Tapeworms are back

[misshell]

I am very disappointed and have become paranoid about my chickens having tapeworms. They were recently treated with prazequantal as soon as I noticed the segments in their stool and it seemed to work. I cleaned their coop as throughly as possible and gave them another doze ten days later. All seemed well until yesterday. I saw a dropping with worms. Then today there were several droppings with worms. My five year old plays in the yard and I have been telling him he cannot go near the chickens. He loves them so much, but thankfully understands. I’m worried the soil is contaminated and worry about all the fruits and vegetables we grow and eat. What about all the other animals in the neighborhood? There are about 13 feral cats in the neighborhood who love our yard just as much as we do. I love my chickens and have worked very hard and spent a lot of money to give them a big, beautiful home, but I want to provide a healthy environment for my son more. I feel defeated. Maybe I should sell my girls to someone who can conquer this issue better than me? Im
Not really sure what else I can do. Tapeworms... just thinking about them makes me cringe. The mother of all parasites abundant in my backyard.

 

[dawg53]

Poultry tapeworms are mostly host specific but can be zoonotic if the intermediate host (infected insect as an example) is swallowed by a human. The human will become infected with tapeworms. It's not very common that this happens. This is one reason why we thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables before eating them. Of course if the veggies or fruit are cooked, parasites will be killed and so will their eggs.

I suspect that there are a lot of tapeworm infected hosts (insects) due to the your gardening since insects are attracted to it. The feral cats dont help at all and can be loaded with all kinds of diseases and parasites, including fleas which can carry all kinds of diseases and parasites.
Cats can possibly carry Taenia type tapeworms from eating wild birds which can spread to an intermediate host (insect) and the insect is then eaten by a chicken, and the chicken becomes the host for Taenia tapeworms. Fleas from cats can possibly carry deadly diseases passed to humans if bitten.

Dont let your 5 year old son go barefooted on your property and simply have him wash his hands thoroughly with soap and water before eating anything. Your chickens wont give your son worms and they are safe to handle etc...

The next time you see some chicken poop with worms in it or segments, please take a photo of it and post it here. I'd like to take a look at it. You might be seeing maggots.

 

[misshell]

Poultry tapeworms are mostly host specific but can be zoonotic if the intermediate host (infected insect as an example) is swallowed by a human. The human will become infected with tapeworms. It's not very common that this happens. This is one reason why we thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables before eating them. Of course if the veggies or fruit are cooked, parasites will be killed and so will their eggs.

I suspect that there are a lot of tapeworm infected hosts (insects) due to the your gardening since insects are attracted to it. The feral cats dont help at all and can be loaded with all kinds of diseases and parasites, including fleas which can carry all kinds of diseases and parasites.
Cats can possibly carry Taenia type tapeworms from eating wild birds which can spread to an intermediate host (insect) and the insect is then eaten by a chicken, and the chicken becomes the host for Taenia tapeworms. Fleas from cats can possibly carry deadly diseases passed to humans if bitten.

Dont let your 5 year old son go barefooted on your property and simply have him wash his hands thoroughly with soap and water before eating anything. Your chickens wont give your son worms and they are safe to handle etc...

The next time you see some chicken poop with worms in it or segments, please take a photo of it and post it here. I'd like to take a look at it. You might be seeing maggots.

Thank you for your reply. Here are the worms I am seeing. Would you happen to know what type of tapeworms these are? It’s a little more reassuring poultry tapeworms are mostly host specific. There are not only a lot of cats, but possums and occasionally raccoons that love our yard too. Critters have always been an issue here. Even before having chickens and a garden. I do appreciate the cats in a way though. They keep the squirrels, mice and rats away. The cats are friendly, but not friendly enough to let you pet them.

 

[dawg53]

I dont know what type of tapeworms they are. A feces sample containing segments would need to be sent to a lab to be analyzed and identified.
Did you see the segments moving? They eventually work their way onto and into the soil where they release hundreds of eggs to be eaten by insects (intermediate host.)

You're going to have to:
1. Scoop up and dispose of feces containing tapeworm segments wherever and
wherever you see them.
A burn barrel comes to mind. Incinerate them the next time you burn trash.
2. Control the insect population by using a pesticide such as Malathion.
3. Continue to worm tapeworm infected birds using the Equimax. ONLY dose birds that show segments in feces.

Controlling insects and continued praziquantel treatment of tapeworm infected chickens over time will eventually minimize tapeworm infections.
I've dealt with tapeworms and they are tough to get rid of, more tough than dealing with roundworms.
Your patience and perseverance will eventually pay off.

 

[misshell]

I dont know what type of tapeworms they are. A feces sample containing segments would need to be sent to a lab to be analyzed and identified.
Did you see the segments moving? They eventually work their way onto and into the soil where they release hundreds of eggs to be eaten by insects (intermediate host.)

You're going to have to:
1. Scoop up and dispose of feces containing tapeworm segments wherever and
wherever you see them.
A burn barrel comes to mind. Incinerate them the next time you burn trash.
2. Control the insect population by using a pesticide such as Malathion.
3. Continue to worm tapeworm infected birds using the Equimax. ONLY dose birds that show segments in feces.

Controlling insects and continued praziquantel treatment of tapeworm infected chickens over time will eventually minimize tapeworm infections.
I've dealt with tapeworms and they are tough to get rid of, more tough than dealing with roundworms.
Your patience and perseverance will eventually pay off.

Thank you. You’re very helpful and I really appreciate it. I don’t think I can burn anything on my property unless I want the cops called on me. Haha! But I definitely am thinking of a different route as far as disposal of contaminated poop. Maybe a separate bag and separate garbage can that can be taken to the dumps and left there. I love my birds. I don’t want to give up on them. It overwhelming, though. Hopefully I can do this.

 

[dawg53]

Thank you. You’re very helpful and I really appreciate it. I don’t think I can burn anything on my property unless I want the cops called on me. Haha! But I definitely am thinking of a different route as far as disposal of contaminated poop. Maybe a separate bag and separate garbage can that can be taken to the dumps and left there. I love my birds. I don’t want to give up on them. It overwhelming, though. Hopefully I can do this.

I know it's frustrating, just stay after them. If I can do it, so can you. (And anybody else for that matter.)

 

[dawg53]

@misshell Here's pics for you. When I lived in Georgia and some of my birds had tapeworms, I isolated each bird in a cage and treated them accordingly. At one time I had 5 birds in 5 different cages in our garage treating them for tapeworms.
The 1st pic are tapeworm strands excreted from a caged chicken after being dosed with Equimax. They almost look like jellyfish tentacles or strands. The strands come in various shapes and sizes, but they are actually flat and segmented. The pic is a little blurry, but you can see the strands. The 2nd pic is the chicken that excreted the tapeworm. She was my favorite, a Barred Rock named "Big Girl." You can see that she is caged.
The rest of the pics are other hens that I had caged undergoing tapeworm treatment.

 

[dawg53]

Finally, here's pics of tapeworm segments taken from feces in a caged Black Star. I used toothpicks to point them out on the newspaper in the pics. Again, it's kind of blurry to see them.

 

[misshell]

Finally, here's pics of tapeworm segments taken from feces in a caged Black Star. I used toothpicks to point them out on the newspaper in the pics. Again, it's kind of blurry to see them.

View attachment 2792049View attachment 2792050

Thank you! I don’t think I can isolate them like that. Although I do have a crate for a small dog they can fit in, but no garage to keep them protected overnight. Unless I put them in the run in the crate at night... you’ve got my wheels spinning on what to do.

 

[dawg53]

There's really no reason to isolate them. I did it for the heck of it.