Have my chooks got worms?

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Have my chooks got worms?
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Mary-Jane

Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 18397
Location: The Fishing Strumpet is from Ceredigion in West Wales

Posted: Sun Sep 09, 07 8:50 pm Post subject: Have my chooks got worms?
I was cleaning out the hen house today and whilst I was scraping a pile of of chicken poo off their perch ladder I noticed a number of little white worms wriggling in the poo. Does this mean they have worms?

frewen

Joined: 08 Sep 2005
Posts: 11434

Posted: Sun Sep 09, 07 8:53 pm Post subject:
I reckon so.

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 6:37 am Post subject:
When did you last clean them out ? Internal worms soon snuff it after being expelled. Your little wrigglers are more likely to be little maggots or the larvae of flies.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 7:21 am Post subject:
To be sure I'd wait for some fresh droppings and have a poke around in that. Although I've read if you can see worms in the droppings it might indicate the infestation is too bad. I have noticed them once and wormed my hens and they have been fine. When did you last worm them? If they are fed slugs and snails then the hens need to be wormed more frequently so it might be worth worming again.

Mary-Jane

Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 18397
Location: The Fishing Strumpet is from Ceredigion in West Wales

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 7:31 am Post subject:

bodger wrote:

When did you last clean them out ?
Internal worms soon snuff it after being expelled. Your little wrigglers are more likely to be little maggots or the larvae of flies.

I clean them out every weekend...although this time it had been two weeks because I was very busy the previous weekend.

I did wonder whether they were fly larvae though.

Mary-Jane

Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 18397
Location: The Fishing Strumpet is from Ceredigion in West Wales

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 7:34 am Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

To be sure I'd wait for some fresh droppings and have a poke around in that. Although I've read if you can see worms in the droppings it might indicate the infestation is too bad. I have noticed them once and wormed my hens and they have been fine.

When did you last worm them? If they are fed slugs and snails then the hens need to be wormed more frequently so it might be worth worming again.

Ah, okay. I do feed them slugs and snails I find in the garden actually. I also rotate their run very two weeks so they're on 'fresh' pasture.

I've never actually wormed them as they'd come to me wormed (in June) and I gathered that provided I kept them on rotated pasture I probably wouldn't need to worm them.

I have a poke around in some poo tonight...

Green Man

Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5272
Location: Rural Scotland.

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 7:46 am Post subject:
You can buy over the counter Vermex for poultry worms. It is made from capsicum peppers. Either pellets to go in rations or liquid in their water.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9970
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 9:54 am Post subject:
dont you have to not eat the eggs for some withdrawel time after worming? -

Green Man

Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5272
Location: Rural Scotland.

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 9:57 am Post subject:
I don't know about pharmacutical wormers, but not with Vermex.

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 10:03 am Post subject:

It depends on the product.

Regular worming is something that can be over done. Chickens can have a worm burden without any problems. Its perfectly natural for them to have worms and not so natural for them to be wormed every few weeks.
I only worm if I think that thats idicated. By this I mean, if I don't think they are thriving. In forty or so more years of chicken keeping I've only seen one lot of worms passed in one single chicken Pooh.

and thats even after worming.
To worm newly arrived battery chickens is complete and utter rubbish! Think about it, where and when do you think they will have had the chance to pick worms up .
My advice is not to worry about chickens and worms don't have nightmares.

Green Man

Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5272
Location: Rural Scotland.

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 10:07 am Post subject:

bodger wrote:

Think about it, where and when do you think they will have had the chance to pick worms up .

Some digestive worms in animals are picked up after being ingested by feed mites.

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 10:23 am Post subject:
Which ones CKR ?

Green Man

Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5272
Location: Rural Scotland.

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 11:34 am Post subject:

Tapeworms(Anoplocehala spp.) in horses for sure. They can pick these mites up when eating grass, hay or straw. The cysticercoid then develops into an adult in the large intestine. The proglotids (body segmens) of adults then become gravid with eggs. Mature proglotids drop off and are passed to the pasture with feces and the eggs are released. The eggs are then ingested by feed mites and develop in the mite until again eaten by a horse and on goes the cycle. Isn't nature amazing. Sorry if you are eating your lunch,

Last edited by Green Man on Mon Sep 10, 07 11:40 am; edited 1 time in total

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 11:40 am Post subject:
Tape worms are a rarity in chickens and their segments or eggs are actually larger than the mites that you sometimes get in chickenfeed.

Mary-Jane

Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 18397
Location: The Fishing Strumpet is from Ceredigion in West Wales

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 07 11:55 am Post subject:
Well I'm just confused now.

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