Chicken worms: How to ID and is the bird safe to eat

[chicknmania]

You should always deworm your flock periodically with a broad spectrum dewormer, at least every six months or so. It won't hurt them. There is a withdrawal period for egg and meat consumption.

 

[rebrascora]

Are you in the southern hemisphere? If not then it is an unusual time to harvest old layers as you have kept them through the unproductive winter months and they should be coming back into lay now.
Personally I have not used a chemical wormer on my chickens for the past 4 years. I check the gut of any that die or I butcher and whilst I find the odd one occasionally, I think it would be unreasonable to expect none considering the environment they live in. If I start seeing increased levels of worms in butchered birds then I would consider getting a faecal float done on my laying birds and worm as necessary. I don't think worms in the gut pose a problem to harvesting the meat. As with anything to do with chickens, thorough cooking is important of course.
If you are still intending to butcher them within the next couple of months or so, I would not worm them and I personally don't believe that poopy eggs are necessarily a sign of worms

 

[acastlechicken]

I am not located in the southern hemisphere, but I am considering harvesting already for various reasons. From what I've been able to find, I don't believe they have worms. And considering that both waste and eggs come out of the Vent, poopy eggs shouldnt be a problem... the person I heard that from may not not have realized that. Thanks everyone!

 

[chicknmania]

Well, disagree away. Capillary worms do not appear in droppings, and by the time the birds show symptoms of a capillary worm infestation, it is too late in most cases, because they conceal symptoms until they can't anymore. Capillary worms kill.

And the worms do not develop immunity if you rotate dewormers.

And our flock is not over crowded, they free range, and at night they are in a large building, they have plenty of room. Worms and worm eggs are in the ground, and some can be contracted by the bird eating earthworms, which are the host for other parasites, or they just pick them up from pecking the ground. Worms have nothing to do with overcrowding or coop maintenance. .

Also, it depends on where you are, and what vet you go to, that determines the cost. It is not $15.00 everywhere. As I said before, if you want to be sure, you can always do a fecal float. If you're going to eat the birds anyway, it really doesn't make much difference, as the worms won't be in the meat of the bird.

This is not to say that all birds will have worms, but in some areas, depending on climate, soil, and other factors, they probably will. Internal and external parasites weaken the bird and can cause all kinds of other problems, if they are not monitored and controlled.

I

 

[EggSighted4Life]

OK... so worming happens to be the topic of the week....

And there will be a lot of varying methods and opinions. You just choose what seems to make the most sense FOR YOU.

Here is the link...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1059889/to-worm-or-not-to-worm-that-is-the-question

 

[Yemimah]

If you are concerned about using inorganic methods there is a BIG market of natural products available. Even including diatomaceous in their feed will help with some of the intestinal worms. I started using a product called strike III when tractor supply was out of everything else. No totally conclusive report to offer in this short term but it returned their runny droppings back to normal.It has wormwood, cloves and oregano.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

If you are concerned about using inorganic methods there is a BIG market of natural products available. Even including diatomaceous in their feed will help with some of the intestinal worms. I started using a product called strike III when tractor supply was out of everything else. No totally conclusive report to offer in this short term but it returned their runny droppings back to normal.It has wormwood, cloves and oregano.

So DE isn't ground down in the gizzard before it makes it to the intestines, making it irrelevant?

 

[casportpony]

If you are concerned about using inorganic methods there is a BIG market of natural products available. Even including diatomaceous in their feed will help with some of the intestinal worms. I started using a product called strike III when tractor supply was out of everything else. No totally conclusive report to offer in this short term but it returned their runny droppings back to normal.It has wormwood, cloves and oregano.

Strike III is lo longer available at Tractor Supply because it contains an antibiotic called hygromycin B, which is one of the antibiotics that now require a prescription, though one might be able to find it on Amazon or eBay.

 

[chicknmania]

Strike III is lo longer available at Tractor Supply because it contains an antibiotic called hygromycin B, which is one of the antibiotics that now require a prescription, though one might be able to find it on Amazon or eBay.

Strike III is available in an antibiotic free form now as of January 1, 2017 and is sold by TSC and most feed mills.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: What's the wormer in it?