worms or maggots? gross pics, warning.

[haTHOR]

wormed my girls in quarantine 2 days ago, and today i saw tons of some sort of worms in their poop. what i can't figure out is if they were maggots from flies or worms that have been flushed from their system.

i used wazine (piperazine). i am sure they had never been wormed and were 4 mos old.

the crawlies are 1/2 to 3/4" long, not threadlike, more like the width of a piece of rice. there are SO MANY of them.

my 1st inclination would be that they are maggots BUT the rest of the flock happens to have a bunch of poop on their poop board (busy week at work and i am late in cleaning it) and lots of flies around too...and i looked closely--there are NO maggots in their poop.

your thoughts? i am scared to google for pics of worms in poop.

 

[haTHOR]

anyone? please don't tell me to post pics!

they are NOT roundworms, not tapeworms, my research has made clear.

 

[thespinningcottage]

I think without pictures people don't know how to help you...

 

[PortageGirl]

they were worms that they'd expelled. I'd wait a couple weeks to a month after the wazine and worm them with ivermectin too. The Wazine will have taken care of the first 'rush' now the ivermectine will finish the job. Ivermectin might do the job in one swoop, but it could be pretty harsh if there's a large infestation, which it sounds like there was.

If I were you, I'd do the rest of the flock too, with both treatments, not just this batch.

 

[haTHOR]

so, any idea what kind of worms?

i will post pics if i need to...i understand that would be helpful.

in regard to the comment that i should worm all my birds...i wormed the established flock in april, so i know they are clean...they have not been around these girls at all since these new pullets are in quarantine.

 

[haTHOR]

these are extreme close ups. of course...1/2" to 1" long worms or maggots.

this is gross, so thank you for taking a look anyway.

 

[dawg53]

If your research is clear that they arnt roundworms nor tapeworms, the two most common worms that a chicken could have...then they are maggots. I dont know of any other worms that would be that big if they wernt roundworms or tapeworms.

 

[ekemily]

Those don't look like maggots to me. Are the worms moving or dead?

 

[haTHOR]

moving vigorously.

i am also confused.

i thought that RWs were threadlike, TWs were flat/segmented like bits of rice, and that worms expelled after treatment would be sort of lethargic.

 

[dawg53]

You are correct haTHOR, the worms would be dead after they were expelled from your hens. However, wazine doesnt kill tapeworms and they wouldnt be expelled. Valbazen, a goat wormer, will kill tapeworms. I've dealt with tape worms before. I found a 4-5 inch segment in a nest back in March, it was flat and it looked like a cooked piece of macaroni. I ordered the Valbazen from Jeffers livestock and treated all my hens. Just in case you order it,here's the dosage; standard size hens...one half cc or one half ml. Smaller chickens...one quarter cc or one quarter ml. It's best to put the liquid on a piece of bread and give a piece to each chicken. IF you think that those arnt roundworms and tapeworms, I have to repeat myself and agree,they must be maggots. Place a couple of them in a plastic bag and take them to a vet, they'd know for sure.