Well, a couple days ago I found a poo which appeared to have 2 small, white, round worms in it. They weren't moving though so I'm not 100% sure if they were worms or not, and I haven't seen any more yet. I have never noticed worms in my flock before (and I do check poo's often), and the hen this poo came from is kept penned. She hasn't free-ranged in over a year, she doesn't get many bugs though I do like to bring the penned birds some bugs occasionally, and her greens intake is minimal (I know I should really feed them more greens but there are only so many hours in a day to get stuff done), so the question is how did she get worms? Is it possible that she got them from the little wild birds? There have been a lot more wild birds flying around our coop this year though I haven't noticed much wild bird poo.
As far as "natural" wormers go (pumpkin seeds, garlic, etc.) I understand most people only consider these preventatives, right?(Meaning they won't kill the worms once I start seeing them in poo's) And I may be jumping into a boiling pot here but I also understand that people go both ways on the effectiveness of worm control with pure, food-grade DE
. If my hen does have worms I would like to use whatever is safest for her. If I have to use a chemical wormer I'd prefer one without an egg withdrawal period, if there is one.
As for the mite control, I was wondering if Sevin dust would be safe and effective to use in the nest boxes and/or dusted on the birds? But I worry about them ingesting it when they preen themselves. Here again I've heard that pure, food-grade DE works as a preventative against mite infestations..What's an infestation? When you see a few or when the birds are covered with them? Should we dust the boxes and/or birds with food-grade DE instead of Sevin? Is food-grade DE safe for use with young chicks?
So far my hen is not acting sick..still eating good, drinking, laying, etc..will keep my eyes on her though
As far as "natural" wormers go (pumpkin seeds, garlic, etc.) I understand most people only consider these preventatives, right?(Meaning they won't kill the worms once I start seeing them in poo's) And I may be jumping into a boiling pot here but I also understand that people go both ways on the effectiveness of worm control with pure, food-grade DE
As for the mite control, I was wondering if Sevin dust would be safe and effective to use in the nest boxes and/or dusted on the birds? But I worry about them ingesting it when they preen themselves. Here again I've heard that pure, food-grade DE works as a preventative against mite infestations..What's an infestation? When you see a few or when the birds are covered with them? Should we dust the boxes and/or birds with food-grade DE instead of Sevin? Is food-grade DE safe for use with young chicks?
So far my hen is not acting sick..still eating good, drinking, laying, etc..will keep my eyes on her though
