How to prevent worms/ what works for you?

Hi, I have to de-worm my flock soon and have a few questions.

1. What do you de-worm your flock with?

2. What kind of parasites does that de-wormer help prevent?

3. Is it safe to consume my flock's eggs while de-worming?

Thanks- clark

Preventing intestinal worms is difficult/ impossible in a backyard flock. What kind of worms your flock may have depends on their environment and what they are eating. A fecal run at your veterinarian's office will give you that information, and then you can choose a product to use. Piprizine is approved for use in chickens but only kills some roundworms. I use Ivermectin, which also kills lice and mites, and many worm types. Other people use other products, also unapproved. Mary

Not sure this link will work, but here is some good info on meds from and avian vet:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/chic...gg-withdrawal-times-in-the-us/644298449046620

From vets comments:
"If you aren't sensitive to ivermectin and you eat the eggs yourself, nothing much is likely to happen. You could in theory develop resistance to ivermectin if you yourself had any parasites.

The most important thing is if you are selling or giving eggs to other people you need to follow withdrawal times or you are carrying all the liability if someone had a reaction or got sick ( even if it wasn't from your eggs, if they had then tested and trace levels were found you would be hard pressed to prove it fit sure WASNT your eggs)."

Unfortunately, when an unapproved product is used, you (and I) are out on a limb trying to decide on withdrawal times for eggs and meat. There are no approved withdrawal times for unapproved products here. There are drugs that should never be used in chickens, because of possible human issues and the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria; eg fluoroquniolones. Mary

There is some data tho, even on unapproved stuff.
Did you check out the link?

Folly's place said:

Unfortunately, when an unapproved product is used, you (and I) are out on a limb trying to decide on withdrawal times for eggs and meat. There are no approved withdrawal times for unapproved products here. There are drugs that should never be used in chickens, because of possible human issues and the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria; eg fluoroquniolones. Mary

Click to expand...

That link is gone. The FDA website is one source of hopefully updated information, because the rules and recommendations have changed over time. Mary

When dealing with worms I suggest working with the concept of control rather than prevention, especially in a setting where birds are exposed to ground. This means you are not likely to apply the de-wormer on some pre-determined schedule. Rather you watch birds for changes suggesting a given bird or the flock is having health issues related to worms (i.e. loss of productivity, weight loss, change in comb coloration). In your perusal of literature on the subject you will see lots of signs to look for. Get to know your birds by observation and periodic handling to facilitate detecting those signs. Pay attention to gross appearance of the feces. Even study up on how you can observe eggs in feces.

I'd like to add that I so far haven't found an easy to use source for possible drug withdrawal times for poultry, except for the approved drugs in the US. Mary

aart said:

Not sure this link will work, but here is some good info on meds from and avian vet:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/chic...gg-withdrawal-times-in-the-us/644298449046620

From vets comments:
"If you aren't sensitive to ivermectin and you eat the eggs yourself, nothing much is likely to happen. You could in theory develop resistance to ivermectin if you yourself had any parasites.

The most important thing is if you are selling or giving eggs to other people you need to follow withdrawal times or you are carrying all the liability if someone had a reaction or got sick ( even if it wasn't from your eggs, if they had then tested and trace levels were found you would be hard pressed to prove it fit sure WASNT your eggs)."

Click to expand...

Folly's place said:

That link is gone. The FDA website is one source of hopefully updated information, because the rules and recommendations have changed over time. Mary

Click to expand...

The link is right there in my post.
It's written out by a vet, from Michigan no less.

Aart I clicked on the link but it says page not available.