Topic of the Week - Deworming chickens

[The_Silkie_Farm]

View attachment 2855102

Any chickens exposed to the outdoors, whether free-ranging or penned, are at risk of at some point picking up intestinal worms. Many of us deworm the flock as a preventative, while others prefer to wait with the drugs until there is evidence of an infestation. I would like to hear your thoughts and practices when it comes to worms and deworming, specifically:

- Should you deworm regularly as a preventative, or wait until there is evidence of an infestation? Which do you prefer and...
- What signs are there to indicate a possible worm infestation?
- What is the best dewormer to use for chickens?
- Do natural/organic dewormers and remedies work?
- Can the eggs be eaten during the withdrawal period and are they safe to eat?
- Did anyone incubate eggs laid during the withdrawal period and what were the results?

For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

 

[The_Silkie_Farm]

Cecal poop vs regular poop


These are overnight poops from a 7 year old rooster that appears to be quite healthy. On the left is a normal cecal poop, on the right are pretty normal regular poops, though one pile has a little spec of red. Diet consists of crumbles, nothing else.


This is the same poop moved to a paper towel. regular poop on top, cecal on bottom.


Same poop again. Notice the creamy texture of the cecal poop compared to the regular poop. Interestingly, I think maybe I can see a cecal worm in this picture. Will go back and see if I can verify.


-Kathy

@Sally Sunshine

 

[nuthatched]

Slogged through the whole thing. Lots of great information.
Why an I so happy to find info on internal parasites?
Edit: most of the links go to nowhere. Boo.

 

[Grandmas Coop]

Slogged through the whole thing. Lots of great information.
Why an I so happy to find info on internal parasites?
Edit: most of the links go to nowhere. Boo.

so what was your bottom line take away?
it you are going to deworm your flock tomorrow what would need / or do

 

[Grandmas Coop]

@casportpony -please! add to if you need to-- YES! I made it through it all, a lot of yadda-yadda, but , here are my notes to myself as to the bottom line

I didnt find that Rooster Booster makes a wormer any more---

Ivermectin is effective against a large variety of worms and works also against mites. You can place a drop of the oil based medication on the skin behind the neck,

If you put it in their waterer, use 6 cc / gallon for 2 days and to treat for worms, repeat in 12 days.

Ivermectin is not a good poultry wormer. It will probably treat large roundworms--use ivermectin for lice and mites
__________________________________________________________________________________________


The Valbazen is the easiest to give and will treat almost all worms with just one dose (repeat in 10 days).
_______
0.5ml=0.1tsp or 1/10

0.08ml=0.016tsp
________
If we give Valbazen at 0.08 ml per pound (20 mg/kg), this is how much one gives to their bird:

Math is weight of bird in pounds, times 0.08 ml = amount to give in ml

This is for a 1 pound bird - 1 x 0.08 = 0.08 ml

1/4 pound bird gets 0.02 ml

1/2 pound bird gets 0.04 ml

3/4 pound bird gets 0.06 ml

1 pound bird gets 0.08 ml

2 pound bird get 0.16 ml

3 pound bird gets 0.24 ml

4 pound birds gets 0.32 ml

5 pound birds gets 0.4 ml

6 pound birds gets 0.48 ml

7 pound birds gets 0.56 ml

8 pound birds gets 0.64 ml

9 pound birds gets 0.72ml

10 pound birds gets 0.8 ml

Know what you are doing before you TRY and give a chicken somethin orally

DE/ Garlic/pumpkin seeds etc.... if thats your bag,,, fine, just know it most likely wont work

 

[casportpony]

I didnt find that Rooster Booster makes a wormer any more---

It used to contain an active ingredient that's an antibiotic. A new law went into effect around 2017 requiring prescriptions for all feeds containing antibiotics & all water/food soluble antibiotics.

Ivermectin is effective against a large variety of worms and works also against mites. You can place a drop of the oil based medication on the skin behind the neck,

It's not good de-wormer, but it will treat lice & mites. The dose is no less than 0.2 mg/kg when using the 1%, and no less than 0.5 mg/kg.

1% - 5 pound hen gets no less than 0.05 ml. Personally, I give a five pound hen 0.23 ml
0.05% pour on - 5 pound hen gets no less than 0.11 ml. I have not used this.

If you put it in their waterer, use 6 cc / gallon for 2 days and to treat for worms, repeat in 12 days.

Ivermectin?

Ivermectin is not a good poultry wormer. It will probably treat large roundworms--use ivermectin for lice and mites

 

[nuthatched]

so what was your bottom line take away?
it you are going to deworm your flock tomorrow what would need / or do

I was interested in more or less proving natural wormers inadequate....

 

[Grandmas Coop]

Ivermectin?

Ya,, I too found it odd, someone put that , that you can put it in water, I copied/pasted it.
I dont find any thing that says you can do that and I didnt fine one to buy that you can do that.

 

[Grandmas Coop]

I was interested in more or less proving natural wormers inadequate....

I have in past years, I have used
wood ash around all the baseboards in the coop,
I have sprayed an all natural Flea & Tic spray on the roost and wood frame,
I give my flock as needed hiney washes ( prevent fly strike)
and once a year a dawn dish soap bath-
I use only sand for coop flooring
In the nesting boxes- Eaton Pet & Pasture USA Grown & Sustainably Harvested Bird nesting pad made with 100% sustainably harvested aspen excelsior: and I keep the boxes clean
and real wood chips from the neighbors saw mill in the run.
I use a cat litter scoop every morning and scoop up the PM poop from under the roost.
If I see any red in poop I keep an eye out for more in the days to follow, and if need be treat with Corid, but have had to do this in over a year.

I feed them Kalmbach Feeds Organic 17% Layer Pellets
When I have these herbs in the garden I give the flock, oregano; comfrey; horseradish greens; cabbage.
Once a week they get clover/grass trimmings. I grew extra kale for them.
They do not like and wont drink water with ACV in it
They do get the egg shells back for added calcium and have oyster shell available.
When it is very hot, 90+, I uses Rooster Booster electrolytes if needed. I as needed use rooster booster Poultry Cell OR the dry Pelleted top dressing.
BUT, with all of that ,,,,
I find their feathers very dry, they break easy, 6 of the 11 layers have rooster tread marks,
One has bad molting on her neck

I always worry about red spider mites and lice-- I think they peck/pull each others and self, feathers.
I have done the best I know how over the last 10 years,

I was thinking but havent done it yet---Ya know the tubs of pre cut chopped garlic you can buy at costco?????,, I wonder if I put some out and just let them eat what they want if their guts would handle it????
Well Thats all I got ,,, and its 4:50am I think I'll go get more coffee

 

[MiMito3]

Wow, hot topic for sure, especially for me, and not easy to answer some of these questions, so I'll answer the easy ones first..

• Do natural/organic dewormers and remedies work?

To the best of my knowledge *none* of them work.

• Can the eggs be eaten during the withdrawal period and are they safe to eat?

Depends... If you live in the US the FDA says you can eat the eggs while treating with hygromycin b. Hygromycin b is the only FDA approved wormers for chickens in the US. Use of all other wormers is "extra label" and is supposed to be managed by a veterinarian, but if you live in Canada or Australia you can eat the eggs while treating with piperazine (Wazine). In England you can eat the eggs while treating with *very* low doses of fenbendazole (Safeguard or Panacur), or with flubendazole (Flubenvet), and in Ireland you can use flubendazole (flubenvet).

-Kathy

References:
http://www.usfarad.org/drug-wdi-faqs.html

http://www.farad.org/publications/digests/122015EggResidue.pdf

But at this point should we believe a word the government says? Not sure.