Tapeworms found in feces

[tonini3059]

I was in the run today and found what appeared to be several tapeworms in the feces of one of my birds. I am fairly positive they were tapeworms since they were light colored and segmented. Now what should I do? From what I read it is likely a heavy infestation which is of concern, unlike light infestations which are common.
So what will take care of tapeworms? I thought Ivermectin did, but everything I read says it does not.
Another thing to consider is that I have been feeding them pumpkins for the last few weeks and I heard the seeds were natural wormers. Now I am not sure how and if the seeds work, but could these have actually been tapeworms that had died and were discharged as a result of the seeds? I tried searching for this already but to very little help, so any comments are greatly appreciated.
I forgot to add that they were about 3-4 inches long.

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
Pumpkin seeds might be a preventative, but not a treatment. I recommend using Valbazen (albendazole), it's a liquid cattle/sheep wormer and can be purchased from jeffers livestock.com
Dosage is 1/2cc given orally to standard size chickens...1/4cc for smaller chickens. Discard eggs for 14 days. Retreat again in 14 days.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

This is dealing with a dog and tape worm. My grand-puppy "helped" clean up when pumpkins were carved and ate some seeds last week... the following day, evidence of tapeworm was also found. We are continueing pumpkin seeds but are also doing the vet recommended med also. He (our vet, an old farm boy) said the seeds will weaken the worms (and that is why we saw the evidence) but will not, for sure, get totally rid of it/them. I trust my vet completely, so take it for what it's worth in regards to chickens. Good luck... and pumpkin seeds rock!

 

[tonini3059]

Thanks, I figured pumpkin seeds were just a preventative, but wasn't sure. I have never fed them more than a few pumpkins total, so since I have been giving them two a day for the past two weeks I thought it more than a coincidence that I found tapeworms in the feces. I will look into that valbazen, I am not sure if I am going to worm now or wait until after christmas when they slow down laying.

 

[dawg53]

Dont forget, for every tapeworm segment you see in the poop, there's literally thousands of eggs being laid internally to reinfest the soil to restart the tapeworm lifecycle all over again.