I think my chicken has worms, I am a first time chicken keeper and am not sure what to do.

[AspenChicken]

I looked up your chicken feed it seem very limited in nutrition.

Oh, thank you. I had been giving them scratch and peck feed but just switched to the Texas naturals a week or two ago. I thought it would be good to buy local and its cheaper than the scratch and peck. I appreciate you looking into the feed, If it's not good I'll switch back to the scratch and peck. Is there another brand you recommend?

 

[coach723]

Do the other droppings, between the cecal looking ones, look normal? Cecal droppings will generally happen two or three times a day, about every 10 poops, and color/consistency/odor can vary a lot depending on what they are eating. If you changed feeds, then the droppings could change from that. Birds that range for any part of the day tend to find all kinds of things to eat that can change the droppings. If the other droppings look normal, and she's acting normal, then I wouldn't worry. If droppings are regularly runny or mucousy, or you see a lot of intestinal shed, or a bird loses weight/body condition or appears off or unwell, then see if you can get a fecal test done to check for internal parasites. The only ones you usually see in droppings are tapeworm segments and roundworms, and often even those aren't seen with the naked eye, the fecal test looks for the eggs, which are microscopic.

 

[triciayoung]

Worms are very tied to area, I've found. Some keepers have to treat all the time and some (myself included) not at all. It has to do with microclimate, cleanliness, free ranging, and a thousand other factors. All of this to say that worms are not inevitable and treating for them should not feel like a common place happening or obligation. Let's first find out for sure what is in that poo!

Well said

 

[AspenChicken]

Do the other droppings, between the cecal looking ones, look normal? Cecal droppings will generally happen two or three times a day, about every 10 poops, and color/consistency/odor can vary a lot depending on what they are eating. If you changed feeds, then the droppings could change from that. Birds that range for any part of the day tend to find all kinds of things to eat that can change the droppings. If the other droppings look normal, and she's acting normal, then I wouldn't worry. If droppings are regularly runny or mucousy, or you see a lot of intestinal shed, or a bird loses weight/body condition or appears off or unwell, then see if you can get a fecal test done to check for internal parasites. The only ones you usually see in droppings are tapeworm segments and roundworms, and often even those aren't seen with the naked eye, the fecal test looks for the eggs, which are microscopic.

Thanks so much for this very useful information. I must have just imagined that I was seeing worms then if they're not visible to the naked eye, lol. I'll keep an eye out for the non cecal droppings, I've only happened to see the cecal ones these past few days. She is acting normal too so thats good.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would like to see more droppings where it is clear and less background competition. But it would be best to get a fecal float of some combined droppings. valbazen is a good safe wormer.

 

[Tonyroo]

Oh, thank you. I had been giving them scratch and peck feed but just switched to the Texas naturals a week or two ago. I thought it would be good to buy local and its cheaper than the scratch and peck. I appreciate you looking into the feed, If it's not good I'll switch back to the scratch and peck. Is there another brand you recommend?

I use Nutrena chicken feed, it's well balanced. I've tried several other brands over the years and some had issues with my chickens. They either hated it, got mold to quickly due to fog/high humidity or it made the poop stink really bad. But they were all high nutrition feed of various brands.

Whatever feed you decide to choose, read the ingredient list and percentage amount and always check the date of when it was manufactured. You always want to buy fresh feed as much as possible.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I looked up your chicken feed it seem very limited in nutrition.

What are you seeing that is limited in nutrition?
https://texasnaturalfeeds.com/

 

[Tonyroo]

The salt percentage seems high.

This is nature wise ingredient list:

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The salt percentage seems high.

This is nature wise ingredient list:
View attachment 3403445

I see, I'm not a nutritionist, so haven't really studied any of this.
What's the difference in the Sodium and Salt as listed in your feed?