How to Deworm Geese and Ducks?
Like chickens, geese and ducks are susceptible to several types of worms. Free-range geese and ducks are at higher risk of worm infestations than waterfowls living in confined spaces.
Deworming is crucial to ridding ducks and geese of many types of worms. It’s also imperative to identify early signs of worms in your ducks and geese to help you deworm your waterfowls before these worms take a toll on their health.
Types of Worms That Can Affect Geese and Ducks
Many types of worms can affect ducks and geese. Below are the different types of worms that affect these two waterfowls.
- Roundworms– Roundworms are the most common and largest internal worms in domestic fowl, including ducks and geese. These worms are white and thick, measuring around 13 cm in length. You can see these worms in geese’ and ducks’ droppings with your naked eyes. Roundworms cause fatalities and intestinal impactions in ducks and geese.
- Gapeworms– Although gapeworms are common in turkeys and pheasants, these worms can also affect geese and ducks. Waterfowls get these worms after ingesting their larvae, which then travel from a waterfowl’s lungs and liver to the windpipe. Gapeworms attach themselves to a duck’s or goose’s windpipe, making the birds cough persistently and shake its head frequently.
- Gizzard worms– Gizzard worms are slim and reddish. They are common in geese and ducks, causing infections that lead to depression, weight loss, stunted growth, and anemia. Gizzard worms are rare in geese, although they are most prevalent in ducks.
- Tapeworms– Tapeworms are also among the common worms in ducks and geese. Snails and beetles are the primary hosts of tapeworms, so waterfowls can get these worms after ingesting snails and beetles carrying tapeworms. Raillietina cesticullus and Davainea proglottina are the two major tapeworm species in ducks and geese. The two species measure between 4 and 15 cm long.
- Caecal worms– These worms live inside the caecal tubes of waterfowls. They can cause severe weight loss and weakness in geese and ducks. These worms are carriers of an infectious protozoan organism known as a black head, which makes ducks and geese experience up to 90% mortality rates.
Identifying the Need for Deworming
Worms can cause lots of health problems for geese and ducks. They can sometimes cause death, so it’s essential to recognize the need for deworming your waterfowls.
Identifying a worm infestation problem in your geese or ducks requires you to look for possible signs of worms in your waterfowls. Some signs of worms in geese and ducks include lethargy, weight loss, and poor appetite.
Other severe symptoms of worms in waterfowl include rapid reduction in egg production, head shaking, bloody droppings, and coughing.
Selecting and Administering Deworming Medications
Deworming is a crucial component of keeping healthy geese and ducks. It’s the ultimate way to rid your waterfowl of those disease-causing worms.
However, deworming will work effectively for your ducks and geese if you properly select and administer the best deworming medications.
Types of Dewormers
The marketplace is full of countless dewormers for ducks and geese. So, selecting the most effective dewormers for your ducks and geese can be a real challenge.
Some of the vet-prescribed dewormers for waterfowl keepers include Ivermectin, which helps kills many types of worms in ducks and geese, such as threadworms, roundworms, and gapeworms.
Kindly administer a dosage not exceeding five milligrams of this dewormer to your waterfowl. Flubenvet is another effective dewormer for waterfowl, available as a medicated feed.
You can get this dewormer from an avian vet who will prescribe the proper dosage for your waterfowl depending on the number of birds you want to deworm.
Medications
You can also use deworming medications to deworm your waterfowl. The list of deworming medications out there is endless, but there are some great and vet-approved medications for geese and ducks.
For instance, you can deworm your waterfowl using a drug such as Fenbendazole. The drug is suitable for controlling and treating cecal worms and roundworms in ducks and geese. The medication is available in stores in the form of a medicated feed.
You can also add the drug to your birds’ drinking water. Unlike other medications for deworming geese and ducks, Fenbendazole has no withdrawal time for meat and eggs from the treated waterfowl.
Flubendazole also effectively kills different types of intestinal worms in ducks and geese, particularly roundworms.
The medication is suitable for geese and ducks of all ages, including ducklings and goslings. However, you must use the drug as per your vet’s direction.
Injectable Formulas
Although most dewormers and medications for treating worms in ducks and geese are oral drugs, some medications come in the form of injectable formulas.
You will have to inject these medications directly into your birds’ bloodstreams. However, the problem with injectable formulas is that you must be careful when injecting your geese and ducks because any slight mistake can cause serious injuries.
Injectable formulas work best when a vet administers them in the proper dosage.
Safety Precautions When Using Dewormers
Administering deworming medications to your geese and ducks might seem straightforward, but there are some safety precautions to adhere to when deworming your waterfowls.
For instance, you have to use dewormers in their correct dosages and according to the manufacturer’s directions. You also have to consider the type of dewormer or medication you use on your birds since not all dewormers are suitable for waterfowls of different ages.
Take caution not to injure your birds if you are deworming them through injectable formulas.
Prevent Future Worm-Infestations in Waterfowl
Here are the best practices for preventing future worm infestations in your ducks and geese
- Always clean the environment because worms’ larvae hide in dirty places, and your waterfowl might end up ingesting the larvae.
- Avoid overstocking because it encourages the spread of worms due to waterfowl contacting worm-infested droppings.
- Give your waterfowl flock a balanced diet to provide the essential nutrients to overcome worms and discourage worms from living in your birds’ digestive tracts.
- Have regular checkups on your geese and ducks to detect cases of worm infestations in advance
Conclusion
Worms can be bothersome for geese and ducks. These nasty internal creatures can make your waterfowl’s lives miserable.
That’s why deworming is vital for ensuring you have a healthy waterfowl flock that you can be proud of.