small wiggling worm in poop, best worming method for 4 month old pullets?

[TylerEngland]

First time chicken momma and apparently the chickens bring out my anxiety lol.

My flock seems very healthy, but I just noticed a small wiggly worm in the fresh poop of one of my pullets. It seemed to be a round worm - I'm still trying to find out if any local vet offices could run a fecal parasite sample for me but am not having luck so far. I know of an office about an hour away I could go to if I really had to pinpoint the exact type of worm.

If a broad-spectrum wormer exists, which method of worming would you recommend for treating my flock as they are only 4-5 months old? I want the worming to be effective, but also as egg-safe as possible. We've been trying to do things as naturally as possible but I would rather just bite the bullet and use a commercial wormer that will be effective.

Are my birds too young to be wormed? Also, we JUST started getting eggs and have been eating them. Is it completely safe to eat these eggs? Since we give our birds supervised free range time, is this just something to live with as long as everyone seems healthy?

Lastly, I've been adding the chicken poo to my compost - will the composting process neutralize any worms/eggs or make them flourish/reinfect my flock down the road?

TIA! I've been given a lot of conflicting information from my chicken friends I've asked.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I would do Wazine, personally, unless you get a fecal done and find they have something else in addition to roundworms.

I get my dogs shots done at tractor supply and it always includes a fecal, but I turn in my chicken poop instead since the dogs are wormed monthly via heartworm meds lol

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I'll add that if you're actually seeing worms, then their worm load is high. I've had fecals come back positive for roundworms but have never actually seen one in their droppings.

 

[casportpony]

Have you read this?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/safeguard-mash-zero-day-egg-withdrawal.1254653/

 

[TylerEngland]

I would do Wazine, personally, unless you get a fecal done and find they have something else in addition to roundworms.

I get my dogs shots done at tractor supply and it always includes a fecal, but I turn in my chicken poop instead since the dogs are wormed monthly via heartworm meds lol

that's brilliant! I'm sure that my regular vet office would run the fecal if I wasn't explicit about it being for chickens

 

[TylerEngland]

Have you read this?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/safeguard-mash-zero-day-egg-withdrawal.1254653/

Thank you! That seems like a method that might work for us!

 

[casportpony]

Thank you! That seems like a method that might work for us!

 

[casportpony]

Are my birds too young to be wormed?

Oh, I forgot to answer this... No, they are not too young to be treated.

 

[rebrascora]

Whilst I am very much in favour of having faecal floats done, you need to be aware that it will be unlikely to pick up tape worm segments because they are too large to see down a microscope which is how the sampling is done. They can be seen with the naked eye though but may not be distributed evenly throughout a poop sample like round worm eggs tend to be, so are often not picked up in a faecal test.

I personally would not necessarily call a roundworm, "a small wriggling worm" so I'm wondering if you have identified what you saw correctly. I actually think roundworms are quite large for the size of a chicken poop and adults that are evacuated are often dead, so don't wriggle. Can you post a photo of the worm or describe it quantitatively.... ie approx. length and width. I think it is important to be clear on what type of worm you need to treat for. It is always possible for a bird with fly strike to shed a maggot whilst pooping which someone might mistake for a worm too but which would most likely not respond to a broad spectrum wormer.

 

[TylerEngland]

I personally would not necessarily call a roundworm, "a small wriggling worm" so I'm wondering if you have identified what you saw correctly. I actually think roundworms are quite large for the size of a chicken poop and adults that are evacuated are often dead, so don't wriggle. Can you post a photo of the worm or describe it quantitatively.... ie approx. length and width. I think it is important to be clear on what type of worm you need to treat for. It is always possible for a bird with fly strike to shed a maggot whilst pooping which someone might mistake for a worm too but which would most likely not respond to a broad spectrum wormer.

I wish I had a video but I didn't have my phone on me when I saw it. The worm was not very long, maybe a half-inch, a millimeter wide, and wiggly/squirming/almost 'swimming' around really rapidly just under the surface of the poop when it was fresh and runnier. I wouldn't have noticed it if not for how quickly moving around. I don't think it was a maggot and nor a tapeworm. It was really gross