Routine Deworming?

[Mercibelle]

So I've heard that treating chickens for worms twice a year is a good practice, especially in coops and runs that are stationary (which mine is). Other than somewhat pale faces during the day (which I have assumed is heat related as it's been in the 90's here with very high humidity) I haven't seen any signs of worms in my ladies and roo, but I wanted to get on a worming schedule to help improve their overall health.

Firstly, is this a good practice?

I've been doing a lot of research and reading on various methods of dewormers and I'm really unsure of what would be the best approach. I know you don't uses the "zoles" back to back as they build up immunity to it. I've also seen some people say to use fenbendazole product (Panacur or Safeguard) at a rate of 3 cc per gallon of drinking water and offered to the flock for 24 hours. Which is roughly 1/2 tsp...right? But on the other hand I've seen people say that they need to be treated for a week the lessen the dosage the following week. So I'm at a loss.

I'm also very confused on egg withdrawal. Is there one? Some people say there is a 17 day withdrawal period and others say There are no stated egg withdrawal periods established for the fenbendazole medications for chickens intended to be used for egg and/or meat production.

I know there is a way to give fenbendazole orally per weight of the chicken, but I'm gonna be real honest, I'm absolutely terrible at math and doing conversions for the medication scares me. I don't wanna mess up and OD my chickens.

 

[BDutch]

So I've heard that treating chickens for worms twice a year is a good practice, especially in coops and runs that are stationary (which mine is).

No it’s not.

Many people do. But if you have no worm infestation you are feeding poison to your chickens that does more harm than good.

If you just have a minor infestation a healthy chicken can coop with it and there is no need to give medicines. It’s better to give healthy food, and maybe some natural supplements like garlic.

If you don’t trust it, ask a vet or send the feces in for a lab test.

I never gave my chickens a cure against worms. And they are perfectly healthy.

In the Netherlands they conducted a research (Louis Bolk institute + Wageningen university & research with organic chickens). My statements are their conclusions in short and in my own words (not a native speaker). .

 

[LaFleche]

So I've heard that treating chickens for worms twice a year is a good practice

There is no one fits all approach as it will vary a lot depending on where you live, weather conditions and the local kind of parasites and parasite pressure, the amount of chickens that live on your grounds, confined or free range, adding new strange birds to the flock or just raising your own, etc. etc.

As a breeder in Germany I deworm my adult flock every spring a few weeks prior to collecting hatching eggs, and once in late fall to prevent parasites taking their toll on my birds during cold and long periods of nasty weather.

Depending on weather conditions and their overall development, I also deworm my chicks around the age of 6-8 weeks as it has proven to help with their more even and uniform development, so no more runts caused by early parasite infection.

But I use Flubenole 5%, a dewormer that is approved for Organic farming, hardly resorbed and has no egg withdrawal time at all.

 

[Eggcessive]

@Mercibelle how many chickens do you have? Most wormers used such as Valbazen (albendazole) and SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer or the Equine paste (fenbendazole) are given orally to each chicken. Valbazen dosage is 1/2 ml for a 4-6 pound hen once and again in 10-14 days. Dosage for SafeGuard is 1/4 ml per pound once daily for 5 days. Give it once and again in 10 days for roundworms only. They both will settle out in water. They can be given in moistened feed to each chicken separately as long as they eat it all. There is a low dose fenbendazole in capsule form that has no egg withdrawal. Here is that one, and it is given for 3 days, and repeated in 10 days later:
https://www.jefferspet.com/poultry-...POKKPJyJbHUJ4YS6_vykm1QS_NRggwcUaAlMrEALw_wcB

Worms are most destructive in young pullets to their developing intestines. It might be good to worm your young pullets after the age of 2 months before they are of laying age. As said above, worming depends on how wet and humid your climate is. In tropical regions suchas Florida, some worm very 2 months. In other climates, worming once or twice a year is common. Some swear they never worm their birds. You will get many kinds of answers about it. Unfortunately, it can be hard to get vets to do fecal floats to look for worms in chickens, unless you have a special relationship with one. Some get a microscope and do their own fecal floats.

Keeping bedding dry and stirred, and freshly topped off, and having your chickens on grass is key to helping prevent worm loads. Pick up droppings in the coop and run. Some worms are spread by intermediate hosts such as earth worms, snails, slugs, beetles, flies, and other insects. Those are important in tapeworm spread.

 

[Mercibelle]

@Mercibelle how many chickens do you have?

I have 4 hens and one roo currently on my coop area. However. I have 3 others that I am working on adding to the flock.

 

[LaFleche]

I have 3 others that I am working on adding to the flock.

I recommend treating them for external and internal parasites prior to adding them to your flock.

 

[Yardmom]

I personally do not worm my flock, but they are free range weather and predators permitting.
Pests including worms do build up immunity to treatments. I know that the way vets recommend to worm horses has changed because of the immunity the worms were getting.

 

[dawg53]

I personally do not worm my flock, but they are free range weather and predators permitting.
Pests including worms do build up immunity to treatments. I know that the way vets recommend to worm horses has changed because of the immunity the worms were getting.

I've been using Valbazen for years and I can assure you that it's a very effective wormer for poultry as is Safeguard.
I cant say that about Ivermectin since it was primarily used to treat external parasites rather than internal parasites and is ineffective treating worms in poultry.