Worms - We got them now. Pic - don't open if your eating.

[Cluckie]

Ok. Found this not so pleasant surprise. We have five chickens, I figure if one has worms, they all have them now. The problem is that based on my research, its not clear if we need to treat them or not. Some say chickens have worms, and just let them be. I certainty would not let my pug or cat live with worms, so why would I let my chickens?

Do the natural remedies really work? Pumpkin seeds, Apple Cider Vinegar, and DE? I don't think they would work on a human, so why on a chicken?

Is there any chance that anyone in my family could have these worms in them now? Or my pets?

Worm experts out there, can you tell me what kind of worm this is?

Last question.... so the worms are in their fecal matter, meaning worm eggs too, which has been spread all over their run and coop. I guess at this point we can never get rid of them, unless we constantly treat our birds? Is this a correct assumption?

I am having problems posting the picture... give me a second while I research.....

 

[speckledhen]

Natural remedies are more preventatives that keep the worm load from getting too large. I'd go with a real wormer from seeing that picture. Healthy birds can carry a small worm load. Sorry, no idea what type that is.

 

[Pine Acres Peeps]

Could they have eaten a regular earth worm and just not have digested it. Because that looks like a fishing worm to me.

 

[Cluckie]

They do have plenty of access to worms in their run. Its 75 feet by 10 of grass. Too big for them too ruin the whole thing, so lots of grass and good soil, and worms. Plus we rotate them onto some rocky areas for a few weeks every couple of months to give the grass a rest. A day or so before i saw this we had three inches of rain which must have brought lots of earth worms to the surface. ANd we have HUGE worms in the soil. But then I read earthworms are horrible for chickens, as they carry the bad intestinal worms. but then I think, Chickens have been scratching and eating worms for hundreds of years???

When I watch them scratch, I often see them pick up earthworms.

 

[georgialee]

that looks like a roundworm to me.

 

[skyisfalling]

it just look like a earthworm to me...i would just do preventive and watch the rest...