Worms!? Maggots!? In poop!!!

[Annalyse]

I noticed the poop in the beddings had these worm things in it. The poop boards as well. I’m not sure they are worms I think they came from the little gnats that have been in the poop boards. Since it’s so hot I can seem to find a way to get rid of the gnats. I use PDZ in the poop baords do you have any other suggestion of what to put in it? I use a cat litter scoop but I might need one with smaller holes.

Video of the worms.

 

[coach723]

Those are not internal parasites, those are maggots/fly larvae. Best way to prevent those is to keep the droppings picked up. I scrape my poop boards every day, usually morning, and I never see maggots. And I have gnats and flies all the time. If PDZ is not doing the job fast enough to dry the droppings out, then I would just leave the poop boards plain, and scrape them daily. That will likely save you $$ also, not having to buy PDZ. My boards are painted to seal them, I use nothing on top of them. I scrape the poop off into a bucket with a 6" wide putty knife, and I spray with vinegar and wipe them down. I buy cheap cotton utility rags for that, I hose the rags off after and put in a plastic bin with a lid until I have enough to wash a load. Only takes a few minutes every day. Note, if you don't hose the rags off (I use rags as they are reusable and more economical) they will also become a lure to flies and maggots, and you will have a bin full of them. And if you don't hose them off then your washing machine may not handle them well either. If it icks you out, you can wear rubber gloves.

 

[Eggcessive]

Good advice from coach723.

 

[Kiki]

I found my dewormer on Etsy. View attachment 3568822

Return it.
That will not deworm birds.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I found this stuff on Amazon. Would this be good until I can find the feed? What type of dewormer do you suggest?

Do not waste your money on that, natural dewormers do not work, I'm not even sure those are worms, let me tag some folks @TheDawg @coach723 @Eggcessive

 

[Kiki]

Looks like maggots to me and I agree...don't waste your money on anything "natural."

 

[Kiki]

Thank you. That’s what I thought they were but needed to take caution just in case. What kind of vinegar do you use? I’m going to clean out all bedding and add new stuff to get rid of any larvae in the bedding.

You want to keep everything AS DRY AS POSSIBLE to prevent flies and maggots.

Can you post a few pictures of your set up?

I have shavings with a passion...I think they are nasty and stinky.
I use dirt and peat moss. I have no fly issues.

 

[Kiki]

R

Really? What should I get??

Yes really. It depends on what type of worms you're dealing with. All dewormers are not equal and they do not allow treat all types of worms.

Start learning here:
Article 'Worming Chickens—Medicines and Dosing Information' https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/worming-chickens—medicines-and-dosing-information.73369/

 

[nuthatched]

@nuthatched @Eggcessive @dawg53 @BastyPutt what do you think would help? I've suggested deworming feeds and natural deworming liquids. Is Verm X liquid helpful or would you reccomend SafeGuard or something else? If so what's the dosage?

Those are maggots from flies so worming isn't necessary.
Vermx doesn't work at all, for future note

 

[coach723]

What kind of vinegar do you use?

I just use plain white vinegar, the cheap stuff. It's perfectly fine for cleaning and doesn't leave any harmful residues behind. I just get the biggest jug of the cheapest I can find, which right now is Walmart. And any hand held spray bottle that you can adjust the spray on. The vinegar eventually makes the sprayer stop working, so you will periodically need a new spray bottle.
Fly and gnat populations can vary year to year and season to season, depending on climate and environmental conditions. So PDZ might work during some times and not be effective during peak population times of year. If you have loads of flies or gnats, they are going to find fresh droppings, the more you have of droppings, the more maggots you will end up with. Since the birds only really roost at night, if you scrape your poop boards in the morning, then they won't have anything there to attract flies all day. Out in my run, the covered part is deep litter, flies have never had a problem, and my open fenced run the sun takes care of it, again, not a lot of flies there. Also, if you have too many birds in too small of a run area, you are going to have more droppings building up. Another reason that more space is a good idea, then the droppings are not all accumulating in a small spot.
For gnats, we have some here that just annoy the daylights out of my birds all summer. The two best things I've found work for me are 1. planting rosemary bushes in the run. The birds lay in the shade under them and the fragrant oils in the plants seem to repel the gnats. I do have to put down a layer of hardware cloth around the bases of the plants when I plant them to keep the birds from digging them up, other than that they don't bother them.
2. I have a box fan in one of my coop windows that keeps the air moving over the roosts. Makes it much harder for small flying insects, particularly gnats and mosquito's, to land on my roosting birds.