Can I use ivermectin and safeguard?

[Saraschickens]

Thank you, that was very descriptive. How many ml per bird with the Safeguard? I have from 1 lb chickens to 4.5 lb roosters.

 

[coach723]

Safeguard dose is .23 ml per pound of body weight, orally (most people round to .25 for simplicity). If you know you are treating roundworm or cecal worms you can do two doses 10 days apart. If you don't know what worm you are treating for, then use that dose 5 days in a row instead, to cover everything except tapeworm. Capillary worms and Gape worm require the 5 day in a row treatment. It's not effective for tapeworm, for those you need praziquantel. An inexpensive digital kitchen scale works well for getting weights.

 

[Saraschickens]

Safeguard dose is .23 ml per pound of body weight, orally (most people round to .25 for simplicity). If you know you are treating roundworm or cecal worms you can do two doses 10 days apart. If you don't know what worm you are treating for, then use that dose 5 days in a row instead, to cover everything except tapeworm. Capillary worms and Gape worm require the 5 day in a row treatment. It's not effective for tapeworm, for those you need praziquantel. An inexpensive digital kitchen scale works well for getting weights.

Ok, my smallest d'uccle(s) are probably under a pound. Would I give them a .25 ml dose? And what about a chicken that is 2.6 lbs? Or 4.5 lbs?

 

[Goldenwahintofboss]

What do you suspect is wrong—coccidiosis, worms? Ivermectin is said to have lost some effect against worms, due to past overuse for mite treatment. It has an egg withdrawal time. SafeGuard 10% will treat most chickens worms with a dosage of 0.25 ml per pound given orally for 5 consecutive days. To treat only roundworms, give it once and then again in 10 days. It has a 14 day egg withdrawal time. Corid only treats coccidiosis. Dosage is 2 tsp of the liquid per gallon of water for 5 days.

Pumpkin seeds deworm chickens naturally. And chloride sodium dioxide drops in water will treat both parasites and worms internal.and external for future help if needed
It's what I do. And it works
well. Hope your flock mends and gets better!!

 

[coach723]

Ok, my smallest d'uccle(s) are probably under a pound. Would I give them a .25 ml dose? And what about a chicken that is 2.6 lbs? Or 4.5 lbs?

1 lb = 16 oz. For your birds under a pound multiply their weight in ounces by 0.0156 to get the dose (1 lb =16 oz, 0.25 ml / 16 oz = 0.0156 ml per ounce) round up to the nearest measureable mark. If your bird is 14 oz that would come to 0.22 ml, I would round to .3 ml. You will need a 1 ml/cc oral syringe to get a good measurement that small. The marks on a 3 ml oral syringe will not be as accurate for an amount that small. If you don't have one, ask at your pharmacy, they usually have oral syringes. I buy mine on amazon in bulk.
For the larger birds, just multiply their weight by the 0.25. a 2.6 lb bird would get 0.65 ml (0.25 ml x 2.6 lb), I would do 0.65 ml or round to .7 ml. A 4.5 lb bird would get 1.125 ml ( 0.25 ml x 4.5 lb), I would round to 1.2 ml. Always round up, not down, to the nearest mark you can measure to. A little too much won't hurt them, under dosing can lead to resistant parasites.
My kitchen scale weighs in lbs and ounces or grams, so easy enough to get the weights.
I hope that's clear enough to help. I used 0.25 ml for ease of the math and measuring.

 

[Saraschickens]

1 lb = 16 oz. For your birds under a pound multiply their weight in ounces by 0.0156 to get the dose (1 lb =16 oz, 0.25 ml / 16 oz = 0.0156 ml per ounce) round up to the nearest measureable mark. If your bird is 14 oz that would come to 0.22 ml, I would round to .3 ml. You will need a 1 ml/cc oral syringe to get a good measurement that small. The marks on a 3 ml oral syringe will not be as accurate for an amount that small. If you don't have one, ask at your pharmacy, they usually have oral syringes. I buy mine on amazon in bulk.
For the larger birds, just multiply their weight by the 0.25. a 2.6 lb bird would get 0.65 ml (0.25 ml x 2.6 lb), I would do 0.65 ml or round to .7 ml. A 4.5 lb bird would get 1.125 ml ( 0.25 ml x 4.5 lb), I would round to 1.2 ml. Always round up, not down, to the nearest mark you can measure to. A little too much won't hurt them, under dosing can lead to resistant parasites.
My kitchen scale weighs in lbs and ounces or grams, so easy enough to get the weights.
I hope that's clear enough to help. I used 0.25 ml for ease of the math and measuring.

Thank you. May I ask, if Safeguard is so safe, why do I need the dose to be so specific? I understand under dosing would cause resistant parasites and also may not kill the parasites they have, but it seems odd to me that I would need to be so specific down to the ounce. I have 72 chickens (and roosters), so to dose according to their specific weights would be impossible without weighing every single bird. Is there any other product I can use that I can put in the water or the food?

 

[Saraschickens]

I just read in another thread:

And is it possible to overdose safeguard Paste?

Fenbendazole is very safe to give to birds; studies have shown that a dosage up to 100 times the recommended dosage may have no side effects. However, ivermectin can be toxic to birds if the recommended dosage is exceeded. (Unlike with mammals where high dosages of Ivermectin have no side effects). So Ivermectin is the med you want to be careful with when medicating birds.

With that being said, can I weigh several birds and get a rough idea, and then dose a little high?
Also, is paste a better route? How do you apply paste?
And I'm still wondering about my other question of, if there might be a deworming product I can use in the food or water, when working with so many chickens?
Thank you to anyone who can help me.

 

[coach723]

Safeguard Aquasol can be added to the water. It's also very expensive.
There is a product containing Levamisole that can be added to water. I've never used it.
Just know that when adding to water you have no idea if they actually take in the correct amount, vs oral dosing when you do.
You can also do a Safeguard mash, where you mix the safeguard in feed, again, you have no idea if they actually take in enough individually to make sure they get the correct dose. And there is math involved to figure out dosing.
Instructions for doing that are here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/safeguard-mash-zero-day-egg-withdrawal.1254653/
The levamisole can be found here:
https://jedds.com/products/laying-hen-wormout-solution-no-withholding-period-on-eggs-vetafarm
There is another product called Worm Out Gel, containing praziquantel, that can be added to water. One source here:
https://jedds.com/products/wormout-gel-vetafarm
Again I haven't used it.
For that and the levamisole, I don't know if those are going to be economical for dosing that many birds in the water as I've never done it. When dosing in water you tend to have to add more, and they may or may not drink it all.
You can search online for sources of the Aquasol, there are some places that say they sell in smaller quantities, I've no knowledge of them, never bought it. The more mainstream companies have the liter bottle for about $250.00 give or take, depending on which source.
I still think that dosing each orally is your best course and is manageable if you divide them up into groups. Once you weigh a few, it becomes easier to estimate weights. A little too much of the wormer isn't going to hurt them, it's very safe. If you gave a 5 1/2 pound bird the 6 lb dose it won't hurt anything, you will just use up more medication, it won't go as far. I estimate all the time and I haven't killed one yet. It's always best, and most economical, to dose with the correct effective amount. If you dose with the horse paste it's the same, and you draw it up in an oral syringe and give orally. It's not that thick, just thicker than the liquid, giving liquid to a horse is much harder than giving paste to a horse, thus the different form.
Valbazen is another very good wormer (labeled for cattle), the dose is a little smaller so you use less. It is also liquid and given orally. If the medications are not formulated to mix in water then they just settle out and the birds don't get the dose, so unless labeled specifically to mix in the water, you can't.

 

[Saraschickens]

Thank you so much coach723, that was all great explanations! I have so much to work with! I really appreciate all your knowledge and help! You're awesome!

 

[Stephine]

Here‘s what I do - maybe you can scale it up for your birds. I measure the total amount for my birds (I use panacur horse paste, dose for chickens is 10X as high as the dose for horses by weight). I add about 1/3 to be sure the dose is high enough. Then I mix up their daily ration in pellets or mash, plus a bit extra - enough that they will all get what they want and not too much, so they almost finish it. I add a little oatmeal or milk to be sure they love it. I divide it up into bowls, one bowl for each 5 birds, and let them have at it. It has worked fine for me so far, much less stress and hassle. I figure different birds will eat diff amounts roughly according to their body weight.