worming as standard practice?

[dawg53]

Quote:
Does your vet sell DE as a wormer? Does any vet sell DE as a wormer? I need some for my tapeworm cause my regular doctor wont prescribe it for me.

Actually she does but it costs more from her!

Holistic vet huh? How much?

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

And you know this how?
Do you have proof it does not work?
I know for a fact it does work when my flock got tapeworms due to fly issues all of a sudden hitting them and they are now gone, so unless you can disprove this then I can say it works

I know this by researching the topic

Yes, I have proof

http://eap.mcgill.ca/agrobio/ab370-04e.htm

Some claim that diatomaceous earth acts as a dewormer when added on a regular basis in the amount of 2% of the ration. Scientific tests on the subject are limited however and opinions of farmers are contradictory.

Moreover, diatomaceous earth has no effect on lungworm and is not very appetizing. It may also be a lung irritant. Given that the level of dust is already quite high in barns, diatomaceous earth does not seem appropriate when the animals are fed indoors. The main motivation for adding diatomaceous earth to rations should not be to control internal parasites

http://www.scsrpc.org/SCSRPC/Publications/part5.htm

There have been 4 or 5 scientific studies and the data consistently show that diatomaceous earth does not kill worms in goats although one study did show that at a very high level (5% of the diet), it had a slight effect. There is speculation that it may help fecal pellets to dry out faster which could reduce the success of eggs developing into infective L3 larvae

.
You may have killed some flies, but you didn't kill the tapeworms with DE
http://msucares.com/poultry/diseases/disparas.htm

Although several drugs are used to remove tapeworms from poultry, most are of doubtful efficacy. In general, tapeworms are most readily controlled by preventing the birds from eating the infected intermediate host. Tapeworm infections can be controlled by regular treatment of the bird with fenbendazole or leviamisole.

http://www.sheepandgoat.com/articles/controlgoatparasites.html

Currently, there is great interest in "natural" products as an alternative to pharmaceutical company products in controlling parasites. This category includes herbal dewormers and diatomaceous earth.

There are no studies that I know of that suggest that these products have any substantial effect on barber pole worm or other internal parasites.

In the case of diatomaceous earth there have been several studies done by parasitologists in different parts of the country that have found no beneficial effect to feeding it or offering it as mineral

By Anne Zajac, DVM, PhD
Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg VA 2406​

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

This I found from the USDA.gov site:

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5092006

Non-synthetic and NOSB recommended synthetic therapeutic agents exist, such as lime-sulfur to
treat mites in cattle, swine, sheep; rotenone for grubs in lactating cattle, and lice in swine and cattle;
and diatomaceous earth for intestinal parasite and ectoparasite control (Haynes, 1981; Olkowski,
Daar, and Olkowski, 1991; National Research Council, 1989). Fungal hyperparasites of the infective

So if you have proof it does not work then please post it.

The fact that the National ORGANIC Standards Board "recommends" DE is NOT proof that it works.

It's just proof they won't recommend chemicals

I've shown evidence it doesn't work, from scientific sources.

Now please show YOUR scientific evidence that it does work
(Not anecdotal and not sales hype)​

 

[galanie]

The main thing Food grade DE does is act as a desiccant. That is how it kills bugs outside the bird. The hype about "sharp edges" is untrue on food grade DE. Therefore, it is not very effective internally because it is no longer dry and cannot be a desiccant there.

I believe this information is mentioned in some of the links above. Once you understand that DE works by drying out the bugs, then you'll logically see why it isn't so effective internally. If it really did have sharp edges that burrowed into the insect, I'd never in a million years have it around my birds, much less feed it to them. That would be sort of like giving them ground glass.

If some of you seem to have eliminated internal parasites with DE, then my hat's off to you. Personally, I'd love to go organic, but I'm not fooling around with my bird's health like that because I have tons of wild birds around here and I know they are exposed to all sorts of nasties.

I do use DE in the coop though. I've noticed that it really does keep the buggies out of there.

 

[dawg53]

Additionally, tapeworms in chickens can only be killed by dosing several times with products that have either albendazole or praziquantel in it...praziquantel aka droncit for cats and dogs. Some horse wormers contain praziquantel....zimectrin gold and equimax come to mind. Here's some pics of poultry tapeworms:

 

[casportpony]

test - ignore

 

[debp]

I found tapeworm segments (many) in one of my year-old layer's poop today (just like in the last picture you posted back in 2011, dawg53). My hens have access to an irrigation ditch in their pasture, so I think they have many opportunities to eat slugs and maybe earthworms. Egg production has dropped in half this last week and one of my hens is lethargic. So, although tapeworms are sometimes not thought to be a big deal, I am inclined to use a dewormer at this point. They may be picking up other worms as well. I have read on numerous sites that fenbendazole is not a treatment for tapeworm, but the following site suggests that it is for the common species of tapeworm in poultry.

http://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2439&Itemid=2700

Anyone out there have knowledge of whether fenbendazole would be worth a try? I have read that it is one of the safest and I have some. But, I don't want to treat with multiple wormers.

 

[debp]

Wrong page. This is the page that lists tapeworms as susceptible to fenbendazole.
http://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2512&Itemid=2785