De-worming chickens.

[TheBigWRanch]

I just de-wormed my chickens today with valbazen. Has anyone tried this de-wormer before? I've read it's the best. How long do I need to wait before I eat the eggs again? It sure was annoying having to catch everyone and shove liquid down their throats! I would have rather used one that can go in their water, but I wanted to use the best. My chickens defiantly weren't happy with me today

 

[agrif753]

I just found this information after hours of research via the internet. I thought you all might find it helpful. At the end is some recommended medicines and dosages.


Intestinal parasites (worms) are very common in chickens in the backyard type poultry flocks. The presence of a few parasites do not usually cause a problem. However, large numbers can have a devastating effect on growth, egg production, and over-all health. The concentration of parasite eggs in the chickens environment is one factor which plays a major role in determining the severity of the infection. The chickens pick up the parasite eggs directly by ingesting contaminated feed, water, or litter or by eating snails, earthworms, or other insects (intermediate hosts) which can carry the eggs.

Clinical signs of parasitism are unthriftyness, poor growth and feed conversion, decreased egg production, and even death in severe infections. Furthermore, parasites can make the flock less resistant to diseases and exacerbate existing disease conditions.

Of all the intestinal worms, large roundworms (Ascaridia galli) probably inflict the most darnage. Young birds are affected more severely. A mild infection is often not noticed. Large numbers of worms, however, interfere with feed absorption causing poor growth and production. In severe infections there can be actual intestinal blockage by the worms, causing death. Affected birds are unthrifty and more susceptible to other diseases. Roundworms are passed from bird to bird by directly ingesting the parasite egg in fecal contaminated feed, water, or litter, or by eating grasshoppers or earthworms carrying the parasite.

Another worm commonly found in chickens is the cecal worm (Heterakis gallinarum). While it rarely causes problems in chickens, its chief economic importance lies in its role as a carrier of the organism Histomonas melegridis, which causes a deadly disease in turkeys known as blackhead. Earthworms ingest the cecal worm egg containing the histomonad organism from the chicken litter. When the earthworms are ingested by the turkeys, they become infected. The cecal worm egg containing the histomonad organism may also be directly ingested by turkeys. Thus, one should never house chickens and turkeys together or allow turkeys on range which chickens have previously occupied.

Other intestinal parasites that cause problems are the small roundworms (Capillaria sp.). These parasites infect the intestines causing hemorrhage and thickening of the intestinal walls, leading to poor feed absorption and poor growth. Small roundworms are passed directly from bird to bird by ingestion of the parasite eggs or by ingestion of earthworms, insects, and other vectors carrying the parasite. Tapeworms are also very common, but unlike other worms must be passed through an intermediate host, such as a snail, slug, earthworm, beetle or fly.

Prevention and control of worm infestations in backyard poultry flocks involves proper management of diet, sanitation, and treatment. Chickens need a proper diet, especially an adequate supply of vitamins A and the B complex. A deficiency in these has been shown to increase the susceptibility to parasitism.

1. Thorough removal of litter between flocks of chickens.

3. Keep litter as dry as possible.

5. Avoid overcrowding.

7. Keep wild birds, pigeons and other birds away from chickens. They may be infected and shedding the worm eggs.

9. Provide adequate drainage of ranges and move shelters frequently to decrease accumulation of droppings.

11. Keep birds off freshly plowed ground where ingestion of earthworms and other insects is more likely.

13. Use insecticides to control insect populations.

The treatment of chickens to control intestinal parasites can benefit the grower by decreasing parasite levels in heavily infected birds. This will result in a decrease in the build-up of parasite eggs in the environment. Specific worm infections require specific medications. A determination of which worms are affecting your chickens should be made by your veterinarian prior to treatment. Proper use of medication in combination with sound management and sanitation practices should limit production losses from intestinal worms.


In this list will be some of the types of wormer's that can be used.((((warning)))) please check the label for dosage on your product before use. dont go by what you see here double check the product thats being used for proper dosage. and thanks to Robin for helping me gather the list.

Ivomec Eprinex (pour on cattle wormer and anti-paracitical) 1/4 cc for bantams,
1/2 cc for large fowl. Place at base of neck against skin. Removes most
internal and external parasites. repeat in 10 days.

Valbazen (albendazole) mix 8 cc of water with 1 cc of wormer. Give 2 cc's to
each bird. Removed most internal parasites including tapes. repeat in ten
days.

Ivermectin (1% injectable) .10 cc injected in the muscle. Removes most round
worms, tapes and external parasites. repeat in ten days

Levamisole, fill container per instructions with water. Put 2 TBLS in 1 gal of
water. Most round worms and gapes. repeat in ten days.

Safeguard (fenbendazole) same mixing and administration as Levamisole. Removes
all but tapes. Repeat in ten days.

Piperazine,17 % product. 1 Tablespoon per gallon, Give for 1 Day. May be repeated if necessary in 10 days.
Piperazine,34 % product. 1 1/2 Teaspoons per Gallon, Give for 1 Day. May be repeated if necessary in 10 days.
removes roundworms (Ascaridia spp.) from turkeys, chickens, and roundworms (Ascaris summ)

pig swig (PIPERAZINE WATER WORMER) Fruit Flavor Keep out of reach of children. treatment for the removal of large roundworms (Ascaris lumbriocoides) and nodular worms (Oesophagostomum spp.) from swine, and roundworms (Ascaridis spp.) from poultry. Worms are usually expelled within one day after treatment. 1 Tablespoon per gallon, Give for 1 Day. May be repeated if necessary in 10 days.

 

[Judy]

On Wazine not being recommended for laying hens, remember that these are recommendations for commercial operations, and sometimes have more to do with govt. regulations than chicken health. People give Wazine then eat the eggs all the time (I don't know the withdrawal for Wazine.)

On worming, I go by Dawg53's recommendations, because he keeps current with this. The only wormer officially recommended for chickens is piperazine (Wazine is one brand) and it only gets roundworms, so you can actually lose your chickens if you're not willing to venture into the world of cattle, sheep, etc. wormers and they happen to have something like gapeworm or tapeworm.

Valbazen (albendazole) is the only wormer that gets all chicken worms, and it is safer because it acts slowly, so it cannot cause the chicken to get clogged up with dead worms, which can happen with other wormers if they are infested enough. It does not kill mites, which Eprinex pour on does, but Eprinex is becoming less and less effective on the worms it used to take care of. And Eprinex does not kill lice.

Valbazen dose: 0.5 cc (ml) by mouth for each large fowl bird, 0.25cc for bantams. Repeat in 10 days. Egg withdrawal is a total of 24 days. It's actually 14 days after each dose, which adds up to 24 days.

There are a number of natural wormers people use, such as pumpkin seeds and cayenne. I have not read anything to indicate any of them actually rid a chicken of worms.

My links on worming:

http://healthybirds.umd.edu/Disease/Deworming Birds.pdf

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=5770173#p5770173



https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=323454

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
This is the best all around information about de-working that I have read. I'm book marking this. Thanks for breaking it down.

 

[chicken grandma]

Just talked to our vet today and he said that he does not recommend routine worming because of the resistance to the wormer that occurs.

He also warns that Valbazen stays in the chicken's body a long time and has more side effects than Ivermectin, primarily liver damage to the chicken.

This Avian and Zoo veterinarian recommended that BYC members take a bag of poop from the coop to a local vet. Or contact your 4-H office and ask how you can
find out if your chicken flock even has worms and what kind they are.

Some Humane Societies will help with a fecal check and vet advice. And veterinary colleges routinely do fecal checks for local smaller and moderate scale chicken owners.

I hope everyone realizes that the advice the chicken owners give each other on this site may or may not be good advice and there could even be financial motives for products to be promoted to us via this website.

We do have resources in our communities to verify the health of our flock and then to find the best course of action if we have a problem with our flock. Some advice that we get on the BYC forum may be incorrect or perhaps just not the best advice that we could get if we checked with knowledgable people in our community.

Our vet reassured me that many many vets will help BYC folks test their flocks and will not make them bring their chickens into the office unnecessarily.

 

[Mehjr10]

Some may try the natural method to control worms and if you live in an area that does not have worms then you will probably be successful. But when you start having issues then will need to treat with a medicinal wormer.

Some worry about the wormer in the egg. There are some that continue to eat the eggs. Not suggesting that is the thing to do.

Here is some information on wormers used on humans and just about all of the ones that we are using on chickens are the same.

Medications To Treat Human Worms | LIVESTRONG.COM

 

[Hangtown Farms]

anyone ever use this stuff? seemed to work good

 

[Fancychooklady]

Has anyone heard of using Quest Max horse dewormer on your chickens? I was talkin to a man who uses this. He says it takes care of all worms and all mites on his birds. I didnt get how much he uses per gallon of water. Any comments are appriciated..thanks!

Moxidectin like ivermectin belongs to the chemical class of macrocyclic lactones. The difference is moxidectin is stronger and is deposited into body fat at a higher quantity. It has a longer residual effect than ivermectin but if overdosed can be fatal. It is also poorly soluable in water.
The other active ingredient in quest is praziquantel , which once again if overdosed can be toxic to the birds liver. It is fatal to small birds such as finches.
These chemicals are absorbed into the bloodstream so your guess would be as good as mine on a suitable withholding period.

http://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2669&Itemid=3008

 

[cafarmgirl]

I've read this whole thread looking for an answer to my question, but no such luck. When working with valbazen what's the best time to clean the coop? This is the 1st treatment, I will do the next in 10 days. Should I clean the coop tomorrow or the next day? Also what should I do with old bedding? I ask because I've read that valbazen is a little slower in its worm killing process and that makes me think I should stall a little on the big cleanup. Also, is there anything special I should do when cleaning. We live in a humid environment and I use pine shavings in all my coops with DE added. Though, to be honest, I'm not sure why I bother with DE anymore.

Also are there breeds less susceptible to getting worms? NN, fayoimies (sp?) SFHs? Just curious when considering future flock planning.

Timing of coop cleaning in relation to deworming doesn't matter a whole lot, if at all. Unless perhaps a coop was incredibly dirty. It's true that Valbazen works over a period of days but any worms that are in the poop will be dead anyway and worm eggs are generally not affected by dewormers anyway. That's why you need to repeat the dose in 10 days. So to make it simple, you can clean out the coop at any point.

As far as DE....I used to use it, I don't spend money on it anymore. I don't believe it to be of any great benefit but I really do not like the fine dust it creates, I don't want to breath that and I don't want my birds breathing it when they scratch up the bedding.

I don't know of any breeds of chicken less suspeptible to worms. If chickens are on the ground they will be exposed to worms and I do not believe any animal is immune. They can certainly live with a certain amount of worms, it's when the worms multiply out of control that we run into problems. I find it easiest to just do a twice a year or so deworming and keep things under control.

 

[Wes in Tx]

14 days is the most recommended time but like all wormers it isn't approved for use on chickens so it is up to the user to use there own judgement.