Tapeworm Deworming Questions

[chelleigh]

I have 2 hens and have been in the process of deworming them for tapeworms. I started with Wazine and am now on my 2nd round of Valbazen. My larger hen no longer has worms in her poop, but my smaller hen is still pooping loads of worms. The deworming meds don't appear to be reducing the number of tapeworms in her poop. Here are my questions:

1. How many rounds of meds can it take to cure a bad infestation?
2. Do I keep doing Valbazen until there are no more worms in the poop?
3. Do I keep deworming both hens or just the hen with worms in her poop?

Thanks!

 

[chickenzoo]

Wazine is only for round worms ( thin white worms). Valbazen is for others, but I have heard its for tapes..... I use Zimectrian Gold horse wormer for tape worms. With any wormer you have to worm for a certain number of days and retreat in 7-14 days to get the eggs that hatched since most workers only kill the adults.

 

[dawg53]

Tapeworms are tough to get rid of, been there. Wait about 8 days after your last dosing of valbazen and do the following: Seperate your smaller hen in a cage or crate, she will continue to shed segments, each segment carries hundreds of eggs. Clean out the cage as necessary. The next time you worm her, withhold her feed the day before for 24 hours. Just provide her water during that 24 hour period. Then after 24 hours, dose her again with the valbazen. Then give her abit of feed to eat, not too much. She will be hungry and if you give her too much there's a possibility of crop impactation...so gradually feed her a little bit at a time. If this fails to clear her of the tapes at 10 days after dosing with the valbazen, purchase Zimectrin Gold equine wormer, it's a paste. Dosage is a pea size amount given orally. You can put it on a small piece of bread and let her eat it. Z-Gold contains praziquantel which kills tapeworms. Also known as droncit/drontal for tapes in dogs and cats.

 

[chelleigh]

Thanks! She must have a pretty bad case of worms. Poor girl. Glad I don't have to keep deworming the other hen too. Thanks Again!

 

[dawg53]

Thanks! She must have a pretty bad case of worms. Poor girl. Glad I don't have to keep deworming the other hen too. Thanks Again!

You're welcome. Sometimes you can even see the whole tapeworm excreted the following day after dosing with the valbazen. If you have a magnifying glass, you can actually see the segments. They are also flat and can stretch lengthwise. Nasty worms.

 

[chelleigh]

Okay, so tomorrow would be 8 days from the last Valbazen treat. I have been watching my smaller hen and her poop today only had a couple tapeworm segments compared to a couple days ago when there were tons. Would you still suggest doing the valbazen in isolation tomorrow? or does the decreased number of worms mean that the last treament is working?

Thanks again!

 

[dawg53]

Okay, so tomorrow would be 8 days from the last Valbazen treat. I have been watching my smaller hen and her poop today only had a couple tapeworm segments compared to a couple days ago when there were tons. Would you still suggest doing the valbazen in isolation tomorrow? or does the decreased number of worms mean that the last treament is working?

Thanks again!

If you're still seeing segments, the tapeworm is still there. Go ahead with the isolation, withhold her feed for 24 hours, then redose her. Try increasing dosage to 3/4cc.

 

[greenchickenman]

Hope you can get the worms handled.

 

[chelleigh]

I just redosed her and boy was she happy to have some food! Hope this round of deworming works!

Thanks again for all your help!

 

[dawg53]

I just redosed her and boy was she happy to have some food! Hope this round of deworming works!

Thanks again for all your help!

If your hen was happy to have food, the tapes mustve been starving too....for valbazen heheheheh. Keep a close eye on what she excretes, you might see the tape. After 7 or 8 days and you still see segments, go buy the zimectrin gold equine wormer and dose her with a "pea" size amount of the paste orally on the tenth day.