chooks get wormed? um we might have a problem then - im new to this so what do i use to worm her?
That is actually somewhat argued in the circles of chicken owners, sometimes heatedly, but in my opinion, yes, chickens need to be wormed. No matter what your philosophy, the truth is it is MUCH easier to treat for worms when the worm load is down than try to catch up behind a high load due to how worms function.
I am of the camp, due to personal experience and evidence through my daughter's vet tech studies (as we used my flock for some lab work), that worms are constantly present in chickens. Yes, by golly my hens DID have worms although they showed no evidence. Evidence is seen typically as worms in stool, diarrhea, thin-ness, poor egg laying, or rumpled look once a heavy infestation has taken over.
To understand worming, you need to understand a bit about how the worm cycle works. The hens pick up and ingest, depending upon the worm type, the carrier or cysts or larvae when they scratch. Depending upon the worm type, it migrates through the digestive track and settles into its body part of choice to begin living off the host to grow, flourish, and create the next generation. It sends out the "seeds" of the next generation in the stool of the bird....to begin the process all over again. Sometimes a worm type will use an intermediary animal, such as an earthworm, other types are direct from stool to bird.
The hen's immune system will fight off a number of them, sending the worm itself out with the feces, but usually live, to be potentially picked up and eaten by the next hen. Then of course, there is all that wild life fluttering and scurrying through. With that thought, you can see why it is very important to keep litter changed and field rotation as much as possible so that the soil load remains as low as possible.
Since the first defense for the hen is her own immune system, It is important to keep your birds free from stress and overcrowding, with plenty of good feed and clean water.
While not helpful directly to worms, as it won't kill or expel them, applying Apple Cider Vinegar (raw, with mother, no metal waterer) to the water and regular pro-biotics, such as plain yogurt, help keep the animal's gut flora optimal, which is a main component of the immune system...it also helps keep the gut acidic which is better for keeping worms at bay...up to a point.
At some point the soil is simply going to gain a load that perpetuates an ever growing population, as does the aging bird's system. If anything stresses the hen, such as heat or cold, that lowers the immune system further, the load of the bird can increase, sometimes rather dramatically.
Brooding hens are very prone to worm build up as their immune systems are strained from the physical demands of brooding.
If you are in agreement thus far, then the question remains...what to worm with.
There are limited products on the market for chickens as the industry doesn't do a whole lot of worming...they turn over (cull) their flock regularly to keep commercial egg numbers up and disinfect and rotate fields. What they do use, and the only FDA approved wormer on the market for laying chickens used for eggs for human consumption is Hygromycin B.
Hygromycin B is added to the feed and is effective against the three most common types of worms in chickens: cecal, capillary and round. The industry uses Hygromycin B in continuous feed for the life of the bird. Backyard farmers typically treat for 2 or 3 weeks once or twice a year. The product comes as pellets that you simply place in your feeder at the appropriately measured amount. The nice thing about Hygromycin B is that there is no egg withdrawal needed.
As a small backyard farmer, you can get Hygromycin B at the feed store as either Durvet Strike III or as Rooster Booster Triple Action Multi Wormer (which also contains probiotics and vitamins/minerals for an overall immune boost, but also has Bacitracin, which is a mild antibiotic used by the industry to combat chronic respiratory illness...that nagging cough...in caged birds).
If you use your eggs for family use only, and never plan to sell eggs from that hen ever (technically speaking that is what the FDA would require), then you can ignore any legal concerns and go off label. The products used for that are:
Piperazine, sold at most feedstores as Wazine, placed typically in the water, targets only round worms (interestingly is also used as a human de-wormer).
Fenbendazole, sold as Panacur or Safeguard (for pigs), in either liquid form to be placed in water or as a paste that is measured out and administered orally...I recommend placing a bead of paste in something the bird likes to eat. Fenbendazole targets most worm types in chickens including round, cecal, capillary, tapeworm and gapeworm, although it is not approved for such in the US. (Interestingly the UK allows small farmers to use Fenbendazole for layers).
Ivermectin can be applied topically to the skin and targets most of the worm types as well as external parasites such as mites, some lice types, and scaly leg mites. It is a systemic de-wormer, so it is important to treat carefully and pull eggs. I personally do not prefer Ivermectin (which is akin to Avermectin, ant poison) as it is deadly to kittens, dogs with white feet (such as Shelties), and others who are sensitive. It targets the neural system of the worms to kill and expel, thus those who are sensitive may experience neural symptoms.
For the off label wormers, it is generally best to treat, then treat again in 10 days. Tossing eggs during and for 10 to 14 days after last treatment.
There are those who like to use herbal methods. There is some study evidence that pumpkin seeds, cayenne pepper and garlic may help to reduce the worm load inside the chicken by expelling the worms...however they are generally not dead worms, so available to be re-eaten by the next bird.
The common herbal wormers are Verm-x (main active ingredients are garlic, cayenne, slippery elm) and Molly's Herbal (wormwood predominately). Typically you are to use the preparation for 3 consecutive days each month. Molly's recommends every 6 weeks to avoid wormwood toxicity.
Many swear by and use Diatomaceous Earth (DE), food grade quality (never pool quality). I searched for years and never found any evidence of its effectiveness until recently from one small study. It is uncertain how it may work for internal worms, although it has shown effectiveness for external parasites...IF it stays dry. My qualms with DE is that it is a known respiratory irritant and can be bad for chickens and people, especially those prone to asthma (like me). So I do not use it due to the questionable effectiveness, cost, and potential of increasing my mild asthma.
I personally started with the herbals, wanting to remain "wholesome," but honestly, eventually I ended up with worms and needed to treat with "real" meds seasonally as I've been at this on the same property for over 5 years.
Since I sell some of my eggs to offset feed costs, I have chosen to stay with the Hygromycin B, usually in the form of Durvet Strike III to avoid overuse of the additional antibiotic of Rooster Booster's product, although I've used RB Triple Wormer and like it very much as it treats the worms and gives the immune boost too. I treat for 2 weeks, at least twice a year, or if I notice some runny looking bottoms (loose stools typically are my first sign).
I then try to feed my girls garlic, pumpkin seeds, and cayenne periodically, buzzed in the blender to make a crumble, which I can do pretty cheaply from bulk bin items...and I have purchased and can mix in Molly's Herbal to help as well, as that is pretty cost effective, although my birds don't seem to like the taste of it. They do like the Verm-x, but I found that very expensive with my flock number... the can is small and expensive.
Whatever you choose to use, it is generally agreed to alternate your treatment as worms can build a resistance to a certain method.
My knowledge and experiences
HTH
LofMc
