Roundworms AND tapeworms :(

[Lalachickens]

Hello, hello! I have a worming conundrum!

Quick facts:
-flock of 8 hens, 1 rooster, 5 8-week-old chicks that were hatched by our hen (we have NOT treated the chicks as I read not to worm them until they are fully grown, nor have I found worms in their small droppings)
-all are blue or golden wyandottes
-behaviour-wise, we are only worried about two of the hens who have recently had poopy butts, one is a bit lethargic and has diarrhea. Both are a bit lower in weight as well. The rest of the flock seems totally normal.
-we keep a very clean coop: sand as litter in the coop which we scoop every morning, and we scoop the entire yard every morning. I’m scooping every few hours right now to remove any wormy droppings due to the situation below:

We were doing a routine fall deworming two days ago (Tuesday) with ivermectin paste orally. Got that done
The twist is that AFTER we administered the ivermectin, we saw droppings that had tapeworm fragments in it (I am SURE of this: I have photos and even a gross wriggly video), which requires different medication.
I had planned on retreating the ivermectin in 10-14 days as suggested from many sources, but with the “tapeworm twist”, I’m not sure how to proceed!
We acquired some Eqvalan Gold (which is Ivermectin and Praziquantel), so we are ready to take on the tapeworms Someone had bought all of the Safeguard an hour before we got to the only store around us…

So, anyone know how soon I can treat the tapeworm???? I know worming can be hard on their systems so don’t want to tax them even more.

Advice is appreciated

 

[Eggcessive]

Can show a picture of the ingredients (how many milligrams of ivermectin and praziquantel in your Eqvalan Gold? For some reason, I cannot find it online. I can find dosage for Zimectrin Gold and Eqiumax which are the common products in the US. If the Eqvalan Gold is the same as one of those, the dose would be the same. I would probably go ahead 14 days from the last dose, and treat for the tapeworms, then repeat it in another 14 days. But not all chickens in your flock may have tapeworms, or need the praziquantel. Many people feel that ivermectin has lost it’s effectiveness against treating general worms in chickens. I will also tag @ casportpony in case she wants to chime in. If you could upload your video of tapeworms to YouTube or Vimeo, and post any pictures, that might help.

 

[Lalachickens]

Can show a picture of the ingredients (how many milligrams of ivermectin and praziquantel in your Eqvalan Gold? For some reason, I cannot find it online. I can find dosage for Zimectrin Gold and Eqiumax which are the common products in the US. If the Eqvalan Gold is the same as one of those, the dose would be the same. I would probably go ahead 14 days from the last dose, and treat for the tapeworms, then repeat it in another 14 days. But not all chickens in your flock may have tapeworms, or need the praziquantel. Many people feel that ivermectin has lost it’s effectiveness against treating general worms in chickens. I will also tag @ casportpony in case she wants to chime in. If you could upload your video of tapeworms to YouTube or Vimeo, and post any pictures, that might help.

In another thread you, @Eggcessive said it is the same thing as Zimectrin, and @casportpony broke down the dosage - very very helpful! Each syringe contains 120mg of Ivermectin, and 600mg of Praziquantel sufficient to treat 600kg of body weight. My birds range from 4-6lbs.

I figured living in Canaday you did kg, my bad!

Dose for pounds

• 1/2 pound - 0.5 / 2.2 x10 / 77.5 = 0.03 ml per 1/2 pound
• One pound - 1 / 2.2 x 10 / 77.5 = 0.06 ml per pound
• Four pounds - 4 / 2.2 x 10 / 77.5 = 0.24 ml per 4 pounds

Better? If you need more dose, just let me know the weights and I will figure them out for you.

Here is a photo of the tapeworm fragments - I have a video of this, where you can see them moving

And some expelled roundworms post-ivermectin-treatment, and I'm just noticing some tapeworm bits on the dropping in the bottom left of the pic

I will try to figure out who specifically has tapeworm and only treat them. I feel pretty confident about the two mentioned before (they also haven't laid in ages, but one of them has been moulting).

 

[Wyorp Rock]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treating-tapeworms-under-construction.1220309/

 

[Lalachickens]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treating-tapeworms-under-construction.1220309/

Interesting! This is the first I have read about withholding food after tapeworm treatment. Is that recommended usually?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Interesting! This is the first I have read about withholding food after tapeworm treatment. Is that recommended usually?

I was giving you the product list and dosing, but see that @dawg53 did post on the thread that he withholds food for 24hrs. I'm not sure if he still practices that or not.

I've not seen it recommended regularly.

 

[Lalachickens]

I was giving you the product list and dosing, but see that @dawg53 did post on the thread that he withholds food for 24hrs. I'm not sure if he still practices that or not.

I've not seen it recommended regularly.

Gotcha. Ok thank you!

 

[dawg53]

Yes, it's tough to get get rid of tapeworms. I withhold feed from tapeworm infected birds for 24 hours, then give the infected bird(s) Equimax or z-gold to eliminate the tapeworms.
The chickens will be starving and so will the tapeworms.
The wormer will be more effective eliminating all of the tapeworms. You'll probably see the actual tapeworm(s) excreted in feces in broken up pieces or looking like stringy jellyfish strands within an hour of dosing.

Wait two hours before feeding your birds. Feed them a little at a time gradually building up to normal rations. If you dont feed them a little at a time, they will gorge feed possibly causing impacted crop or gizzard.

 

[Lalachickens]

Yes, it's tough to get get rid of tapeworms. I withhold feed from tapeworm infected birds for 24 hours, then give the infected bird(s) Equimax or z-gold to eliminate the tapeworms.
The chickens will be starving and so will the tapeworms.
The wormer will be more effective eliminating all of the tapeworms. You'll probably see the actual tapeworm(s) excreted in feces in broken up pieces or looking like stringy jellyfish strands within an hour of dosing.

Wait two hours before feeding your birds. Feed them a little at a time gradually building up to normal rations. If you dont feed them a little at a time, they will gorge feed possibly causing impacted crop or gizzard.

Wonderful instructions, thank you. We gave them ivermectin two days ago, and now I have the product mentioned above that is ivermectin and Prazi. When should I administer the ivermectin/prazi medication? I’m unclear how urgent this is. Thank you @dawg53.

 

[dawg53]

Go ahead and administer the Ivermectin/Praziquantel. Do not redose again. Hopefully this will take take care of the tapeworm problem, if not, it would be best to wait 30 days and redose with the Ivermectin/Praziquantel again. You dont want too much of the wormer in their system at once.
Insects are the vector for tapeworms in poultry. Consider some type of insect control in your yard. Keep in mind that not all insects will be tapeworm infected.