What kind of worm is this?

[Quizcat]

What kind of worm is this?

I wormed them with Wazine around June, 2011, and just today I administered Safeguard in large pea size dosages on a small piece of bread to each chicken individually, hoping that Safeguard might take care of whatever this worm happens to be. I plan to worm them with Safeguard again in (10) days.

I have not noticed any worms in their manure, or around the coop, nor have I noticed any worms in what I call the "Aviary, where they can get a little exercise daily. I only noticed them in the very bottom of the coop's manure drawer, kind of hiding in the drawer's joints. I had emptied the draw of manure on the garden, cleaned it out, and noticed about four of these in the bottom of the drawer, but only in the corners, almost like they were hiding in the crevasses. The drawer sits above the perch inside the coop. I have six chickens, all of which were babies, pullets, in May, 2011. Any advise is greatly appreciated.

The drawer sits under the perch (see photo)

Several of the girls inside the coop where they roost...

Drawer Access from the Outside of the Coop

The Coop and Aviary (Exterior)

I sometimes free-range them in my Ebay purchased/home built (vastly improved) chicken tractor on wheels, and I occasionally let them completely out to roam totally free, usually for just a few hours at a time.

 

[TriciaHowe]

Looks like a maggot to me. My brooder drawer got these when I would go a few days with out dumping it. I don't think it's coming from your chickens, but flies.

 

[Quizcat]

I was wondering about that...the flies can get a little thick in the summer time. I have a couple of fly catcher, sticky hangup type things, inside the coop, and the presence of flies inside the coop has improved. I did go a little too long emptying the drawer this time. It was probably about 1/2 full before I was able to find the time to empty it. I waited probably about a month or so to empty it this time, which was right in the middle of summer when the flies were prolific. I guess I better start emptying it more frequently, or do you think a few maggots in the manure is to be expected? I assume their presence will be greatly reduced this fall and winter anyway. I am located in St. Louis, Missouri, and the summers yield a lot of regular house flies here.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Looks like a maggot to me as well. You could also shake DE on the poop in between cleanings to dry it out. A very simple thing that seems to repel flies is to hang those little deoderizer tree things that you hang in your car in Vanilla scent. There is something about that fake vanilla scent that flies stay away from.

 

[Quizcat]

I have wondered about DE, and had been intending to put that in the coop. Is it best to just put it in the manure drawer, or would it be advisable to spread it around in the Aviary as well as on the coop floor? I guess we're headed into winter, and the insects and bugs won't be nearly as prolific, but if that stuff works well, I'll probably spread it around wherever it's considered safe to do so.

 

[Quizcat]

Since it is likely these are maggots from flies, do you think I need to give another dosage of the Safeguard in another ten days? If it isn't necessary to give two doses, ten days apart, then I'll skip the second dosage in ten more days. That way I'll only need to stop eating their eggs for about two weeks rather than the full (24) days required by giving them two doses of Safeguard. Other than these little buggers, I don't see any evidence of worms whatsoever.

 

[TriciaHowe]

No I would not worm them again.... Honestly I wouldn't have wormed them in the first place without knowing what I was looking at, but that's just me. I also know that everyone here dumps eggs after worming but I have never done so.

 

[NovaAman]

How about you just get a small pumpkin, crack it open and let your girls have at it. That will worm them naturally, unless you have a tape worm issue, but it doesn't look like thats the problem...

Maggots happen... gross, but happens. I clean my birds poop out daily. I don't mind, and its not tedious, cuz their coop poop spot is where I don't have to bend over! YAY! Just rake it off the tote lids.

 

[Quizcat]

Quote:
Thanks for the advice...I was intending to worm them anyway this fall. I had started with the Wazine in June, and had intended to worm them with the Safeguard this Fall. But, I did not want to stress their systems by giving them a second dosage if it was not necessary to do so. Nice to know that there weren't any side effects after your worming regimen. Thanks again!

 

[pinkwindsong]

maggot .. no biggie



My suggestion before you worm again is 2 fold..

1.- wait until after the first frost.. let the frost take out the larva in the ground. ( especially since you just wormed 2months ago.)

2.- do a fecal first.... you can even do this at home.. I know you can go on you tube and type it in and watch a video on how to do a home fecal test on chicken poop.. the less chemicals in them the better and if you don't need it.. don't use it.. right? that whole if its not broken don't fic it deal.. good luck..

good luck
)O(
Pink