Just found a worm in an egg! Ewwwwww!!!

[Granolamom]

Getting ready to crack 2 eggs for breakfast, I discovered a greyish lump in one of them, about the size of a lentil. Upon further examination with a magnifying glass, it turned out to be a white worm, about 1 1/2 inches long, and dead.
I worm my chickens naturally by adding garlic powder and cayenne pepper to their feed. I'm always on "poop patrol" and very vigilant about any sign of parasites, but have never seen any in the entire 3 years we've had chickens. Could this be an isolated incident, or is it a sign of severe infestation, since the worm ended up in an egg?

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Could be a fluke incident, but maybe it is also bringing into question the effectivness of the anti worm program you having going. Any possibilities of getting some poop samples to a vet to know for sure if they have significant worm issues going on.

 

[BayouPoules]

OK,.. check this out..

"It's impossible for a worm that is ingested to pass from the digestive system to the reproductive system. The worm you found entered the cloaca and passed up the oviduct to where the egg was encapsulated. Worming your hen will not affect that problem. It's pretty rare, so I doubt it will happen again but here it's described in the Merk Vetrinary Manual under reproductive problems."-by gallusdomesticus

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/205802.htm



This isfrom ..https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3957101

 

[Granolamom]

Unfortunately, no vet in my area will consider even looking at a chicken (trust me, we've tried for 3 years to find one). I prefer to use natural and herbal wormers for all of our animals, but am not opposed to applying a chemical wormer, if there really is evidence of an infestation. Wish I knew for sure, though, instead of just going out there and poisening the entire flock of 19, and then having to discard all our eggs for 2 weeks...

 

[crawfordmama]

Let's hope you don't encounter this again!

 

[Granolamom]

Quote:
Wow! I see how a worm could possibly enter the oviduct from outside and then be incorporated into an egg. However, does this mean that this would be the ONLY way a worm can end up inside an egg? If there is a severe infestation in the chicken, wouldn't the worms be found in the oviduct as well...?

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Vet should/might check the poop sample though no need to see the chicken? Poop is poop, does not matter so much what poop it is from but rather the worms/worms eggs are in it.

 

[dawg53]

You can take a fecal sample to a vet and for small charge they'll examine it for you. Sounds like a roundworm to me. Like I've always said, natural wormers might be preventatives...but not treatments for worms. You saw one worm in the egg, just think how many thousands of worm eggs are being laid inside your chickens innards and being deposited onto the ground to restart the worms lifecycle all over again...just waiting for your hens to pick them up and start all over again. You need to use a chemical wormer to stop the worms lifecycle, then repeat again in 14 days to prevent the ones that were missed the first time from laying eggs. Tossing eggs in the garbage is a small price to pay for healthy chickens living a long time.

 

[silkiechicken]

Worm, possible, but could also be a meat spot. Sometimes skin, tissue, or blood can slough off inside the hen and get wrapped up inside of an egg before they are laid.

 

[Granolamom]

Quote:
Yes, I've had that happen on occasion, but this was definitely a worm (I took it out of the pan

, placed it on a piece of paper, then "unrolled it" with a pointy object. Almost 2 inches long, and DEFINITELY a worm, as I examined it under my son's magnifying glass. Yuck!