Alternative and Natural Wormer's...

[EggSighted4Life]

I would like to follow along never wormed a bird neither as a child on the farm nor as a adult having them now as old lady farmer type but never seem any in the poop

Thanks for joining in!

Since only large round worms and tape worms may ever be seen in dropping and all other species stay in the intestines passing only their microscopic oocysts (eggs) to never be seen by the naked eye... any chance you are willing or able do a group float... maybe by one of the more affordable mail in options... and see where your load lies or if you have any?

You are correct, I'm not trying to create or receive any nasty replies and very much appreciate what an upstanding and caring community this has been!

 

[pennyJo1960]

That is why I am here also most have respect most are good friends

 

[Sue Gremlin]

Too many pharmaceutical sponsors... possibly paying off or skewed reporting to keep their products high on the market.

A popular accusation, but completely, patently false.
Anything that works would quickly be capitalized on. It's fun to demonize drug companies with statements like this.

Edited to add: This also implies that scientists have no integrity, which I find to be a personal insult of the highest sort. We have pets and families, too, and we all get sick just the same.

 

[pennyJo1960]

All opinions count that is why the site is so important and well moderated

 

[Morrigan]

I learned in another thread that fecal floats aren't a good way to measure the load for tapeworms. A positive will tell you if you have tapes, but not how many. And a negative can be a false negative. When they study the efficacy of drugs for ridding poultry of tapeworms, they typically kill the chickens at the end and manually count the tapeworms in their intestines. So, any home brew experiments for tapeworms are going to unscientific.

I don't know whether "wait and see" qualifies as a natural cure, but my own experience with chickens and tapeworms, is that they went away on their own as fall approached. I found research that suggests that chickens, as well as other animals, can acquire immunity to tapeworms and will both resist new tapeworms trying to take up residence, and expel existing tapeworms. My chickens did have free choice access to cucumbers, zucchini and butternut squash over the summer, but it's impossible for me to say if any of that made a difference.

But, I do think there is a big difference between chickens harboring a few worms that come and go as the seasons change, and an infestation where you are seeing a noticeable drop in the health of your chickens. Were I to have seen a decline in my chicken's health, I don't think I would have tried any natural cures or waited, but rather would enlisted a vet and figured out how best to treat them.

If anyone has had anything they would have described as a more serious infestation and found a natural cure, I would be very interested in hearing about it.

 

[pennyJo1960]

may force me to buy high powered microscope again

 

[Folly's place]

@Morrigan , x100!!!
Mary

 

[Morrigan]

may force me to buy high powered microscope again

I'm thinking about getting one. It's on my x-mas list.

 

[aart]

may force me to buy high powered microscope again

I'm thinking about getting one. It's on my x-mas list.

Get a centrifuge too.

 

[casportpony]

Get a centrifuge too.

x2

And this is why:

This vet says centrifugation is the way to go http://www.capcvet.org/expert-articles/why-fecal-centrifugation-is-better/

"I perform an interesting exercise every year in my parasitology class by using a fecal sample from a dog with a hookworm burden typical of what practitioners would see in pet dogs. The students are divided into three groups. One group performs a direct smear, another group mixes 2 g of feces with flotation solution and performs a passive flotation procedure, and the third group uses 2 g of feces and performs the centrifugal flotation procedure.
Each year the results are graphic. Usually only 25% of the students performing the direct smear recover hookworm eggs. About 70% of the students performing the passive flotation procedure report seeing hookworm eggs. And every year, without exception, 100% of the students performing the centrifugal flotation procedure report recovering hookworm eggs. This simple exercise convinces my students of the improved sensitivity of centrifugation. Improved recovery rates using centrifugal flotation procedures are also substantiated by published studies.1-4"
I may have to ask Santa for one...