I have a flock of 30. They were wormed with Safegard in the Spring when I spotted cecal worms in 1 and another was having runny poop. I only had about 15 outdoor chickens at that time, and my flock hadn’t been wormed in over a year so I went ahead and administered Safegard orally.
Now I have a couple pullets who seem healthy overall but haven’t gained weight in a couple months in spite of the fact they should still be growing. I have another pullet who has had a messy butt, and just quit laying. Yesterday, I saw a pile of diarrhea under the roost with a single tape worm segment in it.
I read all the threads where there seems to be this debate about wether we shouldn’t worm because worms in chickens is normal, and other folks who worm twice a year regardless. I have been worming when I see worms or weight loss which has been about yearly. This is a shorter turn around time than I’ve had in the last.
Worming this many chickens will be challenging, but not impossible, but I’m wondering would there be any point in worming only my “symptomatic” chickens (meaning weight loss/poopy butt)? Then perhaps treating the entire flock in the spring through their water? Or should I just treat the flock now? I’m hesitant to treat the water with it being winter and using heated waterers. (Not sure if it matters putting wormer in metal or nipple waterers?)
I also have a couple hens who are finishing up their molt, and some of my young birds are still growing in feathers. I think I’m not supposed to treat the ones who are molting because it can do something strange to their feathers, granted if it’s only cosmetic I don’t really care.
So should I…
Worm the whole flock individually?
Worm only symptomatic birds?
Worm the whole flock via waterers?
None of the above?
Now I have a couple pullets who seem healthy overall but haven’t gained weight in a couple months in spite of the fact they should still be growing. I have another pullet who has had a messy butt, and just quit laying. Yesterday, I saw a pile of diarrhea under the roost with a single tape worm segment in it.
I read all the threads where there seems to be this debate about wether we shouldn’t worm because worms in chickens is normal, and other folks who worm twice a year regardless. I have been worming when I see worms or weight loss which has been about yearly. This is a shorter turn around time than I’ve had in the last.
Worming this many chickens will be challenging, but not impossible, but I’m wondering would there be any point in worming only my “symptomatic” chickens (meaning weight loss/poopy butt)? Then perhaps treating the entire flock in the spring through their water? Or should I just treat the flock now? I’m hesitant to treat the water with it being winter and using heated waterers. (Not sure if it matters putting wormer in metal or nipple waterers?)
I also have a couple hens who are finishing up their molt, and some of my young birds are still growing in feathers. I think I’m not supposed to treat the ones who are molting because it can do something strange to their feathers, granted if it’s only cosmetic I don’t really care.
So should I…
Worm the whole flock individually?
Worm only symptomatic birds?
Worm the whole flock via waterers?
None of the above?