Chickens not eating lay mash

[miwin1000]

btw: it's only 1 hen that's having egg problems. not all of them.

 

[junebuggena]

DE won't prevent parasitic worms. The eggs are microscopic and are too small to be affected by DE. And chickens can pick them up multiple ways. When you keep animals that regularly ingest soil, worms are just something that you will eventually have to deal with. Thankfully, it's fairly easy to treat, especially if you catch the problem early on. Most feed stores carry dewormers.

 

[miwin1000]

I have 6 chickens: 1 rooster, 5 hens. All RIR. They all have this swollen red butt problem and there are 3 that have worms on the outside of the skin. I am thinking they are the small round worms, but could be some other type. I am administering Ivermectin, amount: the size of a Pea. I was told to use this much by a well versed chicken person at a local grain store. (won't mention names...don't want to get anyone in trouble.) I also am administering Duramyacin 10 to heal any infection. The birds experienced egg drop, as well as not eating much, and waddling like a duck with legs pushed far apart. I gave them all flea bath to remove any mites/worms from the outside. One post here says it's not painful...I beg to differ...Mr. Rooster behaved as if the water stung when I put him in...(water was barely luke warm). So I think it is painful. They just don't show it like humans or other animals do.

 

[enola]

Ivermectin will not work chickens. Chicken worms have developed an immunity to Ivermectin.

Worms crawling around on the outside of your chicken are more than likely maggots(fly larva). Is there a wound on your chicken?

 

[enola]

And by the way, DE is also ineffective in treating worms in any animal.

Concerning your chickens not eating mash, perhaps you could try fresh mash in the feeder. If you have fastened them in the coop and they have been in there for several hours and are still not eating the mash, there may be something wrong with the mash.

 

[miwin1000]

No, no open wounds on them. It seems that after I gave them the baths, they are doing better. Not completely well yet, but better than before the baths.

 

[miwin1000]

They have fresh mash in a new feeder off the ground. Nope...that's not the problem. I just bought this mash the other day....I keep it in a barrel, covered, under a covered roof. Nope, not bad mash.

 

[miwin1000]

Here's my plan: I have already built them a new coop with 10 bay roll away egg station. All I need is a door to keep them in it which I will build today. The chickens will be moved into the new coop tonight. They will get their new organic lay mash and a little scratch, and their medicated water. If this doesn't improve things, I will have to move on to other ideas, medications, or herbal remedies. Their old coop will be treated to get rid of any further problems and left to rest for a time. The yard will be powdered down completely with DE and all remaining food stuffs cleaned up. They have had free range over my entire yard so it will be difficult to sanitize the entire place. The entire place will be allowed to rest for a period of time, and the chickens kept in their new coop until I see signs of improvement. All further comments and suggestions are welcome and will be considered. Thank you for all you have offered. My chickens mean the world to me, and I sure want them to stay healthy.

 

[pdirt]

I'm not into wormers, but yours does sound like a clear case of it. I can't recall the correct wormer, but I have read multiple times that Ivermectin is not the one to use. Search the chicken and illnesses forum and you should find the correct one easily.

Since they are sick, I also wouldn't add any new stress to them. Moving them to a new coop will be stressful, no matter how nice of a coop it is. You might consider waiting until they are healed up if you haven't moved them already.

As for mites, we doused each chicken's rear end (making sure to get down to the skin) with ashes from our wood stove. One treatment worked like a charm.

 

[miwin1000]

I got some Wazine and gave that to them. So, I'm hoping that will make them better, and so far, 3 girls are laying again, all good eggs, solid shells, etc. Since they are being medicated right now, I cook and feed their eggs back to them. I think this is really helping, since they really don't want much else to eat. I think with the heat wave going thru, nobody wants to do anything. it's just too dang hot and I can't blame them. I've been trying to give them cool foods, plenty of fresh cool water, wetting down the ground in the yard, etc. There's really not much else I can do. I'm concerned that two of the girls still have not started laying again, but I'll give it more time before I take any more measure. Haven't moved them into the new coop yet, I still have to finish the door, and put up some wind breaks on the upper walls. there's still plenty of work to do on the coop so I'm really not in a big hurry to move them, except for the mite factor. All in all, I think there is improvement, their feathers look good again, they don't look all swollen and inflamed, and seem to be feeling better. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.