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Claireabella

Flubenvet and tapeworm

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From what I understand Grandmashazzie, tapeworms in hens are host specific, so different to tapeworms found in humans.

 

From what I've read hens pick up hatched tapeworm eggs from all the usual bugs and worms they eat. They cannot get tapeworms directly from the cysts in the poo, the cysts must be eaten by an intermediate host (slug/ snail/worm etc) which then hatch inside the intermediate host, which then gets eaten by the hen and the cycle begins all over again :wall:

 

I think the answer is to treat the worm load in the hen and poo pick as much as possible to try to break the cycle.

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Well 2 weeks on Im still checking Grace's droppings whenever I see her producing one (you can get a bit obsessed and goodness only knows what the neighbours think if they see me crouching down on the lawn with my reading glasses perched on my nose, poking piles of poo with a stick! :lol: ) and so far I've not seen any of the tapeworm segments :pray: but I guess there's still time for more to show up, I'm keeping everything crossed....

 

Claireabella, how are your girls doing now?

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:lol: I am exactly the same Dolly. Bending down, having a good look! Mine still have them but they haven't had their second dose yet. I thought it was due this Saturday but when I checked the calendar, it's next Saturday, so I will definitely be giving them a second dose. The big girls seem really well though and have been laying everyday, I think it bothers me more! I'll be glad when they're gone for good!

 

That's great news that you can't see any now :clap::dance: and of course, it gives me hope :D Fingers crossed that you never have to see them again :pray:

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Thought I'd give an update on the tapeworm situation and its not good :( Grace had her follow up dose of Droncit tablet but just a week later I've seen the cysts wriggling in her droppings again. I've been in contact with my vet who has been doing more research, he even contacted the Ministry of Agriculture who said they'd not heard of tapeworms in chickens and couldn't suggest anything other than what we've done so far. The vet doesn't have any other suggestions as to how to get rid of them so I'm getting really down about it now, I can't bear to think of those things inside poor Grace and have no idea what to do next :cry:. She appears healthy apart from a slightly dirty bottom but she's obviously shedding cysts all the time and contaminating the ground everywhere she goes.

 

Any suggestions gratefully received :pray:

 

Claireabella - how are your girls doing now, I hope you have better news than me....

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Not good news here either I'm afraid :( I gave my girls a second dose of Droncit last Saturday but it's just not getting rid of them. The girls look well and laying every day but I hate to think of what's going on inside. I've done what I think is the right thing by giving the medication but it's just not working and vets don't seem to have a clue about what to do either.

 

I'd really welcome some advice. These tapeworms seem impossible to get rid of :(

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Ok, I've been doing some more research on this because it's starting to really frustrate me that I can't get to the bottom of this for my girls. I think that praziquantel is not the right medication for the specific type of tapeworms that are found in poultry. It seems that this medication is made to target the most common types of tapeworms in cats and dogs (but that makes sense, Droncit is for cats/ Drontal for dogs!) and is not a generic tapeworm treatment. Defra's website confirms that flubenvet is not effective against tapeworms in poultry although I did find a veterinary manual from the British Veterinary Association that recommends a double dose of flubenvet for tapeworm (so this must be where the vets get it from :roll: ).

 

Tapeworms in cats and dogs have specific intermediate hosts, usually fleas (most common), mice and wild animals that dogs may catch (rabbits etc), whereas tapeworms in poultry have totally different intermediate hosts, slugs/ snails/ beetles/ worms and even ants (depending on the species of tapeworm).

 

I think the way forward may be to have faecal samples examined, since to treat this effectively, the specific species of tapeworm needs to be identified.

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Just read my last last post and it sounds like a bit of rant :anxious: It wasn't meant to be, think I was on a mission when I posted that :lol:

 

Just a quick update - I rang Retfords Poultry this morning (from work - bit awkward talking about tapeworms in the office :lol: ) and they have said that they can identify the worm type, species and do an egg count, so I'm going to send a sample to them tomorrow. I'm out of ideas of what else to do :(

 

How are you getting on Dolly?

 

Thanks again for all the support and help with this. So grateful for this forum, who else could you talk to about your chickens having tapeworms?! :oops::lol:

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My new vet gave Grace a whole 50mg droncit tablet and said to repeat it in a week and again the week after that, he also took a dropping sample to check it was definitely tapeworms, but he was almost certain it was. The next day he called to say no tapeworms were in her sample and to cancel the repeat doses :dance: That said, I won't stop checking for them wriggling in her droppings for some time yet as I'm paranoid they'll still show up, so I'm not starting the celebrations yet....

 

Unfortunately one of my other girls has them now, so he advised the same treatment for her ie. 1 whole droncit tablet. I've got to send samples off from all my girls in 2 weeks time so he can check for the worms again.

 

Keeping everything crossed.... :pray:

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Hi, we're having the same problem with our girls and have treated with 20mg Droncit, but their poo is still teaming with white sesame seed looking eggs. Just wondering if the 50mg Droncit dose worked? I'd hate to harm our lovely ladies 🐔🐔🐔

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