Question Re: 10 day f/u fenbendazole treatment for gapeworms/capillary worms

[smooch177]

Sorry if this is posted somewhere else or if it's a silly question...I've searched and searched and can't find it so I'm hoping someone has the answer Maybe @dawg53 ????

I just treated my crew for 5 days with Safeguard for suspected gapeworm/capillary worms (and shockingly I'm starting to see small little gapeworms in a few of their poops the last few days....so glad I followed my gut!) But now I'm at the 10 day mark, do I just give them a 1 time dose or do they need another 5 days??

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[smooch177]

Any worm experts out there???
Anyone?
Bueller?....Beuller????

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you take some droppings in to a vet for a fecal test? Many worms and eggs are not seen in droppings with a naked eye. Roundworms are easier to see in poop, and after worming you may not see worms due to their being absorbed by the body. If you see worms, they may be dead from the wormer. If you have pictures it can help.

 

[smooch177]

I'll work on getting a picture today and I can probably get a sample to a vet.

A lot of my girls have had "foamy" poop the last few days and I saw a few more with little gapeworms. I'm not sure I've actually ever seen a roundworm. Everyone got one follow-up dose of Safeguard yesterday. I have one hen who is still very "hoarse" but has no other respiratory symptoms, she does have a bit of a sour crop so she concerns me a little bit and she was the one I was originally worried about capillary worms.

The other fun issue is I'm pretty positive we had blackhead and just finishing up the metronidazole so FINALLY poops are starting to look normal and the girls are starting to perk up....yay

Thanks for your advice, I'll keep you posted!

 

[Eggcessive]

Chickens very rarely get blackhead. It is more of a turkey disease. Chickens do get cecal worms, the worm that causes it in turkeys. How much SafeGuard are you using? To treat the worst worms, 1/4 ml per pound of weight should be used for 5 days straight given orally to each bird. Here are a couple of articles or threads to read:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1090991/worms-and-worming-warning-graphic-pictures-and-videos
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-worming.html

Usually seen in the trachea of birds after death during necropsy

 

[BobDBirdDog]

X2 on the other advice......but if you are sure they are Gapes/redworm just know the blow in addition to what others say.

most meds just paralyze the worm and since it is paralyzed cannot remain attached and comes out in the poop, or starves to death and then comes out in the poop. AND most meds are not effective in killing the eggs that are laid by the worm so you will have to retreat after they hatch and then agin just to be sure to get them all.

Anyway, the one time treatment is not enough, so you need to re dose at some later time (I could not find info on when the eggs gestate and hatch) as the eggs are probably in the system and waiting to hatch some 10-20 days later.

You should keep in mind that the eggs can be pooped out as well and therefore you also need to treat the grounds where the birds are homed. Amonia dose a pretty good job of the yard, but i prefer to burn (fire) after treatment with some fuel as to be OCD about it. lol

Fenbendazol - safeguard is noted as a treatment, but Ivermectin is also noted as the med for stubborn strains.


I think if you were to re-dose every 10 days you would be better off, and dose 4 times (4x10=40 days). as for (however many days you have been dossing them) I would stick to that schedule as well.


Ivermectin is a little more potent, so I would just dose every month.

as an outside source the wiki link gives a good defintion (sorry my bandwidth is acting up)....so I cant link as usual.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gapeworm

 

[casportpony]

Pictures from the Veterinary Parasitology Reference Manual - Fifth Edition

Roundworm




Cecal worm




Capillary worms




Gapeworm




Tapeworm

 

[casportpony]

Quote:

Abstract

Fenbendazole 4% (Panacur, Hoechst) administered in feed was used to treat chickens infected with Ascaridia galli, Heterakis gallinarum and Railletina spp. It was also used to treat Syngamus trachea in broiler birds. There was a marked drop in helminth egg counts in the faeces on the second day of treatment and the faeces became negative by the seventh day after the last treatment. Post-mortem examination 15 to 21 days later showed that the drug was 100% effective against Ascaridia galli and Heterakis gallinarum at 10 mg/kg. However, for complete removal of Railletina spp. 15 mg/kg was required. Similarly 20 mg/kg fenbendazole was effective against Syngamus trachea. It was concluded that fenbendazole is suitable for the treatment of the important intestinal and tracheal worms of poultry, a dose of 15 to 20 mg/kg for 3 consecutive days being recommended for use under field conditions.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6750887

 

[smooch177]

Thanks for those great pictures with med recommendations Kathy, that helps a ton! I feel fairly good about the treatment I gave them--fenbendazole 50mg/kg x 5 days and I repeated dose 10 days later---looks like should cover pretty much everything but tapeworms, I'll just keep my eyes open for those guys and get my Equimax ready for the next go round!

I'm no chicken expert here, but as far as having gapeworms, all I know is that all of a sudden they are passing quite a few pink colored, y-shaped looking worms probably anywhere from 3-6mm in size and although I don't personally raise turkeys, I'm surrounded by a lot of neighbors who do. And as far as the blackhead, again, I had about half of my flock of 10 develop bright yellow/green watery diarrhea over the course of 2-3 days and few looking really sick. I couldn't figure out any other changes to cause it and I came across the possibility of blackhead and started metronidazole and thankfully within 24-48hrs everyone started to turn the corner for the better. Either way, I'm just grateful that my chickens are looking much healthier and happier than they were 10 days ago


And yes, I have become beyond OCD with disinfecting and cleaning everything I possibly can given these last few weeks, it hasn't been fun at all!! Unfortunately, I live in an area like I said with other birds like turkey, a lot of wild birds and, pigeons and water fowl like geese.

Thanks all for your help and input, I appreciate it!