Please help - look at this picture - worm or intestine or ????

[amyduck]

Can you identify this???

I posted earlier, but still need help!

I'm moving the picture up to the top here so that it's easier for someone to look at and identify.
The lid is 4.5" wide, and the length of the worm/intestine is about 15", I collected another 6" in the early afternoon, found attached to some healthy looking poop (the morning one didn't really seem to have very much poop.

Note the light colored root or fiber that I found with it..it has a sharp piece you can see at the bottom... maybe this severed the intestine?




----------------- Here's what I posted earlier and the responses

I have an older rhode island red that has full run of my yard.

This morning, I saw a bright blood-red pile below where she roosts.... so she probably passed it... on closer inspection it looked like a long worm...

I scooped it up and rinsed it off and also noticed a 6" root-like fiber in with it.. with what is almost like a little thorn on it. I thought at first it might be a way the chicken passed it from her system.. however, when I look at the "worm" with my loop, even though I don't really see a head, it does seem to be worm like... filled with blood.

But now, based on one 2 of the responses, I'm wondering if could be part of her intestine.... also her comb seems to be lighter in color and I'm wondering if she could be bleeding internally? If it really is intestine, could it just be sloughing off an inside layer and not the whole thing? I.e... is she going to die if her intestine is coming out?

Other than her comb, "Ginger" seems pretty much okay, she has eaten some and this afternoon I found a poop with normal looking poop and about 6 more Inches of the blood filled intestine or worm....

Opossum and raccoons do travel through my yard, so something could have been in their poop - even though I try to scoop it up whenever I see it.

Several people have offered help below, and at this point I'm leaning towards the intestine... and I'm hoping she isn't bleeding internally and wondering if I should do anything...

Any help will be appreciated. I posted a picture below.
Thanks!

 

[drdanags]

As I read, tape worms can be quite common in chickens (as far as parasites go). They are ribbon shaped, head has suckers and tiny "hooks". They make wormers for chickens as I understand (I have not bought any and I am admitedly new to chickens). The worms can contaminate your ground, so you may need to be on a lookout for this.

Hopefully others will have some good answers for you.

 

[amyduck]

Thanks drdanags - I should have mentioned, this "worm" is round, not flat and not segmented, it does vary in width a little though. At any rate, it doesn't look like a tape worm!

 

[amyduck]

I still need help!

I did a little research and haven't found anything.... my hen is eating, but when I looked at her, it seems like her comb is lighter, more orangey than red....maybe it's my imagination, but now I'm wonder if she's anemic - bleeding internally??

And! I finally figured out how to post a picture - here is what came out - I rinsed it and stretched it out and found that root-like fiber in with it - note the bottom left of it, has a thorny protusion - a bit sharp... could this be a way to get it out? Or is that a worm? the section ending in the middle sort of looks like it could be the end of a worm...

Help!.... you can see why it was rather distressing! Also when I first saw it it was very bright red.


Can anyone offer any help at all?

Thanks.

 

[kathyinmo]

Gosh, I have nooooooooo idea!

 

[dawg53]

Chicken worms are normally white or off white in color. The exceptions would be gapeworm, gizzard worm and stomach worms I believe. The only worm that would be 15" in length in a chicken would be a tapeworm and they are white/off white in color. That is not a tapeworm in your photo because I've dealt with tapeworms. It appears to be an intestinal tube...part of the birds digestive tract...otherwise I have no clue what it is.
http://healthybirds.umd.edu/Disease/Deworming Birds.pdf

 

[amyduck]

Thanks for confirming that you don't think it's worms....

Is the intestinal tract that thin in diameter? I just searched the yard and found some healthy looking poop with another 6 inches of the same worm like matter....

Do you have any idea if chickens can slough off some of it and still be okay? What do you think about the root and thorn theory?

At this point I'm trying to decide whether I should take her to the vets or not... recently lost my job... so I'm trying to avoid it...

She does generally seem okay though not wandering around as much as she usually does, but it is hotter than usual today...

Thanks!

 

[amyduck]

Please note the size of the lid in the picture is only about 6" in diameter - the average diameter of the worm/intestine is about spaghetti size....

 

[klmclain1]

Check this out - especially the picture on page 2 (not the drawing on page one). Parts of it look ALOT like the picture you posted.
http://www2.ca.uky.edu/afspoultry-files/pubs/Anatomy_Digestive.pdf

 

[amyduck]

Yes it does! That's pretty scary if she is passing some of her intestine! That said nothing seemed necrotic...(assuming I would know what that would look like...) I wonder if it could be part of the cecum too..? It says:
"The ceca are two blind pouches located where the small and large intestines join. Some of the water remaining in the fecal material is reabsorbed here. Another important function of the ceca is the fermentation of any remaining coarse materials."

I wonder if the "root" could be a coarse material that it was trying to breakdown??.

I also could swear my hen's comb is lighter... but wouldn't I know if she was bleeding internally? Other than some old plastered on poop on her feathers, her vent is fine.

Thanks.