I've just treated for gapeworm... Yuck. What's my next step?

[kerriliane]

Okay, i went to the feed store, and next door to that is the big everything store and they carry all the medicines..
I got apple flavoured "bimectin (ivermectin)" paste.
I went into the coop and some chickens were adventerous enough to stick their beaks in the 'syringe' and take a dallop, but others I had to chase down and force feed it to.
After doing this, i noticed at least half of my 40 chooks gasping... I made sure that the ones i saw gasp got a good dose..

Do I clean the coop out tomorrow morning? (its 245pm now..)
Or do i do it tonight?
also.. what about the run/my yard?
they have a 400sq ft run, plus my 2 acres... what do i do about that?
I can rake their run, and have bf mow the lawn on the acreage...

and when i clean the coop, i have to remove alll the shavings right?
should i also clean the walls/roosts/nest boxes with cleaner or anything?
thanks!

Also - I know that I have to get rid of all my eggs between now and 2 weeks from now..
Is there a reason behind this?
Do I have to?
I'm finnaallllyyy getting more than 4-5 eggs a day from my 28 egg laying age hens
What is the harm if I don't do this?

Selling their eggs pays for their food!

 

[PunkinPeep]

I haven't dealt with gapeworm. That said, i have no idea why you would do any special cleaning after treating for it. If your chickens have gapeworm, they got the larva likely from earthworms. And it is unlikely that you will keep them from eating those if they become available.

I believe the reason for tossing eggs after medicating is because the medicine may be shed in the egg for that period of time. As to ivermectin, many people are fine with eating those eggs because ivermectin is a drug that is safely used on humans. However, i wouldn't want to sell eggs that i think might have medicine in them unless your customers are o.k. with that.

I'm answering off the top of my head here, so you might do a search on the withdrawal time for ivermectin. I can't remember if you really need to do that.

 

[kerriliane]

The ivermectin appears to have worked! My favourite chicken who was very gaspy didn't gasp at all in the 1/2 hour i spent watching them this morning!!

I've searched the forums and online, and have seen withdrawl - one week, ten days, two weeks, not at all.. So I get confused.
Also - the chickens scratch around in their litter in the coop and I believe they poop out all the worms once you worm them? so I should be removing ALLL the litter to remove alll the worms from the coop?
This is why I'm asking as I'm not 100% on exactly how all this works. All I know is i didnt want another chicken to die!
I thought for a while it was a cold so i medicated for a CRD and none of them got better... which was really sad..

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
I believe that the ivermectin kills the worm. You probably need to retreat in 14 days to kill any larva in their systems also. Like i said, i'm not an expert, but i would not be doing extra cleaning. If they are pooping out the organisms, the organisms are dead.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That is so cool about the worms being gone. I haven't had to deal with gape worms but I have delt with round worms and noone has ever told me I had to clean out the coop Like Pumpkin Peep said they are dead when they shed them.

 

[kerriliane]

I assumed its because there can be eggs from the worms in the chickens feces..
And If the chickens are scratching around in their litter... they can find the eggs and ingest them?

 

[Judy]

Quote:
That isn't the way it works. You don't have to clean the coop. They may get gapeworm again, probably from earthworms or snails, then you treat again.

Google "gapeworm in chickens" and lots of good stuff comes up.

 

[Pine Grove]

Quote:
The eggs are coughed up, swallowed then passed out in the droppings..These eggs will embryonate in about two weeks on the ground or in litter, They are infective if swallowed..Earthworms and snails that have fed on the gapeworm eggs are also infective..earthworms can remain infective for up to 4 1/2 years..Gapeworms have a direct and indirect life cycle..Gapeworms are rare in young chickens and extremly rare in adults