Claireabella Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I've been worming my girls for the last week but today I saw worms in Poppy's poo. After some research I'm pretty sure she has tapeworms. I've looked at the flubenvet box again but there is no mention of it treating tapeworms I remember a thread about this not so long ago but I can't seem to find it on here now. What should tapeworm be treated with if flubenvet is the only licenced treatment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 I often see long spaghetti like worms in my girls poo when worming and assumed (like in dogs) it was tapeworm but it was in fact roundworm. Tapeworm isn't one of the common worms in chickens I think the vets can panacur for tapeworm. I use flubervent every three months and also ivermectin spot on. Hope this helps x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolly Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Just been through this same thing with my girls, a trip to the vet confirmed it was tapeworms which he said wasn't common in chickens. They were small white teardrop/ sesame seed shaped things which wriggled and 'reached out' of the droppings. He prescribed Droncit in a quantity measured for my particular hen based on her weight, she's fine now and has to have another dose a month later. It's not licensed for poultry so he estimated the egg withdrawal at 2 weeks. Flubenvet doesn't treat tapeworms unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Eeeks tapeworm, how unlucky:( I did realise flubervent doesn't work on tapeworm, roundworm is my problem, I worm every three months and use spot on, I only see the worms in the poop when worming and funny enough am in the middle of a worming cycle now and have only seen the odd one this time so I may be winning the worm battle. I assume because the have an open enclosure, they are eating lots of bugs and grubs and are being infected that way, buy they seem healthy, look well and have a great little life so I just try to control the worm load. I don't ever expect to remove it completely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 You will never totally remove intestinal worms from the cycle; the aim of medication is to reduce and keep the parasite load at a manageable level; same as with cats and dogs. If you suspect that your flock has tapeworm, then take some poo samples to the vet for checking so that they can prescribe the most effective wormer - they will usually rotate wormer use through various brands/active ingredients to prevent any resistance building up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claireabella Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 Thank you for all your advice, I really appreciate it. They were small white teardrop/ sesame seed shaped things which wriggled and 'reached out' of the droppings. They look like small white specks but on closer inspection you can see very small worms wriggling, as you say Dolly, 'reaching out' but not quite all the way. I had my suspicions when I saw speckled poo when poo picking (sorry to be graphic) so I wormed with flubenvet as they were due their 3 monthly worming anyway. I've rang around 3 local vets and they don't keep Droncit in stock, but one vet has told me to buy it from Pets at Home (its a wormer for cats, *Not licenced for poultry) and weigh my chicken to calculate the right amount I'm in a quandary now, I don't know what to do. I'm tempted to send a sample to Retfords but I don't want to wait too long as she looks like she has a fairly heavy worm load - and I feel awful for not knowing sooner that flubenvet doesn't work for tapeworms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 OK, so I have checked this with our farm vet, and here's a précis of what he said.... Your best bet is to find a vet with a farm practice, as none of the usual wormers for chickens (licensed or otherwise) will get rid of tapeworm. There is one, though, which is used on horses (I forget the name he said) so not licensed for poultry, which will work. Tapeworms are very rare in chickens, and the cysts are hard to spot as they aren't passed in every poo. If you put some chicken poos on an old dish or bit of kitchen roll, or in a jar, then if there are any cysts present, they will start to climb out of the poo and look like they are waving around. Because the cysts aren't always present, it is hard for them to be diagnosed from just a couple of samples, even in a lab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimi5 Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 feel awful for not knowing sooner that flubenvet doesn't work for tapeworms Please don't feel bad I didn't know either!!!!! So thanks to your posting your experience I've learned another useful piece of chickeny info I use Droncit on my 2 cats. It's a pipette drop on the back of their necks. Hope you get your girl sorted Let us know how you get on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolly Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 (edited) Update on my earlier post..... Just checked the medication packaging I had from the vet to treat my hen, the ingredient in the 'Droncit' tablet is Praziquantel, the tablet was 50mg and he said to give my 2.4kg hen about a third of the tablet, if that helps! He said as its not for poultry, it wasn't an exact science and was up to me if I wanted to go ahead, but in both our opinions she definitely needed treatment as there were loads of tapeworm cysts in the dropping sample I showed him. He even took a photo of a couple of the cysts under the microscope, which showed masses of eggs inside the cyst, totally gross! If I can work out how to, I'll post the picture if anyone's curious..... and not eating their tea! Edited March 6, 2014 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Just checked the medication packaging I had from the vet to treat my hen, the ingredient in the 'Droncit' tablet is Praziquantel, the tablet was 50mg and he said to give my 2.4kg hen about a third of the tablet, if that helps!He said as its not for poultry, it wasn't an exact science and was up to me if I wanted to go ahead, but in both our opinions she definitely needed treatment as there were loads of tapeworms in the dropping sample I showed him. That was it! Our vet says that it doesn't actually kill the worms, but it paralyses them so they can be excreted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I'm really glad I read this post. My girls don't have tapeworms, but I know now what to do if they get them. You can get droncit really cheap on the internet without prescription Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claireabella Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Thanks everyone for your help. I did a bit of research into the horse wormer and the active ingredient is Praziquantel, which is also the active ingredient in Droncit. It is specifically for tapeworms. Dolly - thank you for the advice about the medication. It helps a lot! Thanks too Dogmother for contacting your vet. That's very kind of you. The advice is absolutely correct. There was nothing detectable in her poo this morning (so they are not always present) but this afternoon there is lots again. They are very hard to spot, poo looks normal to begin with and then the cysts start to come out and they move. I have taken a picture below. Dolly, I'd love to see your picture too to make a comparison. I'm going to get some Droncit 20mg spot on drops and weigh Poppy. I would estimate she is between 2 and 2.5KG but I'll weigh her to make sure. The advice is 8mg to every KG in weight so 1 tube treats 2.5 KG in weight and fingers crossed it works! On the up side, Millie layed her very first egg today! Bless her, it's like a marble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I do hope you did the egg dance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claireabella Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 I was doing the egg dance when I saw her go into the nest box - and then she came out... then she went back in again and the next time she came out - a perfect little egg!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claireabella Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 Just thought I'd post an update - after waiting for a few hours in the garden last Friday and jumping up every time one of the girls decided to leave me a pressie (or should I say sample!), I discovered that all three of the big girls have tapeworms although Amber and Bluebell don't have nearly as many as Poppy. I brought Droncit spot on on Saturday and after fun trying to weigh them, I gave them all one tube each which treats 2.5KG in weight (Bluebell is nearly 3KG and Amber isn't far behind but didn't want to risk overdoing the dosage). I didn't sleep very well that night, I can tell you! Worrying about whether I'd weighed them properly and given the right dosage etc. But all were fine the next day, to my relief. But, I've looked again today and Poppy still has them and they're still moving She is not ill at all but I just want to get rid of these things now. I'm feeling very frustrated about it all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 I think you need to take some samples and a chicken along to your vet, see if they have any recommendations. We are reaching the limits of my knowledge on this subject! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 (edited) I've just read that if they've still got live tapeworms after you've used that stuff I can't spell, you can re treat them after 2 weeks. The good news is that tapeworms aren't as harmful as roundworms. Edited March 12, 2014 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 I think you need to take some samples and a chicken along to your vet, see if they have any recommendations. We are reaching the limits of my knowledge on this subject! The thread I read also said vets often use panacur, but it is not effective. A good vet will recommend the wormer with the ingredient that you are trying praziquantel www.thepoultrysite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26652 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claireabella Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 I think you need to take some samples and a chicken along to your vet, Yes, I was thinking the same thing now. It worries me though that some of the vets I've rang have still recommended Flubenvet. There doesn't seem to be any poultry vets local to me either. There is a vet with a farm practice near to me but they've said that they do not treat poultry which seems a bit strange. I did get very good service from Retfords though and at least I can trust that they are poultry specialists who can provide medication too, so I'm going to send a sample away to them for analysis and see what they can tell me. The good news is that tapeworms aren't as harmful as roundworms. Thanks Chickabee, that's good to know because I do worry and thanks for the link too. It's good to know that at least I'm on the right track, even if I'm not yet winning the battle!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 I would treat again in 3 weeks time before you spend any more money, see if that works. Praziquantel is strong stuff, so I wouldn't do it too often. Don't forget to withdraw the eggs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Flubenvet not treating tapeworm comes as a big surprise to me. We had tapeworm, the wriggly white bits, in a new flock of Wyandottes. Initially we tried Verm-X, which at that time still claimed to be an effective wormer, without success. Then we used Flubenvet and it wiped them out. That was approaching 4 years ago. We still have 7 of the hens and still no tapeworm. We poo pick the runs and coops daily, so if there are any there we would see them. They were spotted initially on a morning poo pick, because in Summer we do it several times to avoid flies. Rats were a big problem there and I wonder if that's where they came from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 I am sure that was how it was passed on. They can also be transferred by bloodsucking critters such as fleas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolly Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 If it makes you feel any better Claireabella, my hen's tapeworms are back after treating with Droncit I spotted them again after 10 days so gave her another dose after 2 weeks was up. My vet did warn me that it might not get rid of the tapeworm head from the intestine wall . I too sent off a sample to The Chicken Vet lab (got a kit from Countrywide) which was heaving with the blighters but was surprised when the results came back negative! After calling them for an explanation, they said the test was for worm EGGS, which weren't present but if you try Retfords, you might be able to request a test for tapeworms as well as 'normal' worms, I'm not sure how these things work. They are such a worry aren't they! Keep us updated and good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 If you are sending off a sample to test for tapeworms, then be sure to mix samples from different times of the day, as tapeworm eggs/cysts aren't excreted at every poo. You usually see more of them towards the end of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claireabella Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 Thanks for your replies. I haven't been on for a while since I've been really busy at work again Thanks Beantree, but mine were wormed with flubenvet the week before I spotted the tapeworm. I haven't seen them in a morning but they are very obvious to spot in an afternoon after they've eaten. I've seen a few mice but no rats How are you getting on now Dolly? Mine still have them too, it's strange because I thought the droncit would just kill them straight off. Its been three weeks since I did mine on Saturday, so I'm going to give them another dose and see if that does the trick. I haven't sent a sample away because I thought I would try a second dose of the medication first. I think I would be quite angry if I sent a sample away with obvious worms and they didn't even comment on it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
