Tapeworm and Capillaria

[arosenzweig]

Hi - had poop tested and found:

Cestoda (tapeworms) 150 eggs per gram
Capillaria 50 eggs per gram

Chickens seem fine, it was a routine poop check.


I ordered Valbazen from "first state vet" in Salisbury Maryland.

On Monday I'll order "mediworm" from Jedds as backup.

In reading the forum it seems sometimes the tapeworm does not respond to Valbazen, hence also getting the "mediworm."

Question... since these parasites are a life cycle thing... would it be dumb to keep in the chickens inside the house with diapers longer than 14 days? If they did this would they even need medication? Since they would not be able to eat the eggs during that time? Nor the earthworms that would have eating the eggs They wouldn't be reinfecting themselves and we could break the life-cycle chain right?

Is that crazy talk? Or would we still have to kill the adult parasites with medication first?

Thanks for advice

 

[ricebabyca]

From:http://www.hopkinslivestock.com/oral_dosing_article.htm
The hole at the back of the tongue is the trachea - Nothing should ever go in there!

 

[arosenzweig]

Hi, for those who are following this thread I'd like to bring it to a close

We took a new stool sample to the lab yesterday and the results are in: "negative for ova / oocysts"

That means they could find nothing bad in the poo!

When you collect the fresh poo in the morning, you can't be sure to get poo from all your chickens but you get a good mix. In general if there is something affecting your chickens they are all affected. It's not an exact science, you could have a single sick bird and not collect their poo by accident.

Let's recap:

1) Routine stool sample check uncovered tapeworm and capillary worm infection. The flock looked healthy and their poo looked healthy to the naked eye but under a microscope worm eggs could be found.

2) Treatment with Valbazen appeared to have cured the problem (with another stool sampling) but there was a mild case of cocci detected. This could be the result of the "good gut bacteria" being depleted along with the bad as a result of medication.

3) Instead of further medication treatment, we opted for human yogurt with "good gut bacteria" along with corn and other treats. The chickens now have a clean bill of health.

 

[MrsBrooke]

Hi, for those who are following this thread I'd like to bring it to a close

We took a new stool sample to the lab yesterday and the results are in: "negative for ova / oocysts"

That means they could find nothing bad in the poo!

When you collect the fresh poo in the morning, you can't be sure to get poo from all your chickens but you get a good mix. In general if there is something affecting your chickens they are all affected. It's not an exact science, you could have a single sick bird and not collect their poo by accident.

Let's recap:

1) Routine stool sample check uncovered tapeworm and capillary worm infection. The flock looked healthy and their poo looked healthy to the naked eye but under a microscope worm eggs could be found.

2) Treatment with Valbazen appeared to have cured the problem (with another stool sampling) but there was a mild case of cocci detected. This could be the result of the "good gut bacteria" being depleted along with the bad as a result of medication.

3) Instead of further medication treatment, we opted for human yogurt with "good gut bacteria" along with corn and other treats. The chickens now have a clean bill of health.

GREAT NEWS!

There's nothing like that good feeling you get with negative fecal results! Thrilled for you.

For the future, Coccidiosis is treated with an Amprolium (such as Corid or Sulmet). I personally prefer Corid, as it treats all NINE of the strains a chicken can get... Sulmet gets, I believe, five strains.

MrsB

 

[arosenzweig]

Haha, I think I answered my own question.

It *is* dumb to think you can wait out a tapeworm infection. It is true that they need an intermediate host to reproduce but just one tapeworm can measure more than 50 feet (15.2 meters) long and can survive as long as 30 years in a host. Source: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tapeworm/basics/causes/con-20025898

I suppose chicken tapeworms don't get that long but they probably have a long lifespan. Medication is needed.

 

[MrsBrooke]

With Valbazen, the treatment is a little different for tapes.

1/2cc for standard birds... Maybe a little more for large standards. Treat again in FIVE days to get tapes (instead of the usual ten).

Valbazen gets every worm known to chickens.

14 day withdrawal from last dose, ad you know!

No idea about keeping them inside to break the cycle. That's a question for @dawg53!

MrsB

 

[dawg53]

Hi - had poop tested and found:

Cestoda (tapeworms) 150 eggs per gram
Capillaria 50 eggs per gram

Chickens seem fine, it was a routine poop check.


I ordered Valbazen from "first state vet" in Salisbury Maryland.

On Monday I'll order "mediworm" from Jedds as backup.

In reading the forum it seems sometimes the tapeworm does not respond to Valbazen, hence also getting the "mediworm."

Question... since these parasites are a life cycle thing... would it be dumb to keep in the chickens inside the house with diapers longer than 14 days? If they did this would they even need medication? Since they would not be able to eat the eggs during that time? Nor the earthworms that would have eating the eggs They wouldn't be reinfecting themselves and we could break the life-cycle chain right?

Is that crazy talk? Or would we still have to kill the adult parasites with medication first?

Thanks for advice

I would be more concerned about the capillary worms, they are deadly. Mediworm will treat them as well as the valbazen. Use common sense and keep your chickens outside where they belong. Worm all your birds on a regular basis, every 3 months at a minimum, sooner if it rains alot. Worming on a regular basis will break the worms lifecycle. There will eventually be no worms to lay eggs to infect your birds directly or indirectly.

 

[arosenzweig]

Thanks for the feedback,

We have mostly bantams and a few standards so perhaps we should use 1cc Valbazen for each of them.

Will repeat Valbazen after 5 days. Just once or every 5 days?

Shall we continue treatment for 14 days and then discard eggs for another 14 days after that?

Going to order Mediworm too in case the Valbazen doesn't work, will have it on hand. Called JEDDS, they seem to be the only one that carries it... a product of South Africa. They said to feed one tablet for every 500 grams of body weight. So that is basically 1 tablet per 1 lbs. (US Pound) of body weight. They didn't sound very sure when they said that though. They also sell powder form but tablets sounds easier. Can anyone confirm dosage for Mediworm tablets with Chickens?

Thanks in advance

 

[MrsBrooke]

Thanks for the feedback,

We have mostly bantams and a few standards so perhaps we should use 1cc Valbazen for each of them.

Will repeat Valbazen after 5 days. Just once or every 5 days?

Shall we continue treatment for 14 days and then discard eggs for another 14 days after that?

Going to order Mediworm too in case the Valbazen doesn't work, will have it on hand. Called JEDDS, they seem to be the only one that carries it... a product of South Africa. They said to feed one tablet for every 500 grams of body weight. So that is basically 1 tablet per 1 lbs. (US Pound) of body weight. They didn't sound very sure when they said that though. They also sell powder form but tablets sounds easier. Can anyone confirm dosage for Mediworm tablets with Chickens?

Thanks in advance

Bantams are 1/4cc each (err on the side of slightly more), but 1cc for a bantam is WAY too much. 1/2-3/4cc for a standard is good.

Treat on Day 1. Wait for Day 5. Treat again. Discard eggs for 14 days after last treatment for a total of 19 days from Day 1.

No idea about Mediworm! @casportpony ?

MrsB

 

[arosenzweig]

Thanks MrsBrooke,

It's clear now.

Valbazen doses:

0.25 cc (Silkie, and other Bantam chickens)

0.5 cc (Standard size chickens)

0.75 cc (Brahma, Wyandotte, Jersey Giant, any of the really big standard chickens)

...

sorry for the confusion. When I read your first post my mind say "1/2cc" as "1 or 2 cc" but you meant "half cc" - my fault