All chickens skinny help!

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I have birds that I know are 100% free of lice, mites and all worms. Of course I have quite a few where that's not true, lol. What scares me is knowing that you own a feed store and that people are going to ask you for help in treating their sick animals. So what are you going to tell the person that comes in with sick turkey poults? Or chickens with worms? Are you going to point them to proper treatments like metronidazole, Safeguard, Valbazen, amoxicillin, etc, or are you going to suggest they treat with cayenne pepper, ACV, DE, etc?

I see this a a wonderful opportunity for the owner of a small town feed store to stock items like Safeguard, Valbazen, Fish-Zole, Fish-Mox, feeding tubes, syringes, Kaytee Baby Bird Food, etc. Many lives of birds could be saved if those type of items were stocked.

-Kathy
 
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katbriar said:
Dawg53 or michaelA- what would be your advice on starting and maintaining a deworming program? My birds are 18 mo old and confined to a large indoor run.

I've tried to piece one together from what I've read on this site but remain fuzzy since some workers are only good for certain types of worms. You both seem among the most knowledgable on the subject.

Thanks to either or both of you.
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It would be best to initially worm your birds with valbazen liquid cattle/sheep wormer. Valbazen slowly kills worms over a period of several days preventing digestive tract blockage which could lead to toxic dead worm overload and possbly kill your chickens. Administer the valbazen using a syringe without a needle. Dosage for standard size birds is 1/2cc given orally undiluted to each chicken, 1/4cc given orally undiluted to smaller birds. Repeat dosing in 10 days. Tapeworms require a more frequent worming at a higher dose as well. Valbazen kills all known types of worms that chickens can get.
Safeguard liquid goat wormer is administered the same as valbazen dosagewise. However it's best to dose orally undiluted 5 days in a row to eliminate all types of worms except tapeworms. No need to repeat dosing in 10 days
Zimectrin Gold equine paste wormer can be used for tapeworms. Dosage is a "pea" size amount given orally to each chicken, a small pea size amount for smaller chickens, then repeat again in 10 days.
It's best not to worm birds with wormers that can be mixed in water such as wazine. Sick wormy birds wont drink the treated water and if they do, they wont drink enough of it to be effective. Besides, wazine only gets rid of large roundworms. Wazine acts as a "flush" and if a bird is infested with large roundworms, there's a greater chance of a blockage causing toxic dead worm overload.
Liquid Pyrantal Pamoate 4.54mg dosed at 2.5cc's in feed for 5 days in a row can be given for large roundworms, capillary worms and cecal worms. Pyrantal Pamoate has been around a long time and is a safe wormer as is valbazen and safeguard.
Safeguard equine paste can be given orally to each chicken. A pea sized amount given to standard size chickens, a small pea sized amount given to smaller chickens.
I've used these wormers at one time or the other and found valbazen to the the best wormer on the market, followed by the safeguard liquid goat wormer. I prefer the zimectrin gold strictly for tapeworms. Equimax equine paste wormer can be used for tapeworms, but I prefer to use the lesser amount of praziquantel contained in the zimectrin gold.
I rotate between valbazen and safeguard.
How often you worm depends on your soil conditions. Warm moist or wet soil will require frequent wormings, cool/cold rocky mountainous or hot desertlike soil conditions will require less frequent wormings. Birds penned on the same soil will require frequent wormings.
Here where I live, our soil is warm and wet moist of the year. I worm my birds once every 3 months, sometimes sooner...even when free ranged.
 
dawg53 said:
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Katbrier, you are asking the right people . I worm like Dawg and Michael do now. I was worming but didn't follow up 10 days later because I really didn't think I had to. Well my little silkie hen died and I sent her for a necropsy and Capillaira worms destroyed her intestines. It was so sad. It will hurt forever knowing that I could have saved her. My silkie roo was depressed for weeks. He was always standing by the door looking out. I listened to Dawg and Michael but I guess I wasn't "hearing" them.

I do like to worm when the chickens are taking a break from laying.

Abooot, I had a terrible skinny Polish hen who I found sleeping all day one day. I took her in and put her on 5 days of Sulfadimethoxine and Tylan. She started eating like a pig and it's been a month and she's still a pig and actually boks for food now. The two meds, it's a long story and a lot of reading. It was a last effort with no where to go . I have 7 skinny chickens in another pen and I did 5 days for them too, same thing. I am now waiting a few weeks to see what happens. This is NOT a cure. It was my last go.

So worm the chickens like Dawg and Michael said. And repeat in 10 days. And add some water to the layer and make mush. Mine are crazy for it.
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Valbazen is one of the more effective wormers, but if for some reason you can't get it, you could also use Safeguard for goats, cattle or horses. The most effective Safeguard dose is 0.23ml per pound by mouth for five consecutive days (average size Rhode Island Red would get 1.5ml for 5 days). That treatment will kill roundworms, cecal worms, gapeworms and capillary worms.

-Kathy
 
@katbriar , whatever you decide to get, ignore the dosing directions on the bottle or tube (horses), they're for goats, cattle, sheep, etc, not for chickens. Don't ask me why, but chickens, gamebirds and waterfowl get more per pound than the grass eaters.

The most effective Valbazen dose is 0.08ml per pound (20mg/kg). An average sized Rhode Island Red hen would get about 0.5ml (1/2 cc).

-Kathy
 
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I understand where you're coming from. Despite my own personal preferences for my flock, I accept that not everyone will want to do it the same with theirs. We do carry multiple commercial products, from Fishzole and FishCillin to pen G, Tylan injectable and dissolveable to tetracycline and sulfamethodixine; probiotics and electrolytes, Wazine, Safeguard (horse and goat), Metronidazole and Valbazen, Tiamulin (common for treating blackhead in turkeys, discovered during my own debacle).... I point them to every option we have, because honestly, we make more on commercial stuff than on DE and other natural remedies. A lot of people don't believe in natural stuff, and I understand why. I used to look at people suggesting them like they were stuck in the hippy days. And to avoid [/]getting[/] that look, I always point customers to commercial products first. If I don't know what to suggest, I get online or ask others I know who are more experienced and can point ME in the right direction. We offer special order also, so if they want a certain brand/size/quantity/etc, we order it for them.

I only started dabbling in natural stuff almost 2 years ago, and it was a slow process - I started with switching to organic feed simply because it's overall better for them, and now I'm up to the whole DE and ACV thing, with a couple of new developments along the way. Sometimes I do have to use something I can't find in a kitchen. I've had CRD run through my flock many times, so I had to use antibiotics. If I bring in some chickens with a massive worm infestation, I have Valbazen available and I use it, just out of concern for their livelihood. I don't mind using commercial products when I HAVE to, I don't disagree with them entirely - simply prefer the alternate route.
 

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