chickens have strange looking poo UPDATE - pics!!!

[joyful-homemaker]

after looking at the link, I am not as worried. The poo seems to look like the normal to cecal pics. What should I do now? Should I treat just in case?

joyful homemaker

 

[joyful-homemaker]

I went outside again and noticed one of my hens doing some kind of twisty little head jerk when she was eating. This is the same hen that was gagging a little the other day. Am I just obsessing or might there be something wrong with my birds?
joyful homemaker

 

[dlhunicorn]

cocci tends to be a problem for younger birds (chicks and pullets) ... when was the last time you wormed them?

 

[jmc]

Quote:
I for one am gigantically thankful to you for posting this link. So darn many good links out there, wish I could have em all at me fingertips.


I have little experience, but maybe you don't want to treat something that isn't even there. Maybe you should wait some few more days, since you don't seem to be in a critical situation......JMHO

 

[joyful-homemaker]

I have never wormed them. What is the best thing to use? My dh brought home wazine yesterday, will that work? Isnt there some way to worm naturally, Someone suggested cayenne pepper. Does it work? how do I feed it? Someone else suggested apple cider vinegar.

joyful homemaker

 

[dlhunicorn]

well the proper thing to do of course is to first take an ample sample (fresh) in to have it examined ... however if it were me (and seeing as you say you have never wormed) I would worm them immediately... with Ivomec Eprinex (do a search on that ...gobs of posts ) Wazine will only get roundworms and Ivomec Eprinex is broad spectrum , very effective and less hard on the birds system... use the "spot on" method (put on skin at base of neck)

There are no natural methods that is going to effectively treat an active case of worms.

 

[jmc]

If you have an infestation already, you would probably need a 'real' wormer, like Wazine or Ivermectin. But these are not labelled for laying hens, so you'd have to toss eggs for ???? Ivermectin is also toxic to chickens in even small misdoses, authors have observed, so must be real careful. Yet Ivermectin is the most broad spectrum wormer that I know of, others are more specific.

Never heard of ACV as a wormer, maybe could help prevent, but..... DE (diotomaceous earth) is supposedly a good natural worm preventer, but again--'preventer'. I should add about DE that G. Damerow, a respected chicken author, makes this good arg. against DE as a worm preventer at all: she says that DE once it becomes wet, loses its natural 'cutting edge'. Now, DE becomes wet in the bird's digestive system. Therefore, since wettened DE loses its cutting edge in the chicken, it is therefore useless as a worm preventer.

That's what she says....

If I had read that a month ago, I probably wouldn't have purchased WormGuard Plus from Murray McMurray, which is mostly DE....!

Some do worm annually. I'm still trying to develop my system on this. I don't relish the idea of tossing the eggs, and possibly harming the bird. Again, Gail Damerow in her "chicken health handbook" states that wormers should be used with much caution, and only when the bird shows clear signs of more-than-acceptable worm infestation; cuz chickens will tend to have a tolerable level of internal parasites anyway, once they get out n about........

Good luck and try not to get too stressed out

 

[joyful-homemaker]

The birds are looking good tonite.

I am supplimenting the big birds laying mash with meat maker to fatten them back up. I am going to try some pumpkin seeds and cayanne pepper for worms.

joyful homemaker

 

[bkbuz1987]

Quote:
This has to be the best help for me by far. I NOW know for sure that my chickens have worms because of the last photo. Thanks you for the link!