mullethunter Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Due to moving house I've got really behind with worming the girls. I was doing it (with pre medicated pellets) every 3 months, but it's now been 6 months. The girls are on their 4th day of the flubanvet now and when I cleaned out the house and run today I noticed quite a few roundworms in the poo. Does this mean I will need to repeat the worming after a few weeks rather than waiting another 3 months? Also Bernadette ate one of the worms out of the cleaning tray - does that make anything any worse or not because a) it's dead and b) if any of them have worms they probably all do so it won't make any difference anyway? Thank you all in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 I think the consensus is that the worming should be repeated in six weeks as that is the Life cycle of the larvae. I worm every three/four months as a matter of course and often see worms in the poo when worming. If you would rather not worm again have you considered a worm egg count? I did it once when I got my October ex commercial girls who in theory shouldn't have come to me with worms as they were in a commercial setting.....but did!!!! I used retfords poultry and got the results back in a few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 First time I wormed, I found loads of worms in their poo, repeated a week later (as instructed on bottle) and found no worms. Repeated four months later and again no worms in poo. It can't really harm them to repeat, but maybe an egg count gives you an idea if it's really necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 If you see worms in the poo they are massively burdened and it is a surprise they didn't die as a result of the worming. Worms give off toxins as they die which can spell disaster to the host. They need worming again in a few weeks and again in 4 months. It will help a lot if they can be taken off the ground they are on and moved to another area. We have found that 6 months is too long. 4 months is about right because the poos change after that indicating a worm burden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 If you see worms in the poo they are massively burdened and it is a surprise they didn't die as a result of the worming. Worms give off toxins as they die which can spell disaster to the host. That's interesting beantree, do you mean seeing worms in the poo when not worming indicated a massive burden or when worming as I have often seen one or two worms in the poo when worming. I am unable to move the girls as they are in a large enclosure but I regularly treat the wood chips on the ground with sanitiser and poo pick daily. I change the whole area every 4/5 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 I have never seen round worms in the poo when they are being wormed Gavclojak. The worms are killed in the gut and then digested. I have heard of chickens dying during worming in extreme cases, where they are hunched up and have a dirty bottom and have never been wormed before. Yes a massive worm burden is indicated when you see them in the everyday poos, usually the big one in the morning. At that stage your worming programme is running far too late. Egg size and quality will suffer as a result as well as the general health of the chicken. We saw our first 'hair worms' in a water poo a few weeks ago. They were almost invisible and I needed a magnifying glass, but there were hundreds of them wriggling about. She had been wormed 5 months earlier, so clearly that isn't often enough. Hair worms need an intermediate host in their life cycle so she must have picked them up from eating something that was carrying them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 oh gosh, I'm not sure now if they were round worms or hair worms! I have googled it and they look the same Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Hair worms are about 8mm long and the diameter of a human hair. The ones we saw were slightly pink in colour whereas roundworms are several inches long, about 1mm or more in diameter and white. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Roundworm they were then.. It's the stuff of nightmares for me I detest anything that wriggles or doesn't have legs or has too many legs!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Roundworm they were then.. It's the stuff of nightmares for me I detest anything that wriggles or doesn't have legs or has too many legs!!! Same here! I have a very handg rule for food: I don't eat anything with less than 2 or more than 4 feet. Excludes loads of yuck/slimy/crawling creatures! (Btw fish have 3...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted August 8, 2015 Author Share Posted August 8, 2015 Thanks all. I'll do them again in 4 weeks (that'll be perfect actually as I'll be away then). Definitely roundworms. About 4cm long by a mm diameter. Beantree I think you're right about the four months because one of mine has had really messy black droppings since about that time. Hopefully she'll get back to normal now. As for dying during treatment, they don't seem to have been off colour at all - just miffed at being shut in all week! Does anyone use Nettex ground sanitiser on grass? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 A lack of visible worms in the poo isn't necessarily a sign that they don't have worms, so either have a regular wormign routine, or send faecal samples off for testing. Mullethunter; I use Ground Sanitising Powder in the run on a weekly basis; just rake it over as it will help to kill off any bacteria and worm eggs. I haven't used it on grass, but don't see any reason why you couldn't. It is important to get worming in perspective; you will never get them totally free of worms and keep them that way. The idea is to keep the parasite load down to a manageable level so that it's not compromising their health. Watch out for signs such as loose droppings, loss of condition, poor egg quality, or going off-lay for no obvious reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 Thanks DM. When the girls were in a run on run I used Nettex fortnightly, so I think I will try it on the grass and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
