Live roundworms in poop 1 day after valbazen

[klbaker75]

Hi I am keeping a hen for my brother that is sick. I don’t know a lot of history on her except they've had her since she was 5-6 months old and she’s now about 3 years. She is a buff orp. She was unable to get into her house to sleep on Tuesday night and slept in a storm that night so I took her home with me to see what was wrong. She is bone thin. I did a fecal on her and within 2 minutes set up only there were 100 roundworm eggs on slide. I normally wait 10 minutes. I gave her valbazen yesterday at 2:30 pm and just now she started pooping out worms at 10:30. I’ve been watching for them. I assumed one day later the worms would be dead. Her stool sample this morning was completely negative. I have read valbazen is short acting so I’m nervous that they are still alive inside of her. Can anyone confirm if this is normal? Also she appears to have some liver issues. Her urates are pretty mustard yellow. I treated her with poultry cell for iron in case she’s anemic and that’s the cause of the yellow urates but no change so far. I’ve got her on milk thistle. I’ve had good results on my own hens in the past with that. My second question is can heavy worm infestation cause liver damage? Thanks for any help.

 

[MandaH]

I am not sure on the answer, except I wondered if you could share a picture of her as I would like to see what she looks like to have a higher load of parasites? I need to start doing fecals and such as it sounds so interesting.

 

[klbaker75]

Oddly enough she looks completely normal. My brother was shocked when he picked her up. They don’t usually handle them. I have never felt a chicken that lightweight. She should be easily a 6 pound girl. I believe she is about 1.5 lbs. maybe 2. My scale is broke so I have no way to know. Her feathers are all puffy and she hid it well. When you feel her body though there’s nothing. No muscle or fat.

 

[dawg53]

Valbazen (Albendazole) actually stays in the chickens system for several days. If worms arnt absorbed as protein in the digestive tract, they can be excreted in feces during that time frame. Valbazen kills all known types of worms that chickens can get, including flukes and the protozoa that causes giardia. Personally I'd prefer to use Metronidazole for giardia. However with tapeworms; withholding feed, higher doses, and several dosings for a longer period of time would be required to eliminate tapeworms. With tapeworms, it would be best to use praziquantel. I've dealt with tapeworms quite a few times and they are tough to get rid of.


https://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2513&Itemid=2786

 

[klbaker75]

Valbazen (Albendazole) actually stays in the chickens system for several days. If worms arnt absorbed as protein in the digestive tract, they can be excreted in feces during that time frame. Valbazen kills all known types of worms that chickens can get, including flukes and the protozoa that causes giardia. Personally I'd prefer to use Metronidazole for giardia. However with tapeworms; withholding feed, higher doses, and several dosings for a longer period of time would be required to eliminate tapeworms. With tapeworms, it would be best to use praziquantel. I've dealt with tapeworms quite a few times and they are tough to get rid of.


https://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2513&Itemid=2786

Thank you! I’m glad to know she’s still got it in her. Thankfully she doesn’t have tapeworms. So far she has pooped out 15 roundworms!! Poor girl.

 

[dawg53]

The worms have weakened her, including her immune system. I highly recommend giving her plain boiled white rice mixed with buttermilk to eat for a couple of days, then add it to her feed to eat for a couple more days.
Buttermilk is an excellent probiotic that coats the digestive tract and is easily absorbed, unlike yogurt which has a tendency to pass through them. The buttermilk will help rebuild her immune system. The rice will settle her innards and rebuild her strength.