Can worms kill off chickens one by one slowly?

[SAHMof2]

I guess I"m scared they have worms because I am extra reluctant to treat them (with chemicals) for worms.

I am about to lose my third RSL in three weeks. They look poorly and are missing feathers. I see no mites or fleas but they do look like terrible birds. They have looked poorly since about March but most have grown back fluffy new feathers.

The only thing about my hens is their feathers and then when they die, their very very red inverted vent. To me, their eyes look fine and so does their comb.

Any ideas on what might be picking off my hens week by week?

p.s. it takes about two to three days for them to die. I will be culling this one so as to not prolong her death.

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
Once you cull her, perform a necrosy...cut open her intestines/digestive tract with a razor blade and look for large roundworms. You cant miss them, they look like thin spaghetti 2"-3" long, kinda white in color. Then you'll know if you should worm them.

 

[roz]

Sorry for your losses. I lost a phoenix a few weeks back. I didn't know why, but now I am suspecting mites caused weakened immune systems making them unable to control internal parasites as well. I too was reluctant to use chemicals, but in light of a second chicken getting sick and expelling a load of worms when we were nursing her back to health (naturally), I succumbed to using piperazine. We are still in the withdrawal from egg phase, and the girls didn't really show improvement (i didnt see any worms expelled in their poop after using the wormer either) so I have tried to cover all my bases. I did find an herbal broad spectrum wormer called verm-x which I started treating them with yesterday. I also had been loading them up with acv and molasses in their water as well as putting fresh minced garlic and probiotic powder in some rolled oats or any kind of bread soaked with olive oil. They were much more active today, but I also decided to spray my coop with a pirmethryn spray in case we had mites. I pulled out any moveable section of the coop and I think I uncovered some mites. I didn't think we had them, but I think I saw a bunch of dead ones as well as eggs in the insulation. My girls have had swollen bellies for a while now, but today for the first time, I think some of the swelling may have gone down. I have mixed sage powder, asparagus, and echinacea with acv, molasses, and their regular pellets for a treat sometimes too after seeing a post on BYC about boosting their immune systems. I have heard (and used in the past) bleach water to spray to kill external parasites in the coop, but I don't think I did it diligently enough and we found a rodent nest above the covered run under the roof that we have now gotten rid of. I hope this information helps. I hope to go back to natural means for parasite control now that I have found the verm-x.

 

[roz]

One more thing. Just in case you want to try to save your sick hen, you could separate her and load her up with acv in water, molasses in water, probiotic powder, pedialyte for electrolytes, and give her a couple of warm baths with mild soapy water. It worked for my last sick hen. She recovered! I wish I had tried it with the one we lost. Who knows...maybe she would have recovered too.

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
What worms will verm-x kill?

 

[roz]

Supposedly it is a broad spectrum wormer. I remember it mentioning roundworm and gapewrom You can check out their website...www.verm-xusa.com. Somewhere in there it mentions all the information. I ordered it on Friday and it arrived Monday.

 

[dawg53]

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The website has the herbal ingredients listed...but nowhere does it say what worms it kills.

 

[welasharon]

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I am not overly big on indescriminate use of chemicals but I prefer not to have dead chickens either and worms/lice and mites will kill them for sure. I understand people have different opinions on this but I feel since we have taken animals and put them in not quite natural situations and expect them to flourish sometimes I am going to have to use not so natural means of keeping them healthy. Good luck with what you decide. It is very stressful to lose a pet.
sharon

 

[roz]

I am at a total loss right now. Somewhere I read about exactly what worms it treats, but now I can't find it. The only thing I see now is that it treats all internal parasites. Sorry...if I figure out how to see what I read before I will post it.

 

[SAHMof2]

Sharon as I was just out there sitting with them again I was thinking the same thing. Especially since I just put my new chicks/turkeys in the coop with them. Can you suggest what to use if I do have mites, fleas and/or worms?

I do have DE but found out about it only two months ago. Wish I knew of it over the winter.

I think checking her intestines would be a good idea however, could you come here and do it with me? Please!