Does any one use ivermectin in chickens ?

[casportpony]

Does anyone know what lethal and toxic amounts are for chickens?

-Kathy

 

[smlpkg]

I calculated the dose of Ivermectin paste 1.87% for my 12 pound cat, and it was about a toothpick tip sized dose. Granted the dosage per pound is far less than that for a horse, and I don't know what it would be for a chicken, but even if the chicken dosage was the same per pound as that for a horse, a pea sized amount would be way too much.

 

[casportpony]

I calculated the dose of Ivermectin paste 1.87% for my 12 pound cat, and it was about a toothpick tip sized dose. Granted the dosage per pound is far less than that for a horse, and I don't know what it would be for a chicken, but even if the chicken dosage was the same per pound as that for a horse, a pea sized amount would be way too much.

Welcome to BYC!

You are correct, a pea sized amount is *way* more than the recommended amount of 0.2mg/kg. Dose can be calculated by taking the number of weight in pounds, divide by 2.2, times 0.2 (mg/kg), divide by 18.7 (mg per ml).

The dose for a five pound chicken looks like this:
5 ÷ 2.2 x 0.2 ÷ 18.7 = 0.025ml (0.45 mg)

I weighed the paste and found that 1ml of paste does weigh one gram, so the dose is dead simple to calculate. A medium pea sized amount is about 10x that amount.


From left to right:
Small = 0.1 ml = 1.87 mg ivermectin
Medium = 0.25 ml = 4.675 mg ivermectin
Large = 0.5 ml = 9.35 mg ivermectin
.





Weighed empty 6ml syringe


Filled with Panacur 10% paste and weighed. Difference is 6 grams, so 6 grams = 6ml


Same is true for ivermectin.

-Kathy

 

[smlpkg]

Quote:
Thank you for the welcome. Are you saying that the recommended dosage for a cat is 0.2mg/kg, or is that for a chicken, or is that the recommended dosage of fenbendazole for either of those two? The reason I ask is because according to http://aspcapro.org/sites/pro/files/zc-steenbergen-tox_brief_0.pdf , the recommended dosage of Ivermectin for a cat is 24 mcg/kg, which is the equivalent of .024 mg/kg (not .2mg/kg). May I ask what your source is for saying that the dosage is the same for Ivermectin as it is for Fenbendazole? Thanks! Karen

 

[casportpony]

 [COLOR=333333]Welcome to BYC! You are correct, a pea sized amount is *way* more than the recommended amount of 0.2mg/kg...Same is true for ivermectin[/COLOR]

Thank you for the welcome. Are you saying that the recommended dosage for a cat is 0.2mg/kg, or is that for a chicken, or is that the recommended dosage of fenbendazole for either of those two?  The reason I ask is because according to http://aspcapro.org/sites/pro/files/zc-steenbergen-tox_brief_0.pdf , the recommended dosage of Ivermectin for a cat is 24 mcg/kg, which is the equivalent of .024 mg/kg (not .2mg/kg).  May I ask what your source is for saying that the dosage is the same for Ivermectin as it is for Fenbendazole?  Thanks!  Karen                                

I'll have to look up the cat dose, but in cows, horses and birds the oral dose is 200 mcg/kg (0.2mg/kg).
Sorry if my pictures are confusing, the Fenbendazole dose is *not* the same as ivermectin... Was just using the pictures so people could see how large a pea size amount of paste is.

-Kathy

Edited to fix typo from 200mg/kg to 200mcg/kg.

 

[casportpony]

@smlpkg
Here is some ivermectin dosing info:









-Kathy

 

[critterkeeper25]

At what age should chickens be wormed and how often? Our hens are almost a year old and have never been wormed and are free ranged. Which I am sure means that they have some sort of worms. Thanks.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

At what age should chickens be wormed and how often? Our hens are almost a year old and have never been wormed and are free ranged. Which I am sure means that they have some sort of worms. Thanks.

There are people who never deworm their chickens and have no problems.

I would never worm mine except that I have had worm problems on this soil and thus just keep having to do it twice a year. For your situation, it may be worth the effort/expense to get a vet to test some poo to check for worms. False negatives are possible.

Worms can take a flock down, even kill them, so it is nothing to mess around with, but I sure wouldn't be treating mine unless I had had problems.

Things to look for are loss of weight (thin hens), diarrhea, depressed attitude, and of course sometimes you MAY find worms in the poo or even in an egg- but you may never see worms and they could have them.

 

[dawg53]

People who never worm chickens either have tunnel vision, or are in denial, or dont care, or are ignorant to the fact that chickens get worms. Educating these types of people is like talking to a wall. I'd bet if they had a bellyful of worms they'd go running to the ER.
The bottom line is if the chickens feet touch the ground, they'll get worms.

 

[critterkeeper25]

I am of the mindset that any animal that eats from the ground will get worms. Rabbits, opossums, raccoons, squirrels, wild birds, deer...they all have worms. They frequent our property, they poop on our property, the chickens scratch in the grass/dirt where the aforementioned have pooped. Therefore I find it almost impossible to believe that our chickens would not get worms. We have a horse in a pasture only about 20 yards from our home and the chicken coop/pen. We frequently use composted and sometimes raw manure to fertilize our gardens, where once again, the chickens love to scratch and forage. We regularly worm our horse, however, horses get strongyles, ascarids, pinworms, etc. Wouldn't the chickens be exposed to worm eggs that would be left behind in the poop?

Does anyone know at what age it is safe to worm the chickens? Also, how long after they are wormed do you have to discard the eggs until they are once again safe to eat?