Worms in chicken: symptoms, signs and features of treatment

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Not only mammals, but also birds can suffer from helminthiasis. In chickens, this unpleasant disease, for example, occurs quite often. Helminthiasis can cause truly colossal damage to poultry farms. That is why it is so important to carry out the prevention of such diseases and their timely treatment.

What worms are most common in chickens

Types of helminths in nature, there is just a huge amount. Household birds can become infected with both parasitic roundworms and tapeworms or flukes. Worms can live in chickens in different organs. But most often this economic bird is still infected with nematodes and roundworms. The latter settle in the intestines of a laying hen or a broiler.

Too serious complications, unlike mammals, worms in chickens usually do not cause. But they can still cause significant harm to he alth. Most often, young chickens become infected with worms. At first, the signs of helminthiasis in them appear quite pronounced. But if the owners of the poultry house do not take appropriate measures, in the future the disease can turn into an almost asymptomatic form. BUT,therefore, it will be difficult to determine the reasons for the decline in poultry productivity.

Danger of disease

The worms that have settled in the body of the chicken begin to absorb nutrients in large quantities, taking them away from the bird itself. It is as a result of this that the broiler or laying hen begins to lose weight and significantly reduces productivity.

Another danger of helminthiasis in chickens is intoxication of the body. In the process of life, worms emit just a huge amount of various harmful substances. The latter are quickly and almost completely absorbed into the blood of the bird. And this, in turn, leads to poor he alth, weakness and reduced immunity. As a result, the chicken may catch some even more serious infection than helminthiasis.

Worms live in a chicken in the body, as already mentioned, most often in the intestines. But sometimes parasite larvae penetrate other organs, and even eggs. Therefore, helminthiasis of chickens is fraught with danger, including for the owners. Nematodes can live in the intestines of not only animals and birds, but also, of course, humans.

The most unpleasant consequence of helminthiasis in chickens is intestinal rupture. This happens with intensive reproduction of worms. In this case, the larvae fill the intestines so densely that its walls simply cannot withstand it. In this case, the diseased chicken dies.

Distribution routes

Helminthiasis disease is actually very contagious. If at least one chicken in the herd becomes infected, after a whiletime will have to treat all the birds living in the courtyard. Worm eggs are transmitted both through food and through water. Most often, the sources of infection of chickens are farms that are unfavorable in terms of helminthiasis. Therefore, when buying young animals or producers, the owner of a poultry farm should be as careful as possible.

The same goes for feed. Buy grain, bran and roots for chickens only from trusted suppliers with a good reputation.

Symptoms of infection

Determining if chickens have worms is easy. Immediately after infection, the bird loses its appetite and begins to lose weight rapidly. Also, symptoms of helminthiasis can serve:

• decrease in productivity;
• appearance of soft-shelled eggs;
• diarrhea (yellow feces);
• pale comb color;
• presence of larvae in feces;
• enteritis.

Chickens have different kinds of worms. But sometimes it happens that the symptoms of this disease are not too pronounced. In this case, the owners should contact, among other things, veterinarians for help. Equipment designed to diagnose this disease is available in each such clinic. To accurately determine the presence of worms in the body of a bird, the veterinarian only needs to bring samples of the litter. In this case, it will be possible not only to accurately diagnose helminthiasis, but also to find out what kind of parasite caused the infection, and, consequently, to prescribe the most effective treatment.

Whatpreventive measures should be taken

Worms in chickens can cause very unpleasant symptoms. This disease actually usually causes significant damage to the farm. Of course, any infection is easier to prevent than to treat later. This also applies, of course, to helminthiasis. Preventive measures aimed at preventing this disease must be taken on farms.

As already mentioned, the infection in the poultry house is most often brought from dysfunctional farms. Therefore, purchased additional young or producers should be kept in quarantine for at least two weeks. If during this time the bird does not show any signs of helminthiasis or any other diseases, it can be transferred to a common poultry house. Before this, young animals must be fed an anthelmintic drug for prevention.

Worms in laying hens and broilers often start because of the banal non-compliance with sanitary standards in the poultry house. The shed in which this economic bird lives should be cleaned as thoroughly as possible. It is worth cleaning from time to time in the walking aviary. As many experienced farmers note, free-range chickens are more likely to become infected with helminths.

In order to prevent infection of the bird with worms, you should also use antihelminthic drugs. Give them to the bird for prevention about once every six months.

Treatment with drugs

Chicken worms are, of course, a very unpleasant and rather dangerous disease. However, it is treatedactually relatively easy. You can get the drugs necessary to rid the bird of helminths both in a regular pharmacy and in a veterinary or even in a pet store.

It is best to purchase a medicine intended for the treatment of all types of bird worms at once. There are many similar drugs on the market today. Most of them act against worms quite effectively. However, when buying such a medicine, you should be as careful as possible. There are often fakes on the market that do not bring any benefit to the bird's body. Also, sometimes such products can harm and even make eggs or poultry meat toxic.

As an example of a good drug that helps well with worms in chickens, we can cite Pirantel. This suspension for the treatment of helminths is simply added to chicken food. Specific dosages for different types of poultry are indicated by the Pirantel manufacturer on the packaging. Treatment with this drug is carried out three times with an interval of 6 days.

Many homeowners are interested in if worms are found in chickens, is it possible to eat chickens? Of course, the consumption of infected poultry meat should be avoided. First, chickens should be well treated. After the use of anthelmintic agents, poultry meat is not recommended for about two months.

Chicken worms: treatment with folk methods

Different kinds of drugs help from helminthiasis very well. However, the means are still chemical and capable of exerting on the body of a bird, includingnegative impact. Therefore, many owners of suburban areas prefer to treat their chickens infected with worms with folk methods. In this case, medicinal herbs are most often used. Very good for helminths in chickens, for example, chopped green onions help. It should be added to the mash at each feeding in large quantities.

You can also get rid of worms in chickens by offering them a decoction of pine or spruce needles instead of water. Often, pumpkin seeds, cranberries and wild garlic are also used to treat helminthiasis of poultry.

What you need to know

When deciding to treat worms in chickens with folk methods, it should be borne in mind that this method is well suited only at the initial stage of infection. If the bird has a lot of helminths and the whole flock is already infected, it is better to use industrial preparations.