How to treat Giardia?

[Mallory8502]

I had been letting my dog drink water from my rain barrel system (not anymore) and she caught Giardia. She has been treated but the chickens were drinking the same water and now all of them have diarrhea. I am suspecting they have it too but I have no idea how to treat them.

I still have Corid from when they got coccidia when they were younger, but the package does not say anything about Giardia. I don't have an avian vet where I live plus I have heard Giardia is hard to find in fecal samples. I would like to go ahead and treat them but don't know what medicine to buy. I have a tractor supply, a southern states, and a petsmart nearby.

 

[Cknldy]

I have heard of giardia in streams but not in rainwater. Interesting...

 

[Mallory8502]

I have heard of giardia in streams but not in rainwater. Interesting...

It isn't the rainwater itself, it is because the rainwater is being captured by the roof first and running through the gutter. Apparently the wild bird and squirrel poop on the roof, and in the gutters, is probably infected with Giardia, and then it washes into the barrels, at least that is what the vet said.

 

[dawg53]

I had been letting my dog drink water from my rain barrel system (not anymore) and she caught Giardia. She has been treated but the chickens were drinking the same water and now all of them have diarrhea. I am suspecting they have it too but I have no idea how to treat them.

I still have Corid from when they got coccidia when they were younger, but the package does not say anything about Giardia. I don't have an avian vet where I live plus I have heard Giardia is hard to find in fecal samples. I would like to go ahead and treat them but don't know what medicine to buy. I have a tractor supply, a southern states, and a petsmart nearby.

Purchase metronidazole 250mg online as "fishzole." Dosage is one 250mg tablet given orally to each bird once a day for 5 days.

 

[Mallory8502]

Purchase metronidazole 250mg online as "fishzole." Dosage is one 250mg tablet given orally to each bird once a day for 5 days.

Thank you.

 

[casportpony]

If metronidazole doesn't work, you could try fenbendazole (Safeguard). I think it might be what the vet gave you for you dog. Don't know if it would work or not, but it sure won't hurt and it will get rid of most worms.

http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/digestive_system/giardiasis/overview_of_giardiasis.html

-Kathy

 

[Cknldy]

Wow, what a way to ruin water for everyone huh?!? Darn the beautiful wildlife for liking our homes so much;-) Thanks for posting this because I don't think Giardia would even cross most folks' minds.

 

[Mallory8502]

If metronidazole doesn't work, you could try fenbendazole (Safeguard). I think it might be what the vet gave you for you dog. Don't know if it would work or not, but it sure won't hurt and it will get rid of most worms.

http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/digestive_system/giardiasis/overview_of_giardiasis.html

-Kathy

The vet gave my dog metronidazole 500mg. I explained to the vet what was going on with the chickens but they refused to give me an RX just because they don't treat birds. It was really frustrating considering I can go online and get the same thing OTC for fish - I just didn't want to wait for shipping. The local pet store only had 10mg, not 250.

So I bought safeguard 10% wormer like you said from tractor supply. The chickens are nearing 5-6 months old so it is a good time to do it anyway. None of them are acting sick so I hope it isn't too hard on them. The safeguard came a couple of different ways and I bought the small bottle of liquid labeled for goats - I am very confused about dosage! Can you help?

 

[casportpony]

The dose listed on the bottle is for goats (5mg/kg), but chickens get more than that. Lately I've been giving mine between .2ml and .5ml for five days in a row (20mg-50mg/kg). I'm very OCD when it comes to medicating my animals, so those that can be weighed are weighed and dosed accordingly.

If your chickens poop looks normal and they're acting fine, I see no reason to treat them with metronidazole, but that just me.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Sorry, I re-read your post and since they all have the runs I'd order the metronidazole for sure.

-Kathy