Can I deworm cockrells intended for meat?

[Blw18]

I have several Brahma cross cockrells that are intended for meat and they’re very worm laden. I normally NEVER medicate meat chickens (or my others for that matter) unless absolutely necessary but these cockrells contracted coccidiosis, recovered, and while the immune system was down, became loaded with worms. The ones intended for meat are half the size of their full brothers (who are worm free) and much thinner. I planned on butchering last week but they were way too small and skinny for their age. If I worm them, how long until I can process safely? If I can’t deworm, what’s a good way to fatten them up enough to process? They’ve been getting all the food they can eat. I’m really wanting to thin the flock down before winter sets in for flock health and cost reasons and I also want these guys to be have a good quality of life until they hit the freezer.

 

[Timmy59]

Let me start off with I am a chirping 61 yo country boy that has only an opinion.. I am by no means an expert but a long time animal keeper of many types of animals.. I've never wormed a chicken but if I felt the need it would be with piperzine, same as the pigs.. Because of the added pesticide I would not butcher for at least 30 days to allow for any residual to clear out.. Our 1st ice storm is in process so winter hit early here, Good luck..

 

[NatJ]

I planned on butchering last week but they were way too small and skinny for their age. If I worm them, how long until I can process safely? If I can’t deworm, what’s a good way to fatten them up enough to process? They’ve been getting all the food they can eat.

I don't know about worm medicines, but I do know you CAN process at any size or age.

It might make sense to just process these the way they are, even if they're scrawny, rather than continuing to feed them and trying to get rid of the worms--any gain in meat might not be worth what it takes in money and time to get it. Processing them now will get you some meat, and will free up space in your coop.

If you process these birds now, it will also mean that the worms inside them cannot lay more eggs to infect your other chickens.

As for fattening up, if you've got something like whole or cracked corn, you could try putting that out free-choice in addition to their usual food, between now and when you finish deciding what to do. That might encourage them to eat a bit more total food, and they might gain a little weight despite the worms. Or it might not help at all, but it's not likely to cause any harm for these particular birds for up to a few weeks' time.

Personally, I think I would just process them at the first available opportunity, and let them eat as much as they want of their usual food between now and then.

 

[Blw18]

Let me start off with I am a chirping 61 yo country boy that has only an opinion.. I am by no means an expert but a long time animal keeper of many types of animals.. I've never wormed a chicken but if I felt the need it would be with piperzine, same as the pigs.. Because of the added pesticide I would not butcher for at least 30 days to allow for any residual to clear out.. Our 1st ice storm is in process so winter hit early here, Good luck..

Thanks! And I agree. I normally never deworm or medicate simply because it weeds out weak and susceptible birds out of the flock but since I won’t be using these for breeding, and I want to maximize the use of these, I had considered giving them a low dosage to reduce the worm load enough to gain a few pounds.

I don't know about worm medicines, but I do know you CAN process at any size or age.

It might make sense to just process these the way they are, even if they're scrawny, rather than continuing to feed them and trying to get rid of the worms--any gain in meat might not be worth what it takes in money and time to get it. Processing them now will get you some meat, and will free up space in your coop.

If you process these birds now, it will also mean that the worms inside them cannot lay more eggs to infect your other chickens.

As for fattening up, if you've got something like whole or cracked corn, you could try putting that out free-choice in addition to their usual food, between now and when you finish deciding what to do. That might encourage them to eat a bit more total food, and they might gain a little weight despite the worms. Or it might not help at all, but it's not likely to cause any harm for these particular birds for up to a few weeks' time.

Personally, I think I would just process them at the first available opportunity, and let them eat as much as they want of their usual food between now and then.

That’s what I had planned on doing for the simple reason that I’m tired of feeding them. I normally process much younger than typical (maybe 12 - 16 weeks) but these would have been like eating a bony bantam chicken. They’ve been free-ranging since hatch but I penned them for a week when I had hawks killing 2 or 3 a day and that’s when they got they coccidiosis and picked up the worms so bad. That’s been several months ago though. I caught them yesterday and penned them up with a feeder full of corn and a little chick grower (for the protein) but I might just go ahead and cut my losses.

Last night when I posted the thread I was pulling them off the roost to the “meat bird pen” and realized how skinny they actually were under all the feathers and that’s when I thought about worming. But now that you say it, it’s just not practical to put 50 pounds of feed into them plus the cost of wormer plus the space they take up.

 

[Timmy59]

There is a feed product that we feed on occasion that near every critter eats.. It smells like black licorice and I like licorice.. Calf manna, 25% protein and a whole lot more useful vitamins and minerals.. Good stuff but no longer cheap, we recently bought a bag for the pig which has a 1-19-21 date at the locker.. The pig we bought is a picky eater and I don't want him eating just cracked corn.. $36 at TSC..

 

[Blw18]

Well I went ahead processed 5 of the roosters. Three of them were in good shape and made respectable dressed birds, but the other two had absolutely no meat anywhere and the breast meat was only about 1/2 an inch thick if that much. At least they aren’t consuming anymore feed.