Deworming in Pigeons: When your birds eat and drink good enough but there health is not improving then you should start deworming your pigeons. There are different type of worms in birds. Most common three worms found in pigeons today are roundworms, hair worms and tapeworms.
Symptoms of Worms in Pigeons:
- Loss of Condition
- Loss of Weight
- Bad Droppings
Round Worms in Pigeons
Probably the most common although least devastating of the worms found in domestic pigeons. Female roundworm produce large number of eggs, which larvate in the environmental and hatch in the intestine of the new host after ingestion. Weight loss, laziness, and poor performance may be the symptoms of infection, but many birds may be asymptomatic.
Hair Worms in Pigeons
Also known as threadworms, eggs are passed in feces, larvate in 1 week or longer, and are picked up from contaminated environment directly by new host.
The Female begin to produce eggs and further contaminate the environment in 2- 3 weeks. Lightly infested birds may show symptoms of anorexia or decreased appetite with weightless. Heavy infestations may result in illness or death due to emaciation, dehydration and anemia.
Tape Worms
Rallietina and Aporina (Taenia) delafondi are the most common tapeworms in pigeons. Feather louse has been suspected. Laziness, watery or mucoid droppings, weakness and leg paralysis have been reported.
Best Medicine For Pigeon Worms Treatment
- Levamisol (13.65% solution) dosed at 100mg/gal drinking water is very effective for roundworms, but not effective for stomach or tapeworms.
- Mebendazole is a fairly safe wormer that is effective against most worms except tapeworms. For all birds, it can be used as 0.5 teaspoon/gal drinking water for 3-5 days.
- Fenbenzazole at 10mg/kg once daily for 3 days shown 99% effective in removing roundworms and hairworms. (not recommended to use in molting season)
Deworming in Pigeons – Some Products
- Zental
- Vermox (not to use in moulting season)
- Oxafax
- Combi-Worm (All worms) (Global)
- Belga-Wormac (Hair & Roundworm)
- Wormmix (Hair & Roundworms) (DAC)
- Worm-Ex (Hair & Roundworms) (Pantex)
Pigeon Deworming Expert Opinion & Advice
I have frequently come across cases of tape-worms in pigeons. The bird becomes thin and languid, the eyes being dull and sunken in the head. The appetite seems to be abnormal, and the subject does not fly with its customary vigor. By carefully watching the subject, the tape-worm will frequently be found to protrude from the stern. I have removed tape-worms of from three to four feet in length from pigeons. There are, in addition to tape-worms, other small worms and parasites which will affect them.
The best treatment that I have found for the removal of worms is to give the bird a 5-minim capsule of male-fern oil on an empty crop, followed about two hours afterwards by a dose of castor oil, occasionally physicking with a little sulphate of magnesia. I have found this most effective, and in one or two cases where I have had birds so affected they have afterwards performed good work, and the worms have not seemingly made their reappearance.
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