4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[LaPoule]

I have discovered that some of my chickens have caecal worms (little wriggly things in their caecal poos, which are yellow and foamy ). I have been worming with flubenvet for a week, mixed in with their food, but yesterday (day 7 of worming), there was still evidence of live worms. Although the flubenvet has clearly had some effect, as egg production has picked up, they are still obviously infected. I have also been treating the run with stalosan.

 

The question is: should I carry on worming for another week? Obviously, I don't want them to have too much flubenvet, but nor is it good for them to have worms. So which is worse?

 

I have a pooled poo sample in at the vets (results expected mid week), but in the meantime, I am unsure as to what action to take. I am leaning towards contiuing the flubenvet, but what do you all think?

[Egluntyne]

I would stop now and then recommence in three weeks to catch any hatchlings.

[Chucky Mama]

I would stop now and then recommence in three weeks to catch any hatchlings.

 

I agree.

[..lay a little egg for me]

Flubenvet has a very high safe dose limit, so it would probably be worth giving a double-dose (but you have to withdraw the eggs). But if you have a sample at the vets then the results should say what worms they are and if they are susceptible to flubenvet. How have you been dosing the chooks...are you sure they were getting enough medication? If so, maybe the worms are becoming resistant...that would be worrying.

[Egluntyne]

Strictly speaking, you shouldn't give a double dose of Flubnenvet without the say so of a vet.

[Chucky Mama]

How long is it since your last worming LaPoule? If it is a while then the burden may have built up to a point that it has caused this problem. If so you need to worm every 3-4 weeks until you get a clear worm egg count. (The pre patent period fo caecal worms is 24 - 30 days).

[LaPoule]

I started the most recent worming session last Saturday, and the gap prior to this was 5 weeks. I had been working on a cycle of worming 1 week - 1 week off, worming 1 week - 2 weeks off, worming 1 week - 3 weeks off, to try and be sure I caught any hatchlings.

 

Which is why I really don't understand what's going on. Normally, I would do as Egluntine suggested, and take a break, but at the end of the this session, I was still finding live worms . I have also been putting stalosan down in the run once a week, to try a kill the blighters off.

 

I suspect that these worms came in with the two new hybrids I bought in March. I sent a sample of Picasso's poo to Retfords a month ago, and they found no signs of any parasites, though she did have campylobactor. This was treated with erythromycin, and while egg laying in the flock briefly improved, Picasso's diarrhoea did not, though a sample 2 weeks ago showed that the camplyobactor had cleared up.

 

Egg laying has improved again with this most recent session of worming (nothing from Picasso though). Hopefully I will get the results of the pooled poo sample tomorrow. It's all very odd!

[Chucky Mama]

1 week on and 1 week off is pretty extreme. In severe cases you should worm every 3-4 weeks, not weekly according to the manufacturers recommendation. The prepatent period for caecal worms is 24-30 days which means that it takes that length of time from infection to evidence so if your sample was taken and was found to be clear before this time it wouldn't necessary have meant that you are clear of worms. Have you always wormed with Flubenvet?

[LaPoule]

Hmmm...it's possible I was a little overzealous . In my defence, the 1 week break was only once, and I was trying to gradually widen the gap between worming, as suggested by this.

 

However, I now realise that I was mixing up the incubation period for worms and mites/ lice/ etc.

 

Mites = treat min. once a week until under control

Worms = bit more perhaps...

 

The intensive worming has only been this 'cycle' (about the last 2 months), due to discovering the caecal worms - previously, I wormed occasionally with flubenvet (about twice a year), and until the recent intros, everything was fine.

[xScrunchee]

Have you tried using *Panacur 10%?

Might be worth a go.

 

*Not licensed for use on poultry in the UK

[Chucky Mama]

Here is the strategic de worming advise from Janseen who make Flubenvet:

 

For High Infection Pressure

treat every 3-4 weeks for 7 days

 

Medium Pressure

treat every 6-8 weeks for 7 days

 

Low Pressure

8-10 weeks for 7 days

 

For control thereafter

Treat every 10-12 weeks for 7 days

 

Worm all new poutry when introducing into a flock, before introducing flock to pasture, the whole flock in spring, summer and autumn as a 'preventative'