Page 17 - National Poultry Newspaper

How intestinal worms impact free range farms
FREE range production has many positive ben- efits – unfortunately ex- posure to internal para- sites is not one of them.
and become encased in a developing egg.
strength, reduced yolk colour and increased cannibalism through vent pecking due to straining.
tween these three chemi- cals.
Effective control of intestinal parasites is aimed at breaking the cycle of infection.
Here we discuss one of the challenges facing free range layer farming – in- testinal worms.
The lifecycle of round- worms is direct – eggs are expelled in the hens’ droppings and are direct- ly infective if eaten.
And death, in very heavy infestations. Treatment options
Levamisole on the other hand is effective against round, caecal and hair worms.
To understand them better, we need to know more about them – their lifecycle, their hosts, their impacts, and how best to control them.
The eggs can survive in the environment for long periods, so are difficult to eradicate once an in- fection is established in a free-range system. Hairworms
There are now three an- thelmintics, or drugs for intestinal worm control, currently registered for use in Australia – pip- erazine, levamisole and flubendazole.
Flubendazole has ef- ficacy against all four types of worms.
There are four major types of intestinal worms found in poultry – round- worms, hairworms, cae- cal worms and tape- worms.
Capillaria are much smaller – hair-like – and are barely visible with the naked eye, but can cause significant damage even in only moderate infestations.
monas meleagridis – the cause of blackhead dis- ease.
their life in the intestines and generally cause little impact on performance, unless the worm burden physically occludes the intestine.
Each of these is suitable for use in laying birds with no withholding peri- od for eggs, while levam- isole and flubendazole have a seven-day with- holding period for meat.
It is wise to rotate be- tween the three types of anthelmintics to reduce the risk of resistance de- velopment.
But this needs to be combined with other good management prac- tices, such as limiting stock density on the range, rotation of the range, good drainage and the removal of heavily contaminated soil around the shed before new pul- lets arrive.
Roundworms
So, though chickens are generally not impacted by caecal worms, con- trolling the worms is still important for blackhead control.
There is now an ap- proved treatment against tapeworms, so control- ling the intermediate hosts of tapeworms has become much easier. The impacts of worm infestations
There are no products registered for the control of blackhead, so it be- comes even more impor- tant to control its inter- mediate host, the caecal worm.
Ascaridia galli are the most commonly seen in- testinal worm.
There are two main species – one lives in the crop and the other in the small intestine.
Tapeworms
There are some funda- mental differences be-
They are white, up to 5cm long and may be visible in droppings in heavy infestations.
There are several spe- cies of tapeworm that are found in poultry.
A severe infestation can cause a reduction in nu- trient absorption, intes- tinal blockage and death.
Heterakis gallinarum spend most of their time in the caecae.
These intermediate hosts include ants, bee- tles, houseflies, slugs, snails, earthworms and termites.
Occasionally, they mi- grate up a hen’s reproduc- tive tract from the cloaca
Caecal worms are gen- erally harmless but can be the intermediary host of another parasite, histo-
They spend most of
Tapeworm.
Roundworms.
Hairworms.
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This is a seriously un- wanted consequence of heavy infestations.
Affected birds may be dull and show pale combs.
Piperazine only has activity against round- worms, not against hair- worms, caecal worms or tapeworms.
Strategic use of an- thelmintics during rear- ing will help to reduce the challenge, and giv- ing a prophylactic treat- ment before moving hens from rearing to produc- tion sheds will assist in breaking the infection cycle.
Caecal worms
Tapeworms require an intermediate host to complete their life cycle.
Some impacts of an in- festation of worms in- clude reduced vitality, poor body weight gain leading to unevenness or stunted birds, reduced egg production and egg size, a decrease in shell
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