm that is passed, or tapeworm. Tapeworm segments (these are segments of the worm that contain the eggs) usually appear as grains of rice, and may be moving when they are fresh. Occasionally a whole tapeworm will be expelled, but usually you see the egg segments. If it's neither of those things, then a picture of what you are seeing would help in identifying it. Sometimes people mistake feather sheath dust for worm eggs. A chicken can be carrying internal parasites with no outward evidence at all. When a vet does a fecal float test they look with a microscope at droppings to identify the worm eggs, which are microscopic.

They look very much like eggs. Oval, translucent looking things.
Here's a link to my original post about it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/worm-eggs.1192784/

 

[coach723]

OK, saw your picture and read the comments. I'd have to say that first off I've no idea what kind of egg that is, but it is not from a parasite in your chicken. I would guess insect, probably laid after the dropping was there, but that's a guess. I'm attaching a couple of images to illustrate, the first is a drawing, so no scale, of the different common eggs of parasites that infect chickens. The second is a photo of a microscope slide from a fecal flotation, with the egg on the left from a round worm and the smaller on the right is a capillary worm egg, at 40X magnification. So you can see they are much smaller than what you saw on your dropping.

 

[Hubert Cumberdale]

OK, saw your picture and read the comments. I'd have to say that first off I've no idea what kind of egg that is, but it is not from a parasite in your chicken. I would guess insect, probably laid after the dropping was there, but that's a guess. I'm attaching a couple of images to illustrate, the first is a drawing, so no scale, of the different common eggs of parasites that infect chickens. The second is a photo of a microscope slide from a fecal flotation, with the egg on the left from a round worm and the smaller on the right is a capillary worm egg, at 40X magnification. So you can see they are much smaller than what you saw on your dropping.
View attachment 1453162
View attachment 1453167

That's very helpful. Thanks alot. Its quantity of the eggs that was bothering me. Sometimes up to 50 or so on a single dropping. Only ever in the coop though. Never notice them when they are out in the garden. Whatever lays them, never sticks around. The coop is cleaned daily and never noticed any bugs around.

 

[Aerliss]

That egg looks remarkably like a snail or slug egg. But it'd be odd for them to lay in chicken poo. They bury their eggs in loose soil and compost heaps.

I wonder if one of the conservation trusts could weigh in on the slow worm problem? They may like to rehome some. Not sure who though, unless you have a local group.

 

[Hubert Cumberdale]

That egg looks remarkably like a snail or slug egg. But it'd be odd for them to lay in chicken poo. They bury their eggs in loose soil and compost heaps.

I wonder if one of the conservation trusts could weigh in on the slow worm problem? They may like to rehome some. Not sure who though, unless you have a local group.

We have a wall that makes up one side of our run, which is mostly covered by climbing shrubs. Can't see the top of the wall, as there's a tall fence in front, separating our garden, from the neighbors behind. I'm guessing they're nesting under foliage on top of the wall and sometimes going into the wall climbers. Then they fall into the pit of death (our chicken run). I'd notice my chickens jumping for branches to tug on, which I thought was odd, as they won't eat the plant. It might be my imagination, but it seems very much like they're doing, to shake the slow worms down. Pretty much daily now. If I catch them quick enough, I wrestle it off them and release it. Usually too late though lol

 

[coach723]

If you ever do find out what those eggs in the droppings are, please let us know. Now I'm curious! I did search for insect eggs to try to find a match, but most of them that are close in resemblance are laid in clusters of many, none singly, so still a mystery. Where is an entomologist when you need one?

 

[Birdsong 82]

I’d really like to help you but don’t know much about that subject. But when I saw this thread I did have to ask what in the world are slow worms?

 

[Hubert Cumberdale]

I’d really like to help you but don’t know much about that subject. But when I saw this thread I did have to ask what in the world are slow worms?

They're legless lizards. We only have a few species of lizard in the UK. Slowworms being the most common

 

[Hubert Cumberdale]

If you ever do find out what those eggs in the droppings are, please let us know. Now I'm curious! I did search for insect eggs to try to find a match, but most of them that are close in resemblance are laid in clusters of many, none singly, so still a mystery. Where is an entomologist when you need one?

Will do. There are usually lots of them. 50 or so per dropping.

 

[Birdsong 82]

Wow. Legless lizard. Never even heard of that. That’s pretty crazy. Sounds like it’s a pain in the butt to though. Thank you for letting me know