What is this? Worms inside egg?

[BarnyardChaos]

What the heck is this inside this chicken's egg?
Should I worm the whole flock, or get a test done first? Where can I get my hands on a worm test kit in the US?
I've been worrying about the above question for some time, whether to worm the birds without a test first to know what I'm dealing with. It's not advised, is it? So now, with this egg, I'm against the wall. I cannot sell any more eggs nor even give them away (loss of $90-120 per month income to pay for feed) until I know what's going on!
I'll admit, I have not even checked to see if there are any avian vets in my area. I will do so, Monday morning.
And yes, (as seen in the pic) three of four eggs I cracked this morning had very watery albumen. One even spurted. What the heck is that about???
ALL STOP to selling eggs!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@dawg53

Sure looks like it might be worms.

If you have a vet that treats your other animals, they may be willing to perform a fecal float if you want to go that route.

Or You can just deworm. You're losing $$ anyway while waiting, plus you also will be waiting for withdrawal times.
Yes. I would observe withdrawals since eggs are being sold. Stinks I know, but that would be best practice.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

That looks just like the one of the pics in this article https://the-chicken-chick.com/control-treatment-of-worms-in-chickens/ . Sorry you have to lose $$. Hope you can get things under control quickly!

 

[BarnyardChaos]

I'm about to give Ivermectin to my flock. I plan to put 4 ml per gallon in fresh drinking water, and another fresh dose tomorrow; then follow up with another 2-day dosing in 2 weeks.
Unless someone tells me otherwise.....??? @azygous @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @casportpony

Does anyone know with reasonable certainty how safe the eggs will be - what is the withdrawal period for consuming the eggs ourselves? How long before I can sell or give them away?

Also, I have about 7 cockerels I plan to slaughter and butcher NEXT WEEK. What is the withdrawal for meat? Should I just hold off on the worm treatment for a bit, and go ahead with the slaughter before I worm the rest of the flock? If the boys have worms, are they safe to eat?

I've never been in this situation before! Any advice is welcomed.

 

[casportpony]

I'm about to give Ivermectin to my flock. I plan to put 4 ml per gallon in fresh drinking water, and another fresh dose tomorrow; then follow up with another 2-day dosing in 2 weeks.
Unless someone tells me otherwise.....??? @azygous @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @casportpony

It's not water-soluble, it floats.

Does anyone know with reasonable certainty how safe the eggs will be - what is the withdrawal period for consuming the eggs ourselves? How long before I can sell or give them away?

There is a facebook group run by vets and I think they recommend not eating eggs for 6-8 weeks after using ivermectin.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

It's not water-soluble, it floats.

There is a facebook group run by vets and I think they recommend not eating eggs for 6-8 weeks after using ivermectin.

Oh no. Back to square one. Thank you. Anyone else? Do those look like worms to you, or is it just malformed chalazae?

Researching avian vets in my area - looks like there are three, within about 75 miles. Good to know.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Alright. I posted on two Facebook "chicken vet" groups and got conflicting answers. The concensus of one group is that it's nothing but chalazae. The other group leans toward worms, specifically "capillariasis", (threadworms, hairworms, etc.).
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition...Z68bMLd3LjIzfxm7f3JtTM2bf61Ct4EZ_SLpJBkRvjBUM
I will play it safe and get this checked out.
The egg is gone (should've saved it! damn), but I will collect some poops and head to the big city on Monday to get it checked out. Treatment is on hold, and egg sales are on hold, until I see a vet. I will report back.
Thank you, everyone!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Let us know what the vet says.

I would not use Ivermectin to treat Capillary worms. I'd use Fenbendazole or Albendazole.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

UPDATE: The vet confirms this IS threadworms, or capillariasis in the egg.

The federally approved treatment is something that's not affordable nor reasonable for backyard flocks, only commercial operations (like it comes in 500-gal drums). So, we have to go "off-label" for smaller flocks and individual birds. Recommended treatment is Safeguard (Fenbendazole), NOT ivermectin. Dosage is complicated; it is NOT as easy as just putting #X ml per gallon of water in their waterers. More on that below.

He tested six samples (randomly collected from various birds this morning) and said he saw only 2-3 eggs among them. Since I have a large flock, treating them in drinking water is the best approach. My flock free-ranges part of the day, and their enclosed run area is a permanent setup with dirt floor - I cannot rotate their run to fresh grounds - so he said to treat the flock every 3 months, or at least once every 6 months. For as long as I keep chickens.

(My thoughts: I understood that the flock isn't overwhelmed with the worms --- yet. Whichever hen laid this egg, IS. And if I don't treat the flock, it's only a matter of time until they all have them just as bad as she does.)

The vet said the Safeguard will treat the threadworms, also roundworms, whipworms, gapeworms, and others. It does NOT treat tapeworms, but that is a whole different issue and not common.

DOSAGE: I'm using Safeguard for Goats 10% suspension, as recommended. He said the dosage is .005 (that's point-zero-zero-five) mL per KG of body weight, each day for 5-7 days.
.....oh boy.... I have about 52 adult birds! (I could treat chicks too, but those 26 babies are separated from the flock and don't likely need treatment, yet) .....
How to do this:
1. I will have to weigh a sampling of the birds to get an average weight, for the whole flock to be treated. And I will have to count exactly how many birds I have.
2. I will need to measure how much water they will consume, until the water containers are EMPTY, during a 24-hour period.
3. Dose a 24-hour supply of water at the dosage recommended.
(Example: Let's say I have 50 birds to treat, and they average 5 lbs. each. 1 kg = 2.2 lbs. So that's 250 lbs, or 113 kg of chickens total. X .005 dosage = 0.565 ml dosage per day.)
4. Repeat the dose in fresh water each day for 5-7 days.
5. Repeat dosage every few months.

So about #2 above: I figure I can give them a measured amount of plain water, say 5-gallons, in the morning. Then in the evening, measure what's left. The difference is what they consumed. I plan to give them maybe 80% of that total consumption, treated for the full amount, the next morning. Then check their waterers in the late afternoon, add plain water as needed for the rest of the evening. I use several waterers placed around the run, since I have different ages and "troops".

WITHDRAWAL:
Per his licensing and laws, he stated there is a 2-week withdrawal period for selling eggs, and 2-weeks for consuming meat.

Off-the-record: He could not legally tell me whether the eggs or meat would be safe to eat after treating with Safeguard before the end of the withdrawal period. But when I asked him whether he would eat an egg from a chicken that's been treated, before the end of 2 weeks? He said "Yes." Would he eat cooked chicken that's been treated? He said "Yes." I told him I have several cockerels set to be slaughtered next week, should I treat them as well or not? He said it's more important to treat for worms, and it would be fine to butcher since they will be near the end of the withdrawal period anyway.

So there you have it. As best I can remember.
[Edited to correct the conversion lbs to kg]

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Wow! This is so informative! Thank you for taking the time to write it out - it will surely be very helpful to many others (I've already bookmarked it)! I hope your treatment goes well!