What kind of parasite is this?

[OKhobbit]

My RIRs have Equimax coming for tape and roundworms on Tuesday. I now see little white objects in a low water saucer that look similar to what I've been seeing in their poops, but now with the water dissolving things they are a little more visible. It looks like it has a small head and tapers out to a long oval shape. Are these tapes or some other critter? Thank you in advance.

 

[TaylorGlade]

I can't see the heads in the photos. But they look like grains of rice - which is exactly what tapeworm looks like and my cat poop when they have tapeworms.

 

[Lillith37]

It looks like tapeworm segments to me. If you can watch your flock in the afternoon/evening and inspect their poops as soon as they do them, you’ll see the segments pulsing and moving.

 

[OKhobbit]

I can't see the heads in the photos. But they look like grains of rice - which is exactly what tapeworm looks like and my cat poop when they have tapeworms.

The "heads" are at the narrower end and look a little flat to me, then the "body" is an elongated oval shape. I hadn't seen one all by itself out of the poop before. I previously saw a longer segmented one in some water. Maybe these are off on their own now to keep growing. Thanks very much for taking a look.

 

[TaylorGlade]

The "heads" are at the narrower end and look a little flat to me, then the "body" is an elongated oval shape. I hadn't seen one all by itself out of the poop before. I previously saw a longer segmented one in some water. Maybe these are off on their own now to keep growing. Thanks very much for taking a look.

You are welcome. But that sounds like tapeworm too. They are segmented and look like rice.

Don't blame me if you are off rice for a week now .

I hope the meds help and they are doing better soon.

 

[OKhobbit]

It looks like tapeworm segments to me. If you can watch your flock in the afternoon/evening and inspect their poops as soon as they do them, you’ll see the segments pulsing and moving.

Thanks Lillith37! Some will move and others not. Will be so glad when they are out of these girls! Thanks so much!

 

[OKhobbit]

You are welcome. But that sounds like tapeworm too. They are segmented and look like rice.

Don't blame me if you are off rice for a week now .

I hope the meds help and they are doing better soon.

Yep, kinda disgusting! LOL.

 

[Lillith37]

Make sure you retreat with the praziquantel medication in 2 weeks time.

I have had recurrent issues with tapeworm in the environment. I used to treat the individuals who showed the segments in their poops. I talked to an avian vet and her perspective was that if the tapeworm is a repeat issue, it’s likely prevalent in the environment. She recommended treating the entire flock, then again in two weeks, and then every three months for a year.

 

[dawg53]

Make sure you retreat with the praziquantel medication in 2 weeks time.

I have had recurrent issues with tapeworm in the environment. I used to treat the individuals who showed the segments in their poops. I talked to an avian vet and her perspective was that if the tapeworm is a repeat issue, it’s likely prevalent in the environment. She recommended treating the entire flock, then again in two weeks, and then every three months for a year.

Keep in mind that tapeworms require a host, a tapeworm infected insect that the chicken consumes and becomes infected as well. It's called the indirect lifecycle of tapeworms.
Only chickens that have eaten infected insects need to be treated and the way to do that is either have fecal sample looked at under a microscope or when a chicken excretes segments. There's no need to treat a whole flock, not all insects are hosts for tapeworms.

It's a different story with roundworms. They can infect chickens simply by the bird pecking the soil and the bird swallowing the eggs. Direct lifecycle of worms.

 

[Lillith37]

Only chickens that have eaten infected insects need to be treated and the way to do that is either have fecal sample looked at under a microscope or when a chicken excretes segments. There's no need to treat a whole flock, not all insects are hosts for tapeworms.

I think what’s happened for my flock is that the tapeworm went undetected by me for several months (at least) and my neighbour also has chickens that he doesn’t worm. So the load in the environment became quite high. Every member of my flock except one has shown segments in their droppings at some point, often more than once, and the issue kept repeating.