The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[PetRock]

Thank you. That is Cosette, my Salmon Faverolle hen.

Nice name! I have a Cosette who is a BW Ameraucana! She is definitely on the dingy side but is a ferocious mama hen!

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Quote: Nice! I got the name from Les Misrables. I assume you did too?

 

[PetRock]

Nice! I got the name from Les Misrables. I assume you did too?

Yes! We have a Fantine and an Eponine, also! We had a Javert too but he when he started crowing, we had to rehome him.

 

[Jewelwing]

Okay... no more worms for a minute....

How 'bout some 8 week olds...

(The stuff on the front of these kids is ff and dirt/wood chip debris from being in the run.)

That's funny - my girls have ff on their fronts too! Especially the Brahmas. I don't know why they're the messiest.

Here are the fiberglass composite (pipe) fence posts. If you are interested I can ask the fence guy for the proper name for these things.

They use a larger pipe for the gate posts; smaller diameter for the fence itself.

Yes, I would love to have the name of those posts. Fiberglass sounds like a good material to use.

You want to come give her eye a squeeze

JK... I too am fascinated ... Nature is an AMAZING thing... never fails to surprise and intrigue me. So to be clear from what I have seen online, I should be looking for white or yellow in the corner of her eye??? If I do not see that do I still squeeze??? THOUGHTs???

According to the Merck manual:

As a treatment for Manson's eyeworm, a local anesthetic can be applied to the eye, and the worms in the lacrimal sac exposed by lifting the nictitating membrane. A 5% cresol solution (1–2 drops) placed in the lacrimal sac kills the worms immediately. The eye should be irrigated with sterile water immediately to wash out the debris and excess solution. The eyes improve within 48–72 hr and gradually become clear if the destructive process caused by the parasite is not too far advanced.

But is also says that the symptoms are inflammation of the eye (which Nugget does seem to have), tearing, cloudy cornea, and blurry vision. Hard to tell what her vision is, but it doesn't look like she has tearing or a cloudy cornea. Also, it doesn't look like her eye bothers her. Oh, and I don't know where you live, but eyeworms are said to be tropical, so in the US, only the warmer, southern states would have them. So I guess I'd want to be sure she actually had eyeworm before trying to squeeze one out of her eye. Maybe she just has an eye infection or inflammation for another reason. I would imagine the warm compresses are a good idea no matter what. Maybe you could have a vet look at it?

Also, is she still rubbing her belly on the ground? We kind of jumped from that to the eye thing, but I'm still curious what that was all about, and if it's related to her eye or not!

Here's the link to the page in the Merck manual that talks about helminths (which both eye worms and gapeworm are):

http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou...ons/overview_of_helminthiasis_in_poultry.html

When I read the one document that you posted (Eggcessive) it said there is no treatment for gape worm. But I have heard of people treating and having recovered birds. Which is true? Is there a treatment that can be used or is it untreatable? Is it possible that some birds just overcome them on their own or is it the wormers that were used?

Always wonder about gape worm since it's not intestinal.

Actually, gapeworm is intestinal, just not the adult worms. The adults live in the airways, but the eggs are coughed up and swallowed. So the eggs pass in the feces just like the worms we're more familiar with. Birds get infected with gapeworm by eating the eggs (either directly or inside a host like an earthworm). Here's what I think is the most interesting part of these worms - once in the intestine, the worms develop a bit, pair off and migrate through the wall of the intestine as a pair. Then they use the bloodstream to travel through the liver to the lungs. I know they're horrible and I hope never to have to deal with them, but that's still kind of cool.

I see what you mean, though. Since the adult worms aren't in the intestines, they might be harder to treat. The medication gets into the bloodstream, though, and the adults are feeding from that, so you can still get to them.

You can read about them in the link above, and also here's their life cycle:

http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/merial/Strongls/strong_4a.htm

The Merck link mentions the thiabendazole treatment for gapeworm.

Happy reading!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: That link had info on many kinds of worms. At the bottom of page 2 on the link above, it starts describing gape worm. Continues on p. 3 and says: Treatment: None.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Just popping in to say HI.

Wow...good to see you! And cute profile photo!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:

quote:
Good info. Thanks! I'm also interested in hearing what's going on with the belly!

 

[Leahs Mom]

(I originally saw this on the Indiana Thread Credit: Gunchief25)

 

[Sally8]

(I originally saw this on the Indiana Thread Credit: Gunchief25)

 

[Jewelwing]

(I originally saw this on the Indiana Thread Credit: Gunchief25)

Ha ha - that's hilarious!!