Tremetodes Yup The great wormer debate

[7L Farm]

Well, I decided not to give my birds poision to worm them. I figured it will just weaken the birds immune system. They free range about 4 to 5 hours everyday so even by worming them they will always pick up parasites there's no way around it. I've always given them Braggs but I fed them some pumpkins, food grade DE, & another supplement as well.
I just don't want to use chemicals on them. A guy that raises thousands of chickens for Sanderson Farms came by my farm the other day & I discussed all this to him. He looked at my birds & told me he wouldn't do anything. He also added that almost all animals & humans have some parasites living in them .

 

[missnu01]

I guess all this really begs the question, how healthy is our food...If nobody knows what stays in eggs and what not...So I guess that our fresh eggs would be like store bought eggs for a month or so after treatment...pretty interesting.

 

[missnu01]

http://books.google.com/books?id=QN...wAA#v=onepage&q=trematodes in chicken&f=false

That link makes it seem like these aren't really a big deal, and that they are sometimes present in modern poultry...So, do the chickens look alright?

 

[DownwardDog]

I know this post was from a couple of years ago, but I am wondering how your flock turned out? I just lost one of my hens and had a necropsy done -- turns out she was heavily infested with trematodes (of the oviduct, apparently there are several different kinds) and she died of sepsis. Snails, slugs and dragonflies are the main culprits. I'm speaking with an avian vet who is reviewing the necropsy report now -- he did say that these Prosthogonimus macrorchis, the oviduct fluke of poultry, rarely kill a bird, but she did end up getting an infection in her oviduct which killed her. It was a horrible death. There are no approved drugs to treat them, but if there is anything he tells me which I can do for further prevention/treatment, I'll be sure to pass that along.

Having the necropsy done was about $70, including all fecals, etc. These oviduct flukes do not show up in a normal fecal -- her fecal was negative for parasites. The $70 was worth it to me to make sure the hen didn't die of anything infectious.

Hope your flock turned out OK!

 

[ekochick]

Hi everyone, this article has some good info about chickens and oviduct flukes:
http://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2573&Itemid=2855
The fluke life cycle relies on two intermediate hosts: snails and dragonflies. I think the reason that there is not more rigorous information about efficacy and withdrawal periods is because in industrial egg production, chickens would never get the opportunity to ingest a dragonfly. Also, be on the lookout for little calcified 'beads' on the outer surface of the eggshell - this can be a sign of oviduct flukes. Anyone had success with Fenbendazole? Mebendazole? Praziquantel?

 

[dawg53]

Hi everyone, this article has some good info about chickens and oviduct flukes:
http://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2573&Itemid=2855
The fluke life cycle relies on two intermediate hosts: snails and dragonflies. I think the reason that there is not more rigorous information about efficacy and withdrawal periods is because in industrial egg production, chickens would never get the opportunity to ingest a dragonfly. Also, be on the lookout for little calcified 'beads' on the outer surface of the eggshell - this can be a sign of oviduct flukes. Anyone had success with Fenbendazole? Mebendazole? Praziquantel?

Albendazole and praziquantel will treat flukes in chickens. Albendazole (Valbazen) treats all types of nematodes and cestodes that chickens can get. Praziquantel aka Droncit/Drontal wont treat nematodes, but will treat cestodes.

 

[DownwardDog]

Thanks for the link! We just lost another hen from flukes, I'm sure of it. Out of 12 hens we're only getting 1-3 eggs a day, so I'm fairly certain that a few more hens are infected, just not sick enough yet. I'm going to narrow it down who it might be, and then get them treated by our avian vet. I do wonder if the flukes haven't permanently damaged their oviducts. :-(

 

[dawg53]

You should see flukes in feces. They are "leaf" like, not segmented and not to be confused with tapeworm segments which look like white rice in feces. Here's a pic of a fluke from a chicken:

 

[DownwardDog]

I've not seen one of these that I remember, but the necropsy said the hen was loaded with Trematodes. The vet is recommending praziquantel, with an 80 day withdrawal period. I only hope that they haven't damaged their oviducts so much that they are permanently affected from laying.

BTW, I was told by the vet and the necropsy doc that Trematodes can't be diagnosed in a fecal...

 

[leedyfeathers]

Thanks for the link! We just lost another hen from flukes, I'm sure of it. Out of 12 hens we're only getting 1-3 eggs a day, so I'm fairly certain that a few more hens are infected, just not sick enough yet. I'm going to narrow it down who it might be, and then get them treated by our avian vet. I do wonder if the flukes haven't permanently damaged their oviducts. :-(

With the chickens with worms you had tested what was some of the symptoms associated with it?