worms?

[murf]

I have found a very large bird dropping made up of a large white section, about half a small finger nail and a long, un-cooked suasage like form about 2.5 cm. long within, or on the edge of this white fluid. I disected this suasage and what appeared was digested food, not as I would expect for a living worm. It opened easily without making any cut. Watching the birds tonight I noticed a hen plumhead, rounded and marginally fluffy when eating, but that's all it did. eat.eat.eat. Its appetite was far greater than other plumheads in with it.Would anyone know what this might be? Perhaps a digestive problem with so much undiested food passing through the system, being passed out in a raw suasage coat. I'm concerned that eventually the output will exceed the input and the bird might starve.

[MadOzzie]

Have you got king quail? At times their droppings can be quite large/

Madozzie

[Myzomela]

Hi Murf,

Is there undigested seed in the droppings?

You didn't happen to take a photo of what you saw in the droppings did you?

[murf]

Unfortunately no camera and no king quail. Thanks guys.

[Craig52]

Hi Murf,unfortunatly imo i think your birds may have tape worms,as i had diamonds that had the same symptoms.They just sat and ate spouted seed and livefood continuously which came out the other end undigested,after taking a poop sample to my local vet tape worms segments were diagnosed.
I treated with moxidecton plus,the plus being for tape worms,some birds made it and some died as its very hard to erradicate it completely. Craig

[murf]

Thanks guys. Haven't been able to find another sample. Surprisingly, if it is the problem bird I think, she will only eat dry seed. I would have thought "softer" food--sprouted seed, greens and mealies would have been the way to go for her. I've dosed with moxi+ so perhaps some improvement to come. Worming has been difficult due to rain and dew. Many of the birds looking to drink from natural sources. Will it effect her fertility as she spending considerable time on a nest? Cheers.

[Misso]

i was going to post yesterday and ask if she was breeding,

as my gouldian hens do a massive poo first thing in the morning after sitting all night in the nest.

[murf]

That's an interesting observation, as I had wondered along similar lines but discarded it because of the size of the worm like structure. (easy 3cm). Of the 4 plumheads, she would be absent longer than the others, but appears to eat much greater quantities. What I can't make out though is the purpose of this membrane like suasage. I would have thought the by-product would be just that, without the apparent coating. Thanks for the interest.