To worm or not to worm that is the question.

[Jesusfreak101]

I agree i have favorite hens but if i knew they were weaker hens medically wise such as major illness and worms i would cull them because they would suffer all their lifes with the illness and its not fair to them to keep medicating just for me to feel better about keeping them. I love my dogs and cats and if they got something that wasnt cureable and kept coming back and they would just suffer i would put them down. We had one bitten by a pit viper i tried to give him medication (benadryl) that night he wouldnt take it i know the chances of him dieing from being bitten with out medical treat ment but i dont have the money for a er visit for a dog. If he made it to morning i would take him to his vet (they tend to be friends of family an charge less for us) and if he didnt then i would accept that. He made it till morning and we got him to the vet they gave him a more podent kind of benadryl and an antibiotic. Total visit was 150, his leg pretty much rotted off mostly and now has a nasty scar bur he still able to walk. If he need to have his leg removed we would have been force to put him down as he mostly feral and is only ok with us and is very attached to his brother and our daughter and neither would be gentle with a one legged dog. So it would have been in his best interest much like it is in the chickens to cull them id they are weaker.

 

[Teila]

I totally understand what everyone is saying and as I mentioned earlier, I also respect people’s choice to not worm as I hope they do mine to worm; I also respect their right to manage their flock as they see fit but I just want to let others reading this thread know that there are other options.

May be the thread should have been better titled ‘Why I chose not to worm my flock’ or ‘How I prevent worms naturally’ etc but it was not. As it is titled ‘To worm or not to worm’ I think it should have both sides of the discussion, not just one.

Also, I purchased a lone Bantam Langshan who was separated because her flock mates were picking on her, that was nearly two years ago and she is 2IC in my small flock and everyone gets along. In the judicious culling scenario she would have been categorized as ‘outcast’ and rather than having a wonderful time scratching around in my back yard, she would be dead.

 

[Beekissed]

Both sides of the discussion are being represented here adequately and no one is debating with you on your choice, or anyone's choice, to worm. The title of the thread is appropo to the topic and the OP is getting good information from both sides of the question, as she was seeking.

At least no one else is posting about what you are REALLY talking about is something other than what you have posted, with bold lettering and underlining and such.

 

[Bridebeliever]

I think the dialog and hearing both sides on here has been awesome and because both "sides" have stated their positions it will give readers very good choices!

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Speaking as the op i wasnt sure if i had a choice to worm or not to. As whenever the subject came up in other threads everyone wormed and it was a must not an option. Ego my title and i got the answer i was hoping for that it wasnt a must. And that there could be healthy flock with out working them. I made my choice after reading on here and doing other research its important to know that there are other options the worming and not worming both are present in this thread.

 

[Teila]

Speaking as the op i wasnt sure if i had a choice to worm or not to. As whenever the subject came up in other threads everyone wormed and it was a must not an option. Ego my title and i got the answer i was hoping for that it wasnt a must. And that there could be healthy flock with out working them. I made my choice after reading on here and doing other research its important to know that there are other options the worming and not worming both are present in this thread.

Cool

 

[Teila]

Any comments I made were with only good intentions. Incorrectly, as it has been pointed out, I believed that the discussion may have been a little one sided and I was simply trying to even it out a little for future readers. I am happy to be corrected that I was wrong.

My underlining of other options was in no way meant to indicate that I was pushing for worming and were, in fact, an attempt to indicate multiple options and I possibly did not portray that well; maybe I should have listed them.

I admit to taking offence at the statement:

“I'd say if one doesn't have enough space at their home to keep chickens healthy without giving them drugs on a regular basis, then they probably shouldn't be keeping chickens at all. If they have limited space, it's likely they only have a handful of chickens in the first place and those aren't going to make or break their grocery costs...more likely to cost them more to pen them and try to keep them healthy than if they just bought eggs. If they are going to feed and dope like the commercial growers, how are those eggs any different than what they can buy in the store?

The option to abstain is always there and common sense would indicate that it could be chosen if one cannot keep chickens healthy where they live"

And this may have clouded my judgement resulting in my being overly defensive and for that, I apologise.

 

[ladyearth]

In all these eight years of chicken keeping, I've never had the problem of worms in my flock. How do I know they've never had worms? I sent off stool samples to the local university veterinary lab for testing for a reasonable fee and received back a report on both parasites and pathogens that were negative.

Unless you see the worms wiggling in the poop, I wouldn't worm until after I had the poop tested and found they were positive for worms.

azygous
you mean you can send a sample of stool for them to test without going to a vet????? wow I called here and they wont let be done. To me I believe its prob a money thing...I believe.....
same for a neprosy(spelling?) GOTTa go thru a vet

 

[shortgrass]

IMO, @Teila and @Beekissed both bring up excellent points... However, its not "to cull or not to cull"... But it is an important discussion, because if you don't practice good husbandry 110% of the time, worms and illness and poor health will " cull" them for you.


I LOVE my chooks. Love. Lol I can be really stupid sometimes trying to save a single chicken when there are cattle and children that need my attention. Yes, mine are considered livestock, just because I have so many and live on a farm.
Lol I have like, 250+ "pets", in that case But really, that doesn't mean I don't love my animals and care less for them just because I don't call them " pets". My pets are my priority, or I wouldn't spend almost 80% of my time out there growing their food lol

If, for instance, I did live with neighbors closer, other chicken owners right next door, unclean environment, etc... I would NOT keep chickens. No matter how much I love them, if I were in an environment that already risks my birds with worms and diseases coming from neighbors, I would go without. I would not get the chickens and then spend their entire lives medicating them just for my own leisure and a few eggs.


Sheep are popular..there's a story here about a shepherd who had a sheep that would constantly lead the rest if the flock astray. Always up to no good, wandering, leading sheep to their deaths, literally. The shepherd broke its leg. 2 reasons, to save the rest of the flock from following the sheep that was leading them astray, and to get the sheep to submit to the shepherd and become the lead sheep through the trial of, I guess for lack of better words, "almost beung culled".

I have 3 hens that are being culled because they are constantly leading the flock to the road. It breaks my heart but it has to be done; I have youngsters that are starting to follow them to the road too. I have to think of the other 37 birds and cull the 3 that might kill my flock.

Hey lol, its not worming but its a trye example, and dividing " backyard pets" with "farm livestock" is moot, really. All of us have chickens, and we all care for them, just in different areas and ultimate goals.


So really, to worm or not to worm is a reduntant catch 22... If you notice, several of the "non-wormers", myself included, have already stated that we DO actually worm...without using chemical intervention..aka NATURALLY

 

[Spartan22]

One of the easiest and most effective preventative for parasites for any livestock is judicious culling.  No amount of feeding anthelminics, healthy environment, nutritious feed, etc., can help prevent parasites as well as a yearly culling of the animals most likely to be carriers.  Nonlayers, elderly, nonthrifty, poor feathering, loners, outcasts, etc. are those more likely to contract illness and parasites in any flock.   A yearly culling of any and all birds that fit these criteria will also help eliminate those birds that would serve as a petri dish for microbial pathogens and as hosts to parasites, both internal and external. 

Any time you look at a bird and feel like you should probably give her extra feed/supplements beyond her current balanced ration or think maybe you should give her medicine for this or that, that's a bird to cull.  Don't wait and think she may change with time...maybe she will, but currently she's a fine host for parasites and vulnerable to disease.  Why keep one individual around in hopes she'll get healthier and compromise the rest of the flock?  Even isolating her is not a good solution...it causes stress to the bird and nurses along a bird that would probably die on her own without special attention or will sicken again the future, so culling is a better choice for the flock as a whole. 

Keeping aging birds are fine if they are still laying reasonably well for their age....when they stop for months at a time it's likely time to remove them from the flock.  There's always exceptions to the rule, but they are truly exceptions. 

Hard words to many, I'm sure, but it's still the unvarnished truth.  A flock is only as healthy as its weakest member.  Take those out each year and you have a flock strong enough to withstand most things coming and going. 

Nuff said, I'm a dad of 3 kids in my twenties, accidental chicken owner. Yet have enjoyed raising layers for my fam for a year now. I got 2 chickens that seem always out cast and I had to babied and protect for a year now, I had labored time wise and mentally(worried) too long already.

Ding ding !!! Revelation need to cull them! Protect the majority and my fam.

I had weighed both sides, love the discussions, a lot of you must have time and experience in your hands. Both sides laid in very intelligent manners, and out of it, I made my own conclusion, we tried to live healthy as much as we can with less drugs and meds so we will do that also with our chickens and pets.

Thanks all for inputs that helped me make good decisions (am still a newbie).