Coccidiosis and Worms... What to treat first?

[Snowkitten714]

I recently acquired a new hen and have her in quarantine. I did a fecal float to the results that she has Coccidia oocysts, tapeworm eggs, and rhabditiform larva. I'm finishing up a 2 week treatment with Panacur, hopefully to eliminate the rhabditiform. It also seems to be irritating the tapeworm, but not eliminating them. While dosing with Panacur, I also ordered Corid (amprollium) and Valbazen (albendazole).

My questions are, is there a particular order to which I should be trying to eliminate the parasites? Will this new hen ever be considered "clean" to be added into my existing flock? Should I treat the whole flock in case of any minute chance of cross contamination from a fly or something? I'm one of those people that wants to give this hen every fighting chance I can, but I also want to protect my flock. With all the care I'm providing, she's turning into a sweet girl. She's also getting lots of goodies, scrambled egg, grass, grapes, meal worms, etc to make sure she is eating.

When I acquired her, she just finished molting. I've had her for about 3 weeks, and she just started laying for me. While I'm not eating the eggs, I'll probably blow them out to keep them as decorations. Her poops are relatively normal. A bit on the dry side at times, however she is drinking water, and the poop is always covered with tapeworm eggs.

I've read up on a ton of info here, just thought I would ask and see what others think about the situation.

 

[Eggcessive]

Tapeworms can be hard to control. Many people use a wormer with Praziquantel (Zimectrin Gold, Equimax, or Mediworm) for tapeworms only. Panacur (fenbendazole, SafeGuard) should take care of any other worms in chickens including hookworm with a dosage of 1/4 ml per pound of weight given orally for 5 days in a row. Most chickens have some coccidia in their intestines, but they only need treatment if there is a large number of them. If she doesn't act sick, you may want to just watch her. Some people recommend giving Corid at the same time as a wormer, while others feel there should be a few days between treatments. During those breaks, vitamins and probiotics may help to recover the beneficial gut bacteria and vitamins lost. Corid should always be used first if there is an acute outbreak, since it can kill quickly. Most chickens build up resistance to cocci in their environment. Here are some very good threads about tapeworm treatment:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/949369/tapeworm-valbazen-ineffective-graphic-poo-video-attached
https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=tapeworms
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1010773/tapeworm-and-capillaria

 

[Snowkitten714]

You're saying dose Panacur 1/4mL PER DAY, for 5 days straight? I think my vet said 0.2mg/kg treated once and then retreat in a week. Am I under-dosing? I still need to address the rhabditiforms. Will the Valbazen catch those, or is it tapeworms only?
Since I already purchased the Valbazen, I'll give it a go first. I've still got her in quarantine from my normal flock, so it's either kill her or cure her.

I only question the Coccidia because it came up with higher numbers, so I wonder if I should treat.
Thanks for your help! I appreciate it.

 

[Eggcessive]

The Panacur (fenbendazole) is 1/4 ml per pound of weight, so it would be 1.25 ml for a 5 pound chicken, 5 days in a row, which gets the really hard worms to get. Valbazen will treat most all worms, even tapes, but it needs to be given differently for tapes. Valbazen dosage is usually 1/2 ml orally, and repeat in 10 days, but with tapes, I think you are supposed to double the dose, then repeat is 3 days, and later for the worm eggs. If Valbazen doesn't get the tapes, the praziquantel should be used. Most people use either Valbazen or fenbendazole for worming, but not both. Those links I gave you include posts by Dawg53 and Casportpony, who I believe to be very knowledgable about worms and dewormers.

 

[chickengr]

I recently acquired a new hen and have her in quarantine. I did a fecal float to the results that she has Coccidia oocysts, tapeworm eggs, and rhabditiform larva. I'm finishing up a 2 week treatment with Panacur, hopefully to eliminate the rhabditiform. It also seems to be irritating the tapeworm, but not eliminating them. While dosing with Panacur, I also ordered Corid (amprollium) and Valbazen (albendazole).

My questions are, is there a particular order to which I should be trying to eliminate the parasites? Will this new hen ever be considered "clean" to be added into my existing flock? Should I treat the whole flock in case of any minute chance of cross contamination from a fly or something? I'm one of those people that wants to give this hen every fighting chance I can, but I also want to protect my flock. With all the care I'm providing, she's turning into a sweet girl. She's also getting lots of goodies, scrambled egg, grass, grapes, meal worms, etc to make sure she is eating.

When I acquired her, she just finished molting. I've had her for about 3 weeks, and she just started laying for me. While I'm not eating the eggs, I'll probably blow them out to keep them as decorations. Her poops are relatively normal. A bit on the dry side at times, however she is drinking water, and the poop is always covered with tapeworm eggs.

I've read up on a ton of info here, just thought I would ask and see what others think about the situation.

you can boil her eggs and feed her.

 

[casportpony]

You're saying dose Panacur 1/4mL PER DAY, for 5 days straight? I think my vet said 0.2mg/kg treated once and then retreat in a week. Am I under-dosing? I still need to address the rhabditiforms. Will the Valbazen catch those, or is it tapeworms only?
Since I already purchased the Valbazen, I'll give it a go first. I've still got her in quarantine from my normal flock, so it's either kill her or cure her.

I only question the Coccidia because it came up with higher numbers, so I wonder if I should treat.
Thanks for your help! I appreciate it.

Did your vet say 0.2 ml per kg?

0.2 mg = .002 ml
2 mg = 0.02 ml
20 mg = 0.2 ml

I think that two weeks of Panacur or Safeguard at a high enough dose will probably treat all but tapes.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

FWIW, I'm one that will use Corid and wormers at the same time.

-Kathy

 

[Snowkitten714]

Yeah, it was mL, not mg, good catch.

Thanks for all the help. I have to wait until the Valbazen gets here and I am going to retreat her. Until then I am going to give her some probiotics and a small drug break. I may try Valbazen and Corid at the same time, because it down pour rained a week back, her outdoor quarantine cage isn't good and dry, she is in my guest bathroom at the moment and cleaning up after her every hour or so is running thru all my spare newspaper. Haha!

 

[Snowkitten714]

@Casportpony If I want to treat the Corid directly to the hen and not in the water, do you know the correct dose and timing? I've heard 0.2mL per 2.2lb of bird, retreat in 3 days time?

 

[casportpony]

@Casportpony If I want to treat the Corid directly to the hen and not in the water, do you know the correct dose and timing? I've heard 0.2mL per 2.2lb of bird, retreat in 3 days time?

The amount is correct, but I usually give it 1-3 days in a row in addition to their medicated water. It's quite safe, so don't worry about giving both too much.

Weight of bird in pounds, divide by 2.2, times 20, divide by 96 = the number of ml to give.water. Is there a reason that you don't want to put in their water?

-Kathy