Worms.... Help!!!

CJkid

Chirping
7 Years
Apr 19, 2012
113
6
91
Montana
I have recently discovered that one of our hens has worms. She has been lethargic, losing weight and sometimes runny poo. In the pen we have been keeping her in I saw 2 small white worms (kinda similar looking to a maggot) about a cm long.
Any product I would try to buy to deworm her would take too long to get here as it would have to be ordered. We already have ivermectin on hand and I looked up a dose to give her.

What I would like to know is if any has experience using this to deworm their chickens. How often should an individual hen be treated and for how long? She was interacting with the rest of the flock before and i'm really worried others could get infected. I read that you can put it in the water @ 4cc per gallon for 3 days. Has anyone tried this... did it work? Also is there something I could use to clean out the coop that would remove any possible worms that may have been deposited there?

Any and all info and experience with worms and deworming would be very much appreciated!

Please help soon... I don't know how long she will last or how many more will get them if something decisive isn't done soon!
 
Ivermectin will not effectively remove worms from poultry. Any feed store will carry Safeguard liquid suspension (labeled for goats). It contains fenbendazole which is safe and effective on all worms except tapeworms. From your description, they could be cecal worms. Safeguard dosage is .5 cc for large fowl or .25 cc for Bantams. A 1 ml syringe without a needle works well. Draw up the required dose in the syringe from the bottle, and feed it to the bird. Dose again in 10 days. If you have chickens, it is a good idea to keep a couple effective dewormers in the cabinet.
 
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The suspension is more effective for poultry size critters than the paste.

For dogs and cats, fenbendazole is given once daily for 3-5 days. Is it different in poultry?
 
The suspension is more effective for poultry size critters than the paste.

For dogs and cats, fenbendazole is given once daily for 3-5 days. Is it different in poultry?

Dosing chickens in this manner is effective, also the same as Michael Apple mentioned. There are quite a few "off label" wormers that can be given to chickens. Some wormers are more safe and effective than others. Fenbendazole is a safe and effective wormer for poultry.
Ivermectin is ineffective against worms in poultry due to it's overuse as a miteacide in poultry. Worms have built resistance to the product.
 
What I would do is dose the amount indicated. If I saw more intestinal worms in droppings within that 10 day window of the first dose, I would dose once each day, 2-3 more days in a row, canceling out that 10th day worming. Such as after all medicinal treatments, I'd follow up with a good vitamin-electrolyte-probiotic soluble powder in waterers for 3 days, or as indicated on the manufacturer's label.
 
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Before I made this post last night we gave our hen a dose of ivermectin. If I can get ahold of the safeguard do I need to worry about her already having the ivermectin, like could it overdose her? Or would it just be like another treatment?

Also how will I be able to tell if the worms have been killed? Do I just have to wait til she begins to perk up and how long will this take?

Thanks for all the help!
 
Before I made this post last night we gave our hen a dose of ivermectin. If I can get ahold of the safeguard do I need to worry about her already having the ivermectin, like could it overdose her? Or would it just be like another treatment?

Also how will I be able to tell if the worms have been killed? Do I just have to wait til she begins to perk up and how long will this take?

Thanks for all the help!

Ivermectin is still effective against poultry mites. That said, wait 10 days to give the safeguard. Worms are normally digested as protein and you may or may not see any in feces after worming. Once wormed, she should perk up right away or within a couple of days...depends on the wormload and if serious internal damage occured. Also, if there was a heavy wormload, toxic dead worm overload could occur killing your chicken. This is why I prefer to use valbazen as it slowly kills worms over several days with no worries about toxic overload.
 

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