TAPEWORM PROBLEM: Need Advice on Treatment

[dawg53]

Well something I thought of recently was growing herbs that are antiparasitic...like wormwood, for one, and feeding them the herb dried. Preventative...proactive. Maybe a blackwalnut tea from time to time?

How much do you give to treat tapeworms and for how long do you treat? Are there side effects, withdrawal periods? Where do you buy it and at what cost? How long does it take to grow the antiparasitic herbs; water, nutrient/soil requirements? Full sun, partial or shade requirements? Let us know how it turns out for you. In the meantime, what are the worms doing internally?

 

[Gresh]

Hey, y'all,

I want to thank you for the responses and suggestions I was given last time I had a worm problem. I especially want to thank Dawg53 for his excellent advice. Applying his Equimax suggestion has cured my adult chickens of both tapeworms and roundworms, it seems. I have not had any more worm problems since I treated them.

However, now I have a worm problem with my younger chickens, which are nearly 2 months old. I have recently discovered that at least some of them have tapeworms. What I need advice on is, 1) Is it safe to use some of the left over Equimax from my treatment of the adults? [I have quite a bit left.]; 2) How much Equimax should I give them, and how should I administer it?

I realize that some of you will suggest to use Valbazen, but it is totally out of my budget and Equimax (in VERY small doses) has worked just fine for my adult flock.

Thanks,
~Gresh~

 

[dawg53]

Hey, y'all,

I want to thank you for the responses and suggestions I was given last time I had a worm problem. I especially want to thank Dawg53 for his excellent advice. Applying his Equimax suggestion has cured my adult chickens of both tapeworms and roundworms, it seems. I have not had any more worm problems since I treated them.

However, now I have a worm problem with my younger chickens, which are nearly 2 months old. I have recently discovered that at least some of them have tapeworms. What I need advice on is, 1) Is it safe to use some of the left over Equimax from my treatment of the adults? [I have quite a bit left.]; 2) How much Equimax should I give them, and how should I administer it?

I realize that some of you will suggest to use Valbazen, but it is totally out of my budget and Equimax (in VERY small doses) has worked just fine for my adult flock.

Thanks,
~Gresh~

Give your 2 month old chickens a small pea size amount of Equimax orally, repeat in 10 days.

 

[Gresh]

Thanks, will do!

 

[Folly's place]

Fenbendazole given for five days in a row; Albendazole ditto; Praziquantel once; all kill tapeworms very well. NONE are approved for use in chickens in the USA, so there's no official withdrawal period in print. You are left with "do what you think is best"; I'd go for seven to ten days for eggs, but that's just me. NO 'natural' product will do anything useful. Eating the eggs yourself is up to you; selling them is another issue. I'd eat them myself. Mary

 

[Gresh]

Thank you for your suggestions!

 

[dawg53]

Fenbendazole given for five days in a row; Albendazole ditto; Praziquantel once; all kill tapeworms very well. NONE are approved for use in chickens in the USA, so there's no official withdrawal period in print. You are left with "do what you think is best"; I'd go for seven to ten days for eggs, but that's just me. NO 'natural' product will do anything useful. Eating the eggs yourself is up to you; selling them is another issue. I'd eat them myself. Mary

Fenbendazole wont do anything against tapes. Been there done that.

 

[Folly's place]

I rechecked about the fenbendazole; you're so right! Praziquantel is the best, but I'm uncomfortable with using the tube horse wormer, as it's so concentrated. More research needed here! Mary

 

[dawg53]

I rechecked about the fenbendazole; you're so right! Praziquantel is the best, but I'm uncomfortable with using the tube horse wormer, as it's so concentrated. More research needed here! Mary

More research? I've dealt with tapeworms in chickens and know what it takes to safely and effectively get rid of them. Concentrated horse wormer: That's why you give a "small" pea sized amount of the paste to small birds, a regular pea sized amount to standard sized birds. An alternative is albendazole which requires higher dosings in conjunction with three to four separate wormings four days apart. Otherwise do nothing; then tapeworm infested birds eventually become emaciated weakening their immune system and making them susceptable to all kinds of diseases compounding the problem, also causing whatever contracted disease to spread through your flock. Then you have to cull, OR you can spend your money on antibiotics and wormers all at the same time building antibiotic resistant and wormer resistant birds. Need more research? In the meantime tapeworm infested birds keep dropping tapeworm "rice" segments in/on feces onto your soil. Each segment you see carries hundreds of tapeworm eggs which are eaten by insects. Your chickens eat the insects reinfecting them again completing the tapeworms lifecycle.

 

[Folly's place]

I seem to have hit a hot button here; didn't mean to offend. Since my flock hasn't been afflicted with tapeworms (yet) it hasn't been a concern for me. Mary