How can I find my old pictures?

[Pottage]

I am honestly at my wits end with this now. I have 4 ex barn girls who came to me in an awful state, are are now almost a year on and I'm still battling with getting rid of their tape worm.

 

They've had:

 

Several doses to Flubenvet 1% (a double dose on at least one of the treatments)

Panacur twice *not licensed for poultry - seemed to get rid of them briefly but they were back within a couple of months and the second treatment didn't even touch them

and most recently, Equitape (a horse wormer!) as recommended by Retfords (contains Prazyquantil, not licensed for poultry)

 

We started the Equitape treatment on May 11th, 0.25ml per bird. This was repeated after 10 days and again after another 10 days. The last dose was a week ago yesterday, and yesterday evening I found segments in their poo again There are a lot fewer segments now that before I started this treatment, maybe only one or two and only in the occasional poo rather than the 30 odd segments that were coming out in every poo previously. However, knowing that Prazyquantil works by paralyzing the worm my concern is that they have just been dormant for the last month and are all about to spring back into action.

 

If anyone can offer me any advice I will be forever grateful.

[mimi5]

Hi, didn't want to read & run! What a battle you've had! Sounds like you've made some headway. Can Redfords not giive you further advice? What about treating the ground/environment........has anyone giiven you some advice on this?

 

Hopefully somebody with first hand experience will be along

 

Best wishes for your girls.

[gavclojak]

I know 'The dogmother' has given advice on tapeworm recently, maybe PM her I'm sure she wouldn't mind.

[Beantree]

Try Verm-X. We had it and that sorted it out. I know it is a herbal gut tonic but if the drugs aren't working?

[Claireabella]

I'd have a chat with your vet about incorporating Droncit (not licensed for poultry) into your regular worming routine.

[Pottage]

Thanks guys. I believe my vet is the same one Dogmother uses. I've spoken to him and sent him a list of everything they've had and he has recommended 1/2 a Droncit tablet.

 

Slightly panicked about giving them the pills as he wants me to try them out on one first to make sure it has no ill effects How do I pick one? They are all my babies!

 

I expect he is just being over cautious because it's off label, but I'm still going to have my heart in my mouth when I treat them.

 

I use Bio Dri in their run, and have dumped loads of DE in the borders and under the bushes that they play and dig about in.

[dormerroof]

I have equitape from a friend who has horses. Does anyone know the dosage. Someone has mentioned .25ml per bird but I have several ranging from a light silkie to a heavy buff Orpington. I don't want to under or overdose. Thank you.

[The Dogmother]

Dormerroof, I would contact a chicken-savvy vet for dosage instructions as it is off-label and not strictly for use on poultry.

 

Sorry to hear that you're still having problems Pottage - Have we met?

 

I think that they are re-infecting from your ground; do you live on agricultural land, or was it used to graze animals?

 

 

I have to say that I don't know a heck of a lot about tapeworms in chickens, but if you're seeing my vet, then he's the best one to ask.

[mrsrobinson]

Hi. I am very new to keeping hens but can share my recent experience of tape worm treatment. I have 5 ex-battery hens - they arrived July 5. I found roundworms first. The vet gave me Panacur. That got rid of the roundworms but to my horror a few days later found tape worms in the poop. I researched like mad - got alot of help from Dawg53 over on backyardchickens and treated hens with horse wormer - Equimax - which is Ivermectin and Praziquantel - i gave a pea size amount and the worms have cleared. The hens are due a second dose to day 10 days later. I also made extra effort poop picking which I had been doing anyway but when i picked up the poop with the tapes in I could see lots of segments or cysts in the grass so I picked those out with some fine forceps.The worms slugs snails and other insects eat those cysts then the hen eats them and gets reinfected so it is not good news. The equimax tastes awful - i mixed it in with sardines and fed each hen individually. One hen refused to eat it so i managed to draw some up in a 1 ml syringe and with someone holding the hen got enough down. Since i wormed them for tape worms they have seemed a lot better - the poop is formed - it was very runny - and we are getting 4 eggs a day. They all look much better. I tried to get some advice from the vet but was told that Panacur was the correct stuff for tapes however my understanding is that it won't treat them - you need Albendazole or Praziquantel. My hens seemed to have no ill effexts from the Equimax but it is not licenced for hens. It is a bit arbitary deciding on pea size as a dose but needs must! Hope that helps - as I said there is lots of info on that other website - it's easy to get the threads and you only have to join if you want to post.

[mrsrobinson]

Just to say i agree with some of the other posts that it is an environmental problem with the life cycle of the tape worm - I also disposed the wormy poop in doggy bags not in the compost. I do fully expect the hens to get tapes again as it is impossible to get all the droppings from under hedges and shrubs etc. and my hens free range all day. So i keep an eagle eye on the poop - pick everything up I can find - if i can i go round 2-3 times a day to poop pick - yes paranoid! But the worms are very visible in the poop. It is a real pain to pick the eggs out of the grass but it was worth it as there were up to 30 lying in the grass under each poop.

[mrsrobinson]

Droncit is Praziquantel. It works by allowing the tape worms to be absorbed as protein by the hen. The hen might pass a few bits of the tape worm but it is not usual. If your hens are still passing the cysts after worming maybe the dose wasn't right. But the hens will get reinfected if they eat the worms and snails that have picked up the cysts from the ground. My understanding is that it is really difficult to get the land clear. You would have to kill off all the worms n slugs and insects that eat the cysts. I must emphasise that this is just what i have found out over the last few weeks i am no expert.

[The Dogmother]

I'm afraid that it's almost impossible to eradicate it from your land. If you really feel the need to protect your flock, then they would need to be kept under cover, on deep litter.

[Cinnabear]

On 8/24/2015 at 2:53 AM, mrsrobinson said:

Hi. I am very new to keeping hens but can share my recent experience of tape worm treatment. I have 5 ex-battery hens - they arrived July 5. I found roundworms first. The vet gave me Panacur. That got rid of the roundworms but to my horror a few days later found tape worms in the poop. I researched like mad - got alot of help from Dawg53 over on backyardchickens and treated hens with horse wormer - Equimax - which is Ivermectin and Praziquantel - i gave a pea size amount and the worms have cleared. The hens are due a second dose to day 10 days later. I also made extra effort poop picking which I had been doing anyway but when i picked up the poop with the tapes in I could see lots of segments or cysts in the grass so I picked those out with some fine forceps.The worms slugs snails and other insects eat those cysts then the hen eats them and gets reinfected so it is not good news. The equimax tastes awful - i mixed it in with sardines and fed each hen individually. One hen refused to eat it so i managed to draw some up in a 1 ml syringe and with someone holding the hen got enough down. Since i wormed them for tape worms they have seemed a lot better - the poop is formed - it was very runny - and we are getting 4 eggs a day. They all look much better. I tried to get some advice from the vet but was told that Panacur was the correct stuff for tapes however my understanding is that it won't treat them - you need Albendazole or Praziquantel. My hens seemed to have no ill effexts from the Equimax but it is not licenced for hens. It is a bit arbitary deciding on pea size as a dose but needs must! Hope that helps - as I said there is lots of info on that other website - it's easy to get the threads and you only have to join if you want to post.

 

On 8/24/2015 at 2:53 AM, mrsrobinson said:

Hi. I am very new to keeping hens but can share my recent experience of tape worm treatment. I have 5 ex-battery hens - they arrived July 5. I found roundworms first. The vet gave me Panacur. That got rid of the roundworms but to my horror a few days later found tape worms in the poop. I researched like mad - got alot of help from Dawg53 over on backyardchickens and treated hens with horse wormer - Equimax - which is Ivermectin and Praziquantel - i gave a pea size amount and the worms have cleared. The hens are due a second dose to day 10 days later. I also made extra effort poop picking which I had been doing anyway but when i picked up the poop with the tapes in I could see lots of segments or cysts in the grass so I picked those out with some fine forceps.The worms slugs snails and other insects eat those cysts then the hen eats them and gets reinfected so it is not good news. The equimax tastes awful - i mixed it in with sardines and fed each hen individually. One hen refused to eat it so i managed to draw some up in a 1 ml syringe and with someone holding the hen got enough down. Since i wormed them for tape worms they have seemed a lot better - the poop is formed - it was very runny - and we are getting 4 eggs a day. They all look much better. I tried to get some advice from the vet but was told that Panacur was the correct stuff for tapes however my understanding is that it won't treat them - you need Albendazole or Praziquantel. My hens seemed to have no ill effexts from the Equimax but it is not licenced for hens. It is a bit arbitary deciding on pea size as a dose but needs must! Hope that helps - as I said there is lots of info on that other website - it's easy to get the threads and you only have to join if you want to post.

Equimax. .033 / lb for a more accurate measurement. I withheld food for 19 hours. Had locked up in coop so easy to grab each one. Weighed each on a dog scale. Wrote down weight for dosing again in 10 days. Doing 1/2 today and rest tomorrow. Drawn up in a syringe. Hold chicken in a towel, lightly pull down on waddles, squirt on tongue. Just did this, let’s hope it works. 3 rounds of fenbendazole that didn’t work. 
Will put food back down in a few hours, little at a time or they will gorge, being so hungry.