Worms? General Worm Questions.

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saraiquimby1

saraiquimby1

Songster
5 Years
Jul 26, 2014
177
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Indiana
So i have a flock of 20 or so chickens. half of them are 3 years old. Other half are 5 months. One rooster.
I noticed a long white worm in one of my chickens poop last summer, and made a mental note to keep an eye on that, never saw anything again. Everything was fine.

I've been noticing recently that the poop i'm scooping from my poop boards is a bit more runny than usual. Not all of it but multiple chickens are runny. Some small amounts of blood/red poop now too. Everyone is eating good. Looking good. All else seems normal. Just some poop that isn't looking quite right.

So what should I do? Do I go ahead and deworm everyone? With what? What do I do with eggs if I deworm? Never had to do anything with worms so someone weigh in for me :)
 
It makes more sense to have the poop tested for worm eggs and coccidiosis than give them a wormer that they may or may not need or may not treat the type of worms they have and waste all those eggs at a time of prime production. I dread to think how many eggs you would have to sacrifice from a flock of 20 after worming. The long white worm was most likely a round worm. I appreciate that some people freak out at the thought of intestinal worms but as outdoor creatures it is unreasonable to expect your chickens have none. Most healthy chickens immune systems are able to keep the number of internal parasites low, but occasionally things will get out of hand. Just because you saw a worm last year, doesn't mean they have a problem.
Faecal testing can be done by any vet but there are some companies that specialise in providing such a service or state Agricultural Dept diagnostic labs should be able to perform testing. Here in the UK it is about £10 per sample and you can submit one from each hen or combine poop and send a single sample of it to represent the flock and get an over all view of parasitic load.
 
You saw a large roundworm. Worms dont leave their host. The only reason you saw it in feces was that it was dead or dying and was excreted. The other reason is that there wasnt anymore room in the digestive tract for it and it was excreted.
One female roundworm lays hundreds of eggs per day onto the soil and your chickens pick them up, check out "direct lifecycle" of worms.
There is no acceptable worm load for chickens, no more than there would be for your pet dog or cat.
Worms can cause pink/red in color shed intestinal lining, particularly capillary worms as well as runny poop.
I recommend that you purchase Valbazen liquid cattle/sheep wormer and dose each chicken orally 1/2cc using a syringe without a needle, then repeat again in 10 days. Valbazen kills all worms that chickens can get.
https://www.jefferspet.com/products/valbazen-broad-spectrum-dewormer

I use Valbazen and we eat the eggs after worming and I'm still here typing after all these years. However if you suspect that someone in your family might have a sensitivity or allergic reaction to albendazole, then you might want to toss eggs for 2 weeks after worming. Dont sell or give away eggs to be eaten. This is what a chickens digestive tract looks like with large roundworms, not just two or three involved.
thumbnailCAM6MZ90.jpg
roundworm_2.jpg
 
Yes but those images are an extreme example of a very heavy worm infestation. I have not wormed my chickens for 4 years and I have seen the odd large roundworm in their poop. I necropsy any birds that die and check the gut for roundworms during that process and whilst I occasionally find one, I have never found more than that even in sick birds where their immune system was compromised. Those images are shocking but a chicken with a worm burden like that will not be laying and will be losing weight hand over fist and it should be obvious there is a problem. If the OP's birds are looking and feeling healthy and laying eggs, then they do not have a significant worm burden in my opinion..... a faecal float test will clarify it though.
 
Rebrascora, you live in a cooler climate. Your soil will be cooler as well, which is not very conducive for worms. It's the same for northern parts of the U.S.
The fact remains that soil is contaminated with eggs and will be picked up by other birds.
Only continued treatment over a period of time will stop the worms direct lifecycle.
Rotating pens and pasture helps cut down the wormload. Or birds kept up on wire all their lives (such as commercial operations and some backyard owners) will not have a worm problem unless an infected insect is eaten (indirect lifecycle.)
I agree that a fecal egg count helps. However the OP already mentioned they saw a worm in feces. If one bird has them, most likely they all do. If their feet touch the ground, they will get worms.
Again, ONE female large roundworm lays hundreds of eggs a day. ONE tapeworm segment carries hundreds of eggs.
I worm my birds monthly and they are as healthy as can be and I've had birds live longer than 10+ years.
 

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