Worm in poop during deworming

[Eddie12109]

@coach723 @azygous

The past few days I have noticed my hens poops have been loose. It’s been getting softer. I’m thinking it’s time to deworm again. I haven’t changed anything up in the diet, no antibiotics. I have been giving probiotics the past two days but it doesn’t seem to be helping. I will get a picture when I get back home, is there anything else that I should be suspicious of?
It hasn’t been hot, in fact it rained so much yesterday that they never even panted yesterday. Still have loose poops.

The last time I dewormed was June 3 of this year. What’s the dose again?
Is there anything else this could be?
No worms in the poop, just looser and more wet from my two hens

 

[coach723]

If you are using Safeguard the dose is .23 ml per pound of bird weight, two doses 10 days apart for roundworm. (For some other types of worms other than roundworm you would do that dose 5 days in a row). If using Valbazen the dose is .5 ml for a 6 lb bird, two doses 10 days apart. The math for dosing Valbazen is "weight in lbs / 2.2 X 20mg / 113.6". That will treat everything except tapeworm.
Roundworm in particular is really easy to pick up in the environment and reinfection is common. Time will tell you how often you may need to worm, it depends on the worm load in your environment. Some can worm once or twice a year and that's good enough. If you have a worm heavy environment you may need to do more often. I personally have to worm every 3 months for roundworm, otherwise I end up with sick birds. Another way to reduce the worm load is to rotate the area the birds are in, but many people do not have the space or resources to do that. The worm eggs that are shed in the droppings survive a very long time in the soil, and are picked up during scratching and pecking.

 

[Eddie12109]

I am starting on the safeguard this morning. Thank you for all the information.

So the picture on the first page I attached seems to be a roundworm, I was deworming then with safeguard for 5 days. Is that alright to do even if my main target is roundworms? Will both the 10 day and 5 day treatments get rid of roundworms?

 

[coach723]

Yes. If you know you are only treating for roundworm you can do the two doses 10 days apart with Safeguard. If you want to cover everything except tapeworm, then do 5 days in a row. If using Valbazen, then 2 doses 10 days apart will cover everything except tapeworm.

 

[Eddie12109]

Ok thank you.

Here’s a picture of a recent poop. Just doesn’t have much shape to it. And darker than usual.

 

[Eddie12109]

here’s a more accurate picture of the poop. What does this indicate?

 

[coach723]

Hard to say from just one dropping. I look for changes, what is different from what I regularly see in my flock. If it persists, ruling out any dietary changes, heat causing increased water intake, or anyone looking unwell or off, and I'm near when I know I need to worm, then I worm. Sometimes if one bird is having issues I will worm that bird and if they get better I go ahead and worm everybody. Since you have treated for roundworm in the past, if this is happening more than occasionally, and other possibilities have been eliminated, then I'd go ahead and worm. I've never caused harm to my birds from worming, I have had very sick birds from loads of worms. 3 months is enough time for them to be reinfected, the only way to know for absolute sure is a fecal test. If you worm now, and it improves, then at around the 3 month mark from last worming, I'd start looking for changes again. May take some cycles to determine your frequency needed. If it gets very cold where you are then winter may give a break, if the ground is frozen. If you do need to worm regularly, then I would think about rotating medications. You don't have to switch every single time, just use one medication a few times, then switch to another for a few times. That way you will be less likely to have unused or expired meds. If you have a vet that will run fecals for you, then you can take a mixed sample from your flock to help figure out when they are showing up again, to help with figuring your frequency.

 

[azygous]

That poop, absent lethargic behavior, looks to be from eating greens high in water content, such as fresh grass or broccoli.

 

[Eddie12109]

Here’s another poop picture.

This has been going on for 2-3 days now. They have not gotten any treats besides mealworms which is not new.

What other dewormers do you use @coach723 ?

 

[Eddie12109]

Neither are lethargic, maybe a little upset about it raining for the past 3 days now but they are not acting odd.

Besides worms and watery treats, what else could be causing them to have poops like this?

I also attached another picture of poop in the post above.