Worms visible in poop! What now?

[DaniLovesChickens]

I just went out to give my pullets fresh water when I saw a gross pile of diarrhea poop in their grit dish. I went over to look at it (like we so disgustingly have to do) and there are long worms in it!

The worms are white/whitish and a couple of inches long! Help!!!!! Now what do I do?

Also, the pullets are separate from the rest of our chickens. They are separated only by chicken wire though. Should I also treat the rest of my chickens?

With whatever I have to give them do I have to stop eating the eggs? We sell eggs so this is VERY important. I don't want to do anything that my put our loyal customers in danger!


Please HELP!!!!!

 

[mypicklebird]

You are probably looking at roundworms. If you want to know for sure, you need to have a vet check a sample to ID the worms by their eggs. To treat roundworms you need to deworm them, and repeat in 2-3 weeks, and institute a regular deworming or monitoring program.

Piperacillin (wazine) kills some species. Pyrantel, ivermetcin, fenbendazole, albendazole kill roundworms. ALL of these are off label use in laying hens. No published withdrawal times- period. For folks producing eggs for themselves- most usually withhold eggs for 2 weeks. For those who sell eggs- legally- no published withdrawal time means for life. So you have the choice of 1) using non approved drugs and telling you customers (I would rather eat eggs from a dewormed chicken that a parasite infested chicken, so telling customers may not be a huge deal). 2) letting them have parasites 3) trying some the home remedies- which may help, but no published data to support them- DE, garlic, pumpkin seeds, hot pepper, ect. Lots of anecdotal reports, but no studies. I personally like the pumpkin seeds & garlic as a dewormer- seems to help my flock.

 

[dawg53]

Since you saw worms in their poop, you have an infestation and preventatives are useless. You need to use wazine 17 to get rid of the roundworms. Wazine specifically targets large roundworms in chickens, turkey's and swine. Follow the directions on the label, one ounce of wazine per gallon of water. Discard the eggs in the garbage for 2 weeks. After that, they are safe to eat. You can follow up with a second wormer such as Safeguard equine paste for horses. You can give them the Safeguard 10 days after using wazine. Dosage is a "pea" size amount for each chicken. Safeguard (fenbendazole) kills other types of worms as well. Again, discard the eggs in the garbage for 2 weeks, then the eggs are safe to eat.

 

[crj]

I hope your situations clears up. I use cayenne pepper on rice. Seems to work pretty good. Then a day or two later I may give them some yogurt.

 

[DaniLovesChickens]

Do I need to worm the rest of my chickens as well? They haven't shown any signs of worms. Could I wait 2 weeks so that we don't go without eggs completely? They are separated by a fence of chicken wire.

I got to the store and got the Wazine. I'm honestly suprised they had anything, but they actually had a little section of stuff that we never saw before. (We saw that they have Penicillin too which is good to know just in case).

I didn't see any Ivermectin pour on stuff but I'll be back there to get feed in like another week so I will make sure to write down the EXACT name of every medication that I could give them next. The Ivermectin comes in pour on and injectible, right? So the pour on would say "pour on" on the label.

If they don't have it I will want to order it. I think maybe that sounds like the best option. Especially since it treats external critters too.


What do I do to clean the chicken run??? I will of course rake up the poop real well, but the run is dirt. How do I clean that? When we've had mites we just use Seven in the dirt in their dust areas.

 

[dawg53]

Yes, you should worm all your chickens and yes you can wait 2 weeks to worm your other group of chickens. I'd mark it all on a calendar so you'll know when the 2 weeks are up for each group of chickens. You can also mark on the calendar the 10th day when to use the second wormer, then mark accordingly another 2 weeks from the ivermectin pour on dosage....if that's what you choose to use. Instead of the regular ivermectin pour on, why dont you buy ivomec eprinex pour on? Ivomec eprinex pour on comes in a 250ml plastic bottle, does the same thing as the regular ivermectin pour on,also same dosage AND there's NO withdrawal period for egg consumption. I just switched over myself. The cheapest I've found online is at jeffers livestock, you can call them as well. I think it was about $35 for the eprinex and they ship fast.

 

[DaniLovesChickens]

How many chickens would that do? The ivomec eprinex?

Also, is there something in particular that I should put on the dirt in their run? I obviously will rake it, but I didn't know if there was something else that I should do.

I feel so guilty! I've been giving them all of this stuff from the garden but that means that they've been pecking the ground a lot. They're still in a smaller area waiting until everything in the big coop is ready for their arrival (my husband just got the extra nests done). I'm just relieved that we saw it now rather than AFTER we moved them.

I really don't believe in coincidence - I believe in God-incidence!!

Thank you so, so much for your help! Sorry for asking so many silly questions!

 

[dawg53]

You'll have plenty of eprinex leftover with all your chickens. There's really not much you can do about the dirt in their run unless you want to haul in new dirt or till it up all the time. Even then you're still going have to deal with them eventually. If chickens have contact with the ground, they'll get worms sooner or later...they're just about everywhere. You can add preventatives to their feed such as cayenne pepper, chopped garlic cloves, crushed pumpkin seeds; but remember, they are not treatments for an infestation. I'll PM you how to use the eprinex and dosages.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Piperazine (wazine) does NOT kill roundworms; it paralyzes them. It affects only a few species of roundworms, and it is approved for poultry. It is the ONLY wormer that is. Most other wormers kill the worms and are effective against a far wider spectrum of worms.

With as severe a case of worms as you are seeing, you need to treat first with piperazine, then in a week retreat with a stronger wormer. I suggest talking to your county extension office or your state agriculture department. I agree with the comments about preferring eggs from a dewormed bird, even if by an unapproved med., than from a worm infested one. Depending on to whom and where you sell your eggs, you may need to refrain from selling them for quite some time.

You need to treat all your birds, and you need to thoroughly clean and replace all their litter. If they eat a lot of earthworms or cockroaches, that is likely where the worms came from. Suze would be nice to figure out a way to deworm all the bugs that chickens like to eat

 

[kuntrygirl]

I'm just amazed at all of this information. I don't mean to hijack this thread but just want to say that I posted earlier this morning about what I found near my chickens poo and several people confirmed that my chickens have worms. I just left Tractor Supply and I saw the Ivermectin Pour on and was totally confused because before I went to TSC, I read the many posts that advise to use the Ivermectin. The young buck at TSC told me that I shouldn't. Gotta love TSC workers! But from reading the posts, I can use it. I did find the Wazine. It was about $8.00. The Ivermectin was a little more but looks like I need to use the Ivermectin after I use the Wazine.

DaniLovesChickens? Did the worms look like the worms in the pics below?