Repeat Wormings with Continued Loose Stools

[MrsAuberry00]

I have a hen who had watery stools but was acting normal in any other way. Due to a hawk issue, we kept our 5 hens confined in their coop and run for a while. During this time, they drank more water so my husband convinced me the loose stools were due to increased water intake, (logical, but as it turns out, wrong.) A week or so later, I found stool with roundworms in it. I used Wazine to worm them and kept them in their run and coop to be sure they'd drink enough of the treated water. One week later, I wormed them again, (as recommended.) This was one week ago and I'm still seeing that one of my hens has slightly loose stool and I am seeing bits of light blood evident in the urine part of someone's stool. I don't see any visible worms anymore, but I'm at a little bit of a loss. Wednesday is my one year anniversary of being a chicken tender, so while I'm not necessarily a newbie, I'm still learning. Any suggestions or insights are very much appreciated.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Sometimes light blood looking pieces might be intestinal lining being shed.

I would NOT treat again, without a fecal float to verify species... wormer is poison and VERY hard on a chickens' system. Only round worms and tape worms can be seen in droppings. All others will stay living in the digestive tract and only pass their microscopic eggs (oocysts), that we will never see. I don't know if Wazine treats them all or not.. but just mentioning possibilities.

It's true increased water intake CAN cause loose stools. But it's also true that diarrhea does NOT have to mean worms... I took a sample to the vet from a hen who constantly has the runs... and one of my dogs scooted their bum on the floor. BOTH came back negative.

Cocci is also a possibility.

I personally would giver her time to recover since not all immune systems are the same. I would consider adding in a probiotic source of some sort (yogurt or raw ACV) to maybe help get the digestive flora back on track.

I did see one chicken who had constant runs and with all kinds of tests never a condition identified... until it ended in liver failure verified via necropsy. Not suspecting it. Just surprising how many things can happen in chickens.

I would definitely keep watch on her... but don't think I would worm again. It a good way to make an already ill bird much worse off if it isn't the actual problem.

I'm not a newb either... but even after about 9 years now I still learn something new ALL the time!

Hope she is well! And your hawk issue resolves also.

 

[casportpony]

I don't know if Wazine treats them all or not.. but just mentioning possibilities.

Wazine only treat large roundworms and it only treats them *if* they drink enough medicated water.

 

[dawg53]

How long did you leave the wazine treated water out for them to drink? if you left it out for them to drink over several days, it can possibly cause internal bleeding. Wazine is for one day use only.

 

[MrsAuberry00]

How long did you leave the wazine treated water out for them to drink? if you left it out for them to drink over several days, it can possibly cause internal bleeding. Wazine is for one day use only.

One day.

 

[MrsAuberry00]

I personally would giver her time to recover since not all immune systems are the same. I would consider adding in a probiotic source of some sort (yogurt or raw ACV) to maybe help get the digestive flora back on track.

I use Rooster Booster in their water which has lacto bacillus in it.

 

[casportpony]

If you want to be 100% sure that they don't have worms I suggest that you buy some Valbazen and treat them. That's what I would do if they were mine.

 

[Ravynscroft]

If you want to be 100% sure that they don't have worms I suggest that you buy some Valbazen and treat them. That's what I would do if they were mine.

X2

 

[MrsAuberry00]

If you want to be 100% sure that they don't have worms I suggest that you buy some Valbazen and treat them. That's what I would do if they were mine.

Thanks! I'll look into getting some.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would probably go with getting a fecal float performed, to see if there is a problem. It will also look for coccidia. I use Valbazen or Wormout Gel for worming when I do it twice a year.