Can you de-worm 3 week old chicks?

[greateggspectations]

So earlier I posted about finding some reddish stuff in my chick's poop. I also posted it in a local chicken FB group and they said the same thing- intestinal lining shedding.

But someone also piped up and said I should be more worried about the "foamy" poop next to it, and said I should use safeguard. ( I'll repost the pic)

These chicks are 3 weeks old, with only access to chick feed and water inside a house. How could they get worms?

Also, can you even use a de-wormer on 3-week-old chicks? One site I found said you can't use de-wormer until they are six weeks old since it's so powerful.

Man I am a hot mess over these chicks.

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

Following because I am not sure. But it's a good question

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

So I'm not an expert but I believe they would have to be exposed to other birds' poop to get worms. Have they been outside yet? Another possibility is coccidiosis but, again, they would have to have been exposed to it. Exposure to soil could do it. Giving them corid to treat for that won't hurt but wait for some more ideas to be sure. Its handy to have on hand just in case.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Just reread that and saw they haven't been exposed to anything so I would keep an eye on it. If it's just this one instance I wouldn't worry about it because it is most likely just intestinal shedding

 

[dawg53]

Your chicks dont have worms, they havnt been on soil. That is shed intestinal lining, normal on occasion. If it occurs again, get your chicks started on Corid 9.6% liquid solution. Dosage is 9.5ml per gallon of water for 5 days. You can cut the dosage and water in half if you wish.
Make it fresh daily and dont give your chicks anything containing thiamine while using the Corid.

 

[maryn7]

I'd check to see if they're a little too warm in the brooder. My utility room, where my chicks are, has a vent in it and occasionally gets a little warm for them, and they up the water intake and I get a couple poops on the watery side.

They could also be a little stressed; I had a failure to thrive chick that was yelling all day long, and it seems to have stressed out the other little ones and I had some watery squishy poops.

Totally agree with dawg53 and blindlemon, if you see more red, that's not good. But I'd check their temp and cheerfulness before starting them on medicine.

I totally get feeling like a hot mess with little ones. They're tiny and you want to do everything you can. But you'd be really unlucky if they had something major at this stage; it's most likely something normal. You're doing great.