Large Roundworm or Ascarida Galli |
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Written by Tim Daniels
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Saturday, 06 June 2009 14:30 |
These worms are 5 to 8cm long and live in the middle part of a birds intestine. Bad infestations of large roundworms in poultry usually occur when birds are kept in intensive conditions on dirty litter or in runs that have been used for many years. Large roundworm infestations occurs directly by birds eating eggs that have been passed out in droppings. These eggs have to be infective which takes 10 days. Once eaten, eggs hatch in the birds proventriculus and the larvae move on to part of the intestine called the lumen. A week later, the larvae get into the mucosa, part of the intestine wall and start to cause damage. Occasionally, large roundworms worms crawl up the oviduct and can appear inside eggs.
Signs and Symptoms
Loss of egg production and pale yolk colour and anaemia are the biggest signs of a large roundworm infection as well as a loss in weight gain for growing birds. Birds can look depressed and eventually if the infestation is heavy, they can die.
Treatment
As with all internal parasites, there are many treatments that will kill these worms. Internal Parasites or Worms in Chickens and Other Poultry provides some ideas for worming poultry. Flubenvet is the wormer licenced for poultry.
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Last Updated on Sunday, 10 January 2010 12:57 |
Common To All Poultry