Tapeworms and reasonable advice.

RootandRoost

Chirping
Aug 19, 2019
48
69
99
Norman, OK
I have 30 chickens. I think they might have tapeworms. I'm familiar with tapeworms in cats and dogs and that is what I *think* I'm seeing. This may seem like an odd time for tapeworms, but we've been very warm overall here. Insects abound.
I have read several threads here. (Thank you to everyone who so kindly helps others with your experience, advice, and knowledge!)
Last week I treated each chicken with Equimax. I'm not getting many eggs right now, which is common for us at this time of year. I am tossing the very few that we get. I will treat with Equimax again next week.

Here's the thing....
I work outside the home and can't clean up every poop in their coop, covered pen, and 120'x25' yard.
They have "poop" boards under their roosts. I scoop those every morning before work. I use Sweet PDZ on the poop boards. I clean their coop 3 or 4 times a year, as in replacing bedding and nesting box material, etc.
After the tapeworm discovery, I started laying cardboard on top of the poop boards/Sweet PDZ during the day after scooping the poop in case any chicken would want to scratch through and look for tapeworms that may have fallen from the poop that I scooped. Then remove the cardboard at night.
Is it really necessary to kill all insects on our property? And here I've been giving them the insects that I find while gardening--grubs and whatnot. Extra protein, I thought. For years.
I feel like I've done everything wrong and don't know how to correct it.
I have large gardens. I add their droppings/bedding to new garden beds to breakdown in place for a few months before using the beds for veggie production. Their poop and bedding is EVERYWHERE in the garden. Along with tapeworms, I guess. There's no way to fix that now.
I can't imagine using a broad spectrum pesticide on my gardens either. I try to keep the good guys (ladybugs and others) alive to help keep the aphids and such in check in an organic way.

The chickens don't seem ill. None of them.
Can tapeworms get into their eggs? Because we've been eating them all along until the Equimax treatment.
Normally, beginning towards the end of February I sell their eggs and their egg money pays for their feed. Is this even safe now? What if I can't get rid of the tapeworms?

It's very overwhelming. IF I had a couple of hens that were simply pets, maybe. But 30 is a lot. (They do all have names and are well loved btw.)

Any advice? Thank you.
 
While nothing is impossible, it is very unlikely for any kind of worm to migrate from the digestive tract to the oviduct.
The first thing I would do is have a fecal sample read so you know what is going on.
I don't do it but people who live in a warm moist climate have good luck by worming on a schedule and changing the type each time to prevent resistance.
 
You would see tapeworm segments in feces, they are called Proglottids. See photo below. I seriously doubt that all 30 of your chickens are tapeworm infected. If that's the case, then all 30 chickens ate tapeworm infected insects, which is by all odds nearly impossible.
When I lived in southeast Georgia I had a flock of 25 birds all on the same soil, 5 were infected with tapeworms at one time. Those 5 infected birds were caged and treated with Zimecterin Gold (similar to Equimax). No more tapeworms.
Keep in mind that not all insects are tapeworm infected. Otherwise you wouldve seen segments in feces much sooner.
tapes seg.jpg
 
I'm pretty sure I saw something like that in some of the poo. But, the Sweet PDZ coats the poop a bit and that leaves little white bits on the poop. I don't know which of my chickens pooped the "tapeworm" poops. They move around on the roost bars when they hear me coming. I wish my life was not so busy and that I had the time to follow them around to see who is pooping what. If I could afford it, I would quit my job in a heartbeat. Keeping up with a job, home, chickens, gardens, and food preservation isn't always easy, but I'm doing my best.

I tried to give the recommended amount of Equimax 0.03 per/lb, but I'm going to be honest. It wasn't easy dosing them. They all got a smear on a piece of bread. That's the best I can tell you. And I have all sizes of chickens from a banty that barely weighs more than a pound, to my main roo who is around 6 lbs. I, of course, chose the coldest day of the year to put everyone on my (new, meant for sourdough) kitchen scale and treat them. Hilarious.) Everyone seems healthy and happy after their treatment. But, I can't tell what I'm seeing in their poop now. Maybe Saturday I can follow them around and look at their poop.
Thanks, Everyone.
 

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