Preventive deworming with ducks?

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Hi friends,

before i opened the door to the duck-house this morning i noticed a couple of worms, drowned in that mud puddle in front of the porch. Forgot to take a picture due to a half working brain and by the time i came back the ducks had already stirred up the puddle, so nothing to see anymore.
Those worms could have been harmless earthworms that just drowned there or they could have been ejected out of a duck's back end…
Is it a good idea to deworm the whole flock as a preventive measure?
If yes, what kind of treatment is recommended? (Wazine?)
How long are the eggs unsafe to eat?
Thank you very much in advance for your help.

 

[Lizzy733]

Is the flock showing any signs of being under the weather? Ideally, I wouldn't recommend drenching unnecessarily - if you can get a fecal sample off to a local vet, they can confirm if there is cause for alarm. Fecal floats are pretty routine - any vet can do them - and then there's no concern of drenching unnecessarily. It's just better to not if you don't have to as, over time, some parasites can develop a resistance. It's not as bad as misuse of antibiotics, but still...
If you're that way inclined, it is something you can do at home with a microscope - just a little learning curve involved - but with a healthy flock, there's room for trail and error.

 

[BDutch]

I don’t know much about ducks. But:
Earthworms are a good thing to have in the soil. They keep the soil airy.

Earthworms are good food for chickens not parasites.

You don’t see the parasite type of worms in the mud. Maybe you can find the taller types in the duck poop if you look carefully. And the smaller types you can see through a microscoop if the ducks are contaminated. Do not give worm medicines if the ducks have no worms. Giving these medicines is not good for their health.

I suppose there must be an article on internal parasites (worms) here on BYC.

 

[chickens really]

Oh my! I have never wormed a bird and definitely not a duck here ever. I don't know what your seeing?
If only a earthworm it won't harm the Ducks.
You definitely have a lot of threads with a lot of issues?

 

[Isaac 0]

I've never had to deworm any of my flock ever.If ducks are kept in a healthy environment they usually don't have any problems.I wouldn't take any immediate action without a positive identification of the worm.

 

[Miss Lydia]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/parasites-in-waterfowl.961591/https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/IND43894745/PDF

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Hi friends, somehow i dropped the ball on this thread… That dang cold is getting to me
So what you're telling me is that i won't be able to see life or dead worms in my ducks poop if they were infected and i could collect a (suspicious) poop-sample and ask a vet to do a float test or buy a microscope and (try to) do that myself…
Always wanted to buy a microscope! Maybe the perspective of "terribly suffering" Duckies will survive the budget directrice? - What kind of duck-sickness would require a telescope?

 

[casportpony]

Unless your ducks are pooping out worms, the only way to know if they have worms is to have *routine* fecal tests done. And if you have any unexplained deaths you should have a necropsy done or do one yourself and check the entire digestive tract for parasites.

Many people do de-worm their flocks, many people don't. You mentioned Wazine, which is good for large roundworms but does not treat cecal worm, capillary worms, tapeworms, etc.

Me I do not de-worm my ducks unless they look iffy, then they get treated with Safeguard or Valbazen.

Does that help at all?

 

[Miss Lydia]

When my chickens had round worms I def saw them in their poop. Since mine seem to get worms and earth worms are suppose to be a carrier I worm my flock. And since all my birds are together they all get wormed. Take poop from your ducks into the vet and they will check for parasites.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Unless your ducks are pooping out worms, the only way to know if they have worms is to have *routine* fecal tests done. And if you have any unexplained deaths you should have a necropsy done or do one yourself and check the entire digestive tract for parasites.

Many people do de-worm their flocks, many people don't. You mentioned Wazine, which is good for large roundworms but does not treat cecal worm, capillary worms, tapeworms, etc.

Me I do not de-worm my ducks unless they look iffy, then they get treated with Safeguard or Valbazen.

Does that help at all?

That helped a lot! Thank you very much! I won't do any "routine" deworming. My Duckies look a bit dirty and ruffled up at the moment, but i blame the wet weather, the loamy ground and the joy of mating in a huge dirty puddle…
Still will buy a microscope and learn "poop analytics"!