1 round worm found in poop, must I deworm? I try to be organic

[VA from WV]

A tannin source like Black Walnut hull may help, but I think at this point you should deworm. I do not know if the addition of Wormwood will be of benefit or detriment, so I advise, as is appropriate with ALL herbs, that you get someone who knows something about toxicity in chickens before you use any of it.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Pumpkin seeds do not "worm" a bird, they do not treat a bird of an infestation. They're best used, if one wants to try them, as a potential reducer of numbers of parasites inbetween wormings though - but that's heresay.

 

[cocosandy]

I just had a huge problem with worms and I lost a couple of chickens to them. I felt so bad ultimately because I was trying to stay as natural as I could so I was using the vermex, and raw pumpkin seeds, and DE, and still I started to see some round worms! Well, by the time youre seeing them, it means that everyone has them.
The way I found out was that a very fancy teen chick got sick and I thought it was a virus, but then it started shedding worms, and it was basically too late because I couldnt get it to eat and the die-off from even a mild worming was too much for it.
I used wazine then ivermectin, and even then the ivermectin was too much and I lost another teen chick (polish also) who had a heavy load....it seems that the weaker and smaller chickens are less able to deal with the dieoff. All the younger birds felt sick for a day or so. I waited for another week and I used wormazole which is that flu-zole stuff that is mentioned above here.
Now I have to do that again in 10 days to be sure I got all the eggs.
Its been a long, long process, and pretty horrifying in that they have been dumping worms. The large breed birds handle this all OK, but the smaller ones, not so much!
In the future I will worm twice a year and use all the natural preventatives inbetween. I will also start with cayenne pepper in their feed for a week first, and then do the wazine and ivermec...and then the wormazole. Its a 3 week process, I think, and I would really love to not use the ivermec again because it is so strong!
The one thing I havent done is that I havent wormed my 2 ducks...and I know I have to. I just worry about them. Im going to use the wormazole on them.
The will have to wait two weeks at least to eat the eggs. But the good news is that everyone is feelign great and I am getting tons of beautiful eggs suddenly!
They had really slowed down and then had a molt during this time, so there were very few eggs being produced.
I wouldnt rely on natural remedies (which are preventatives really and not actual wormers) for this, especially if your birds free range at all.

Oh, and also I took a poo sample to the vet from around 5 of my birds mixed, and he found no worms or eggs in it...so you just cant be sure one way or another unless you see the big round worms, which look like angel hair pasta, with tapered ends, and almost like they are plastic. once those are coming out, it means that there are alot, so start with cayenne, and move on from there cautiously!

Good luck all!

 

[freefly]

I also wanted to keep my flock all natural and was using these methods

Apple cider vinager in water daily
cayanne pepper in grain
DE in grain
Yogurt organic homemade 5-6 month

When I saw a round worm in a poop , I was worried

Since I used the "Flubenvet"

I haven't seen any round worm as yet
One hen's comb pooped up and is looking great, really bright and full. Before it was flopped down and over to one side, plus it was grey underside.

I think they are eating more (not sure if thats the way it is supposed to go )

Egg laying is up a bit.
My girls lay 5.2 average each a week, even my seabright.... bless her.

It makes sense that they are going to get worms if they are free range like my girls

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Flubenvet is flubendazole which is approximately the equivalent of fenbendazole (SafeGuard) in the U.S. Good move.

 

[RedHead]

has anyone tried using Wrm Clear? I use it on my birds in a smaller dose as a preventative and it says on the bottle Natural Homeopathic Remedy. I use it for my dogs as well. I have a black lab that gets into EVERYTHING you can think of and it seems to do the job for him as well. Just a thought. here's a link to some info from 1800petmeds, it says it's for cats and dogs but I've been using it for my birds in a smaller dose and haven't had a worm problem yet. http://www.1800petmeds.com/HomeoPet+Wrm+Clear-prod3305.html

 

[Phyll'sFarmFamily]

cocosandy
I'm so sorry to hear about your little ones! It is really hard when you try your best yet you still lose them.

Sounds like you have a good way to slowly get rid of the worms without stressing the birds too much. I’m very sorry that you had to find out this way.

How do you use the cayenne?
Also, how do you give the others to them?
I have been using just the DE and have never done this. I’ve been afraid of using chemicals and the ivermectin is so strong. I’ve been trying to stay as organic as I can because of all the articles about different chemicals and their toxicity to birds.

When I tried to find the Flubenvet on-line I found this website: http://gardenhens.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Flubenvet - Rug Pulled
As I predicted just over a year ago Flubenvet 'Medicated Premixture 2.5%' will no longer be sold to 'Backyard Poultry Keepers' and instead you will only be able to buy the 'Medicated Premixture 1%' stuff which cost ten times as much.
It is very disappointing that it has come to this.

(Guess I will need to figure the dose for the chickens from the horses or get the cat ivermectin.)​

 

[threehorses]

Phyll'sFarmFamily :

cocosandy
I'm so sorry to hear about your little ones! It is really hard when you try your best yet you still lose them.

Sounds like you have a good way to slowly get rid of the worms without stressing the birds too much. I’m very sorry that you had to find out this way.

How do you use the cayenne?
Also, how do you give the others to them?
I have been using just the DE and have never done this. I’ve been afraid of using chemicals and the ivermectin is so strong. I’ve been trying to stay as organic as I can because of all the articles about different chemicals and their toxicity to birds.

When I tried to find the Flubenvet on-line I found this website: http://gardenhens.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Flubenvet - Rug Pulled
As I predicted just over a year ago Flubenvet 'Medicated Premixture 2.5%' will no longer be sold to 'Backyard Poultry Keepers' and instead you will only be able to buy the 'Medicated Premixture 1%' stuff which cost ten times as much.
It is very disappointing that it has come to this.

(Guess I will need to figure the dose for the chickens from the horses or get the cat ivermectin.)​

If you use the horse wormer, it's a BB sized or pencil eraser sized bit in the beak. Try to get the ivermectin with pyrantel for tapes, too.

Really ivermectin is NOT strong on birds. Neither is fenbendazole. There's a reason they call it "SAFEguard" and that is that it's very very gentle and safe. Ivermectin can be used wayyyyy over the usual dosage with a huge safety margin. They use it for people in third world countries who get worms from rivers, etc. It's much more gentle on the system to do a few times a year than worms are on the system.

Worms irritate the digestive tract, causing inflammation, and inflammation is often a precursor to inflammatory cells which are precursons to cancer. Inflammation starves the bird, disallowing it from digesting food, causing the immune system to lower, causing the bird to be greatly more likely to get diseases.

So really - four times a year - or all year of having parasites in the gut.......​

 

[VA from WV]

On the topic of natural dewormers:

Many of the natural dewormers out there have combinations of DE, Black Walnut, Wormwood, Garlic, Slippery Elm, and other things in them that work well alongside a good Integrated Pest Management program. However, you have to work as many IPM angles as you can, or you simply don't get the benefit. (While I know how to do it with sheep, I couldn't begin to comment on how you do this with free range chickens.)

Herbals, from all the stuff I've read, do work, but you have to use them on a regular basis. They don't work/work fast enough to overcome a case of worms where the animal is passing them. You need to watch your birds poop, because the early signs include diarrhea, and make sure you treat -then-.

Your chickens are going to pick up worms from the environment. This goes double if they are free-ranging. Many of the bugs they eat are carriers. If they encounter other species, they can be infected through contact with those birds' feces.

DE will theoretically injure internal parasites, who will then die due to infection or dessication. Used in combination with a tannin source like Black Walnut or even tea from used bags, it creates an unfavorable environment for parasites. Garlic performs several functions. Wormwood is usually what does the actual killing. Slippery Elm draws water to it, and helps slicken the gut so that the worms pass with minimal dehydration.

Pumpkin seeds do have factors in them that help control worms, but you have to be able to get the chickens to eat them.

The important thing to remember here is that NOTHING is a panacea. There are issues with all deworming methods, and while we want to prevent resistance to chemical dewormers by using them sparingly, that there is nothing wrong with using them to save the life of a sick bird. The only people who have to worry about 'organic' are the organic producers who are legally required to maintain certain practices to keep their certification.

 

[Dazlin]

I use pumkin seeds. I grind them up, and add them to yogurt. I give first thing in the morning, once a month.
About 2 hrs later, I saw some poops with the worm expelled.
Pumpkin seeds are said to expell parasites, not kill them.
Do your re-search on them.