Control of parasites is therefore vital to the long-term success of the loft. At times, both the information and the enormous array of products available to the fancier can be a bit confusing and so what are the important parasites and what are the current preferred medications available to control them.
The important parasites are basically roundworms, hairworms, tapeworms and lice and mites. Roundworms and hairworms live in the digestive tract of the pigeon, releasing eggs, which are passed in the droppings. After several days, they become infective and, if then accidentally ingested by a bird, hatch in the bowel and grow into a new worm.
This new worm then grows into an adult and then produces more eggs. This whole lifecycle can be completed as quickly as 3 weeks. In both the racing and breeding lofts, the number of round- and hairworms should be absolutely zero.
This can be achieved by worming twice at a 3-week interval and each time following up with a super-thorough clean of the loft. If it is not possible to totally clean the loft, then worming should be repeated every 3 weeks for at least 6 months.
Worm eggs cannot survive in the environment for more than 6 months, and treating for longer than this therefore means that there are no further infective eggs in the environment to reinfect the birds. Worm infection is diagnosed by microscopic examination of droppings.
Droppings should be regularly checked by a veterinarian or animal technician. If reinfection occurs from introduced birds, returning racebirds or strays, the above protocol should be repeated. Tapeworms have a different and fascinating lifecycle. The adults live in the bowel, burying their heads deep in the bowel wall and feeding off body fluids. Behind the head stretches a ribbon-like body that is divided into segments. These segments are called egg packets or proglottids.
As they mature, one or more of these segments break off from the end of the body and are passed in the droppings. Once in the environment, the egg packets need to be eaten by an insect to become infective. Pigeons, in turn, become infected by eating one of these insects. Tapeworm infection does not require a microscope to diagnose, as the egg packets in the droppings are visible. Most are about the size of a grain of rice and are white to pink in colour.
Often a fancier will notice that a bird is a bit quiet and that its droppings are a bit loose. Close examination will reveal the small white glistening egg packets in the droppings.
With tapeworm infection, the birds just need to be treated once but the loft should be sprayed with a safe long-acting insecticide the preferred one is Permethrin to minimise the chance of the birds eating more insects. The droppings in the loft should then be monitored during cleaning to ensure that infection does not recur. These medications are just so safe and effective and of course have the handy side-effect of also killing all external parasites that suck blood. This includes all mites.
Do, however, watch your dose rate. Not all Ivomec is the same. It comes in a variety of strengths. Some large-volume bottles that seem really cheap are probably a fairly dilute preparation. One needs 10 mg of active drug per litre of drinking water for the medication to be effective. To figure out how much to add to the drinking water, multiply the strength on the label by what will become the dose to equal For example, a common strength available is 0.
So therefore, one needs to add 13 ml to 1 litre to give an effective dose. All avermectins are well tolerated and the birds can be fed and loft flown routinely. These medications can also be used safely during breeding, racing and moulting. In overdose, the birds will become quiet and some may vomit. However, with withdrawal of the drug the birds become normal in 1 — 2 days. Some fanciers will notice that some worming preparations contain piperazine.
Ivermectin, when administered, acts on the glutamate gated chloride channels in invertebrates. This action of Ivermectin results in tonic paralysis of the nematode worm. The worm is unable to move or feed and dies due to starvation. These actions result in Ivermectin being lethal to nematodes like Ascaris lumbricoides, Strongyloides stercoralis and other parasites like Wuchereria bancrofti and Loa loa. Ivermectin also has a cidal killing action on ectoparasites like scabies and head and body lice pediculosis.
How To Take Ivermectin: Ivermectin is indicated for the treatment of intestinal strongyloidosis, i. In this condition it is used as a drug of first choice. Ivermectin is also effective against Ascaris lumbricoides and is a second line drug in this infestation. It is commonly used in combination with albendazole in the treatment of ascariasis. Ivermectin is the only orally active and effective scabicidal agent which is also used in the treatment of pediculosis lice infestation.
Ivermectin is supplied as oral tablets of 3 mg strength. For the treatment of strongyloidosis, Ivermectin is given in dosages as per body weight of the individual. For an average adult with 60 kg body weight, a dose of 12 mg is to be administered, i.
To calculate the required dosage, 0. Generally a single oral dose of Ivermectin is sufficient for desired anti-parasitic action.
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