Deworm or Prevent?

With the warm, wet weather that Texas has been having lately I've decided it's time to do another blog post. This one will be informative and long, but please take the time to read it. If you would like to find out more information on deworming - please feel free to contact me or come to the poultry 101 class I will be hosting on the 6th.

Worms have two life cycles, direct and indirect.

Indirect life cycles involve another species in order to survive. They live in hosts outside of the chicken such as snails, worms, slugs, mosquitoes, etc. Indirect life cycle worms require these hosts in order to be picked up by the chicken.

Direct life cycle worms live their entire life in the chicken. These worms start and end their lives inside of your bird.

Many of the symptoms are common among the different worms. The best way to tell what type of worms your chickens have is a microscope. Either by taking a fecal or a swab from the throat, depending on where the invasion is occurring. Investing in a microscope and learning how to read the eggs might save you a few trips to the veterinary office with samples down the road.

Round Worms

Roundworms have a direct life cycle. They spend their entire life inside of the chicken. These are the most common type of worm, and they are easily spread by droppings in the cages. Round worms are large enough they can be seen by the naked eye.

Ascaridia sp. are nematode worm parasites, stout white worms up to 12 cms in length, seen worldwide. The parasite species vary: A. galli in fowl; A. dissimilis in turkeys; and A. columbae in pigeons. The route of infection is oral usually by direct ingestion of the embryonated egg and there is a 5-10-week prepatent period, shorter in young birds. The life cycle is similar to that illustrated in the section on the caecal worm Heterakis, except that the adults reside in the small intestine and earthworms are not significant paratenic or transport hosts. Adult birds can tolerate burdens asymptomatically. The parasites may be transported by grasshoppers and earthworms and are resistant to environmental effects.

Symptoms:

• Pale comb / wattles

• Decreased appetite

• Shabby appearance

• Diarrhea

• Wasting / stunting in chicks

Treatment: Flubendazole, Levamisole, Piperazine as locally approved.

Cecal Worms

Cecal worms have an indirect lifecycle. They are very common in chickens, and not very problematic. Cecal worms are responsible for the blackhead virus in turkeys. Unless a chicken is absolutely over run by cecal worms, treatment is not necessary.

Heterakis gallinae, nematode parasites of poultry and game birds, are small whitish worms with a pointed tail, up to 1.5 cm in length that occur in the caecum. They are found worldwide. Morbidity is high but it is not associated with mortality. Infection is by the oral route. Incubation typically is around two weeks.

Symptoms:

• Depressed look

Treatment: Flubendazole, Levamisole

Eye Worms

Eye worms, up until recently, were a strictly tropical disease. Today they can be found in wild quail and the occasional domestic poultry flock. They are spreading among the southern US at a fast rate. As the name implies, eye worms live in the eye of it’s host.

Symptoms:

• Cheesy Discharge of eyes

• Eyelids stick together

• Conjunctivitis

• Decreased appetite

• Droopy Head

• Visible worms in eye

Treatment: A veterinarian is required.

Gape Worms

Syngamus trachea is a parasitic nematode worm that infects the trachea of the affected bird. The resulting disease, known as gaping, occurs when the worms block the trachea of it’s host. They are very common in young and domesticated chicken and turkeys. They are a Y shaped red worm. They get their shape by the male and female bonded for life in a mating position. Gape worms can be seen by looking down the throat of the infected host. Eggs are spread by coughing up and passed through the fecal matter if swallowed.

Symptoms:

• Gasping

• Head Shaking

• Coughing

• Shabby appearance

Treatment: Flubenvet

Capillary Worm

Also known as Helminths, are a large microparasite and can be seen by the naked eye. They live in the crop, esophagus, and proventriculus. They are ingested by eating infected earth worms. Symptoms are similar to that of round worm infestations.

Treatment: Piperizine

Tapeworm

Cestodes are not host specific. They live an indirect life cycle from their hosts, and will attach to any creature that picks them up. They are highly uncommon in poultry. These ribbon like worms attach to the intestinal lining and shed segments through the hosts fecal matter. Often symptoms do not appear until host is infested.

Symptoms:

• Unkempt

• Emaciation

• Depression

• Weight loss

Treatment: Flubendazole

Prevention VS Treatment

As with all forms of medicine, prevention is key. Good husbandry and clean pens will help keep the worm load down. Keeping a clean coop / run, not allowing the poop to build up, spreading of D.E. can help. Clean water troughs and feeders. Adding ACV to water ( 1tbs to 1 gal 2-3x week ). This helps keep the algae and mosquito larvae down to a minimum, decreasing hosts for your worms.

If at all possible, rotate your pens weekly or monthly. Most worms have a 10+ day incubation period. Keeping the poultry out of infected areas for 30 days at a time will help keep your worm load down. If you can not rotate your chickens due to space, try tilling the soil twice a month and adding lime.

Avoid warm, damp places. Add pebbles, dirt, or sand to areas where flooding is common. Keeping runs dry will help in the prevention of parasite blooms.

If treatment is required, check with your veterinarian for withdrawal times on wormers not approved for poultry use. Do not over worm. Only worm if signs / symptoms / fecals prove a worm load is prevalent. Use a variety of de-wormers to prevent resistant strains.

Common Dewormers:

VetRX – a pour on, all natural wormer. Check label for withdrawal.

Verm-x – a feed through pellet wormer. Check label for withdrawal.

Pumpkins, garlic, nasturtium – all natural. No withdrawal in eggs or meat. See article by Fresh Eggs Daily for more information.

Ivermectrin – a pour on wormer, not labeled for poultry use.

Piperazine – can be used in water. Has a 24 hour recycle period and must be used for 7 days to prove affective. Check label for withdrawal. Can not be used in egg producing poultry.

Flubendazole – Typically used in fish. Found in pill form. Check with veterinary for dosage/withdrawal.

Levamisole – Typically found in powder form. Check with veterinary for dosage / withdrawal.

Moxidectin – Used on cattle for internal and external parasites, including biting flies. Check with veterinary for dosage / withdrawal.

Sites and sources:

Thepoultrysite.com

Backyardchickens.com

Fresheggsdaily.com

Becky’s homestead on YouTube is also a great source on natural care.

Personal knowledge.