What the heck is this????? What should I do?

[mypicklebird]

The small white moving 'worms' about the size of cous cous or small rice are TAPEWORMS. They get them from eating insects/beetles. Ivermecin will not kill them, and neither will wazine/piperazine/pyrantel ect. Albendazole and praziquantel kill tapeworms, though are not labeled for laying hens.

Roundworms almost never come out moving, to pass in the feces- they are dead. They will appear are vermicelli noodles....

 

[threehorses]

Actually tapeworms are segmented and, if you take a close look, are flattened if they're that size. These don't appear to be. They can be anything from the size of a grain of rice to the size of a fettucini noodle. They are indeed transmitted by consumption of a flea, or the bugs/beetles or another tapeworm segment.

It's true that roundworms are more rare in the feces, but they do come through in the feces in a serious infestation.

It would be nice (???) to see them in person.

 

[TACEYPERKINS]

I thought they were tape worms too. I will watch them and see if I can pick up something that will take care of them. I have been scowering the coop for more worms and have not seen any more. I will try to get a picture if I get another wormy poop. Thank you.

 

[dlhunicorn]

In the following link (univ. arkansas Avian Advice) there is a nice section article on internal/external parasites (you will need to scroll down a bit) ... internal parasites do not often show in the faeces ...
http://www.poultryscience.uark.edu/pdfs/avian_advice2no2.pdf

there are a few different worms that effect the intestines (and could possibly have caused the sloughing off you pictured) and it would be a good idea to worm if you have never done so (with a broad spectrum wormer)

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Can you tell if they're flat or round?

Here's a good (??? icky) picture of a close up of a rather large tapeworm showing its distinctive flatness as well as a glimpse of the segmentation.

http://www.apaws.org/images/news/2008/tapeworm.jpg

Each segment breaks into a separate little piece, capable of spreading more tapeworms. (yay) You can see the segments if you look at the side of the worm - the little dents.

Here are the individual segments as they most often appear:
http://tapewormtabs.com/images/tapesmall.gif
When still alive, they move. When they dry, they look just like pieces of rice.

Here's a picture of a roundworm:
http://www.pitbullregistry.com/images/roundworm.jpg
And a lovely picture in poop. Again, yay:
http://z.hubpages.com/u/751312_f260.jpg


Hopefully that'll help a bit.