Preventive deworming with ducks?

[WannaBeHillBilly]

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.

Nononono! My vet can't do that! I must have a microscope and learn how to perform that by myself!

 

[casportpony]

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"!

There are three great articles by @Sue Gremlin in the learning center, and @KsKingBee has a thread about doing fecals.

 

[Miss Lydia]

We will need pics of course!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

We will need pics of course!

Good point! So that microscope will need a connection to a computer. - Of course for documentation purpose…

 

[casportpony]

Good point! So that microscope will need a connection to a computer. - Of course for documentation purpose…

https://www.amscope.com/

 

[casportpony]

https://www.amazon.com/stores/AmScope/AmScope/page/8814F590-27AB-4FCF-9A7E-5394E1BD0751

 

[Lizzy733]

They don't have to look suspicious to be tested, just have to be 'fresh' - in a fecal float, the vet would be on the look out for parasite eggs - which generally all have that prominent cell wall an nucleus look to them. Getting a fresh sample is more important as the eggs can hatch and degrade quickly outside the body - as in within a few hours. It is not impossible for the worms to come out in the poop, but that would be indicative of a 'heavy' parasite load and I'd suspect they'd be showing signs of illness at that point.
I'll start doing my own eventually; have gotten my chemist father-in-law whip me up some sodium nitrate as a float solution (but there are also recipes for a sugar-water solution) and bothered the vet for a 'fecalizer' last time I was there (though that's not necessary either) - just need to get around to unpacking the microscope from storage....

 

[casportpony]

You will want a centrifuge too I think.
This vet says centrifugation is the way to go http://www.capcvet.org/expert-articles/why-fecal-centrifugation-is-better/

"I perform an interesting exercise every year in my parasitology class by using a fecal sample from a dog with a hookworm burden typical of what practitioners would see in pet dogs. The students are divided into three groups. One group performs a direct smear, another group mixes 2 g of feces with flotation solution and performs a passive flotation procedure, and the third group uses 2 g of feces and performs the centrifugal flotation procedure.
Each year the results are graphic. Usually only 25% of the students performing the direct smear recover hookworm eggs. About 70% of the students performing the passive flotation procedure report seeing hookworm eggs. And every year, without exception, 100% of the students performing the centrifugal flotation procedure report recovering hookworm eggs. This simple exercise convinces my students of the improved sensitivity of centrifugation. Improved recovery rates using centrifugal flotation procedures are also substantiated by published studies.1-4"

 

[Sue Gremlin]

You will want a centrifuge too I think.
This vet says centrifugation is the way to go http://www.capcvet.org/expert-articles/why-fecal-centrifugation-is-better/

You are absolutely correct. I struggled with that writing those articles because this is quite true and is backed up by good data, but I left it out because a centrifuge isn't exactly a cheap and easy thing to obtain. But yes! Centrifugation will increase the quality of your results.
Dr. Blagburn here gives reasons for this and the value of centrifugation.
https://www.dvm360.com/view/why-fecal-centrifugation-better
In fact, I think I'll add this to the article.

 

[Lizzy733]

Good point! So that microscope will need a connection to a computer. - Of course for documentation purpose…

Mine does, but I'm really bad at documentation... and getting it out of the box apparently as I've had the other bits since September. That and my first vet fecal came back clear at the beginning of last year so not expecting I'll see much worth documenting. I could be pleasantly(?) surprised and find my girls are riddled with parasites ?:/