Chronic Deworming

[BirdGuy2018]

Hello - Have 3 scrawny chickens, a Guinea, and 2 geese. The geese keep fouling the water within minutes of fresh water put in. Believe the chickens are full of worms.

Have been working to keep water as clean as possible. Got a big bucket on a raised brick surface that is harder for them to carry dirt into. Got chicken nipple system set up plus a galvanized waterer.

Thinking will still need to worm on a monthly basis. No idea what kind of worms are involved.

Wondering in general what is best wormer to use for round worms and if tapeworms are ever an issue for chickens?? Dogs only get them from eating rodents and rabbits so maybe not a problem? How about hookworms?

So the feed plafe gave me some stuff that goes in their water. Then I see other posts talking about off-label use of ivermectin. It goes on their skin instead of in mouth, is that right? I don't eat their eggs but the dogs do, so would he great if something that does not make eggs need tossed.

Thanks in advance.

 

[chickenmeadow]

These are common concerns that I once had & hear others say as they begin their journey in the chicken raising world.

All I can offer in advice is to say that my chickens love to foul their water; they run thru it (especially to cool themselves in summer when it hot), they put things in the water, & stuff just gets into the water. I use a broom to swish/scrub clean each of the three large, 4" shallow, black plastic outside water containers, rinse & refill with fresh water every other day. It is freezing here now off & on, so they also have a water dispenser inside the coop for daily fresh water. Clean water helps with egg laying of course. Your Chicken nipple system sounds great! Chickens can be messy, but your other birds probably just love making mud & mess.

For scruffy feathered or thin chickens, I do two things right away: delouse mites with an open tray outside undercover to keep dry (large kitty litter plastic box bottom or the like) of wood ash, a little sand & a little DE for their dust bath (at their free will) year-round; also I deworm with a little DE (food grade diatomaceous earth from the feed store, first saw some videos on YouTube about worming chickens with DE) on their pellets for a few days, about 2 to 3 x's a year or when needed with signs of wormy droppings, constantly messy eggs showing digestive problems, etc. But I don't worm with chemical poisons, it's too hard on them & toxic to us egg eaters; but can see why it is cost effective in commercial settings.

Keep asking the good questions, they BYC'ers are very helpful here. Take a look at the Forums, Articles & Reviews tabs above, just click on them to find standard info. There may be many different opinions & agendas, but it all boils down to happily raising chickens & other poultry for their betterment & ours. Best wishes.

 

[rebrascora]

Unfortunately DE as a wormer is a myth that just won't die!

If you are concerned that your birds have worms then get a faecal float test done either by a vet or send a sample off mail order to have it done. Here in the UK it costs about £10 and you can then either save money by not needing to buy a wormer or chose a chemical which will target the species of worm your flock has. Layer hens are supposed to be lean though so it may just be your perception that is awry.
Obviously you are taking steps to tackle the clean water issue and that is good. You could just place the water container under a low shelf so that there is room to put their head under to drink but not poop or stand in it.

 

[BirdGuy2018]

These are common concerns that I once had & hear others say as they begin their journey in the chicken raising world.

All I can offer in advice is to say that my chickens love to foul their water; they run thru it (especially to cool themselves in summer when it hot), they put things in the water, & stuff just gets into the water. I use a broom to swish/scrub clean each of the three large, 4" shallow, black plastic outside water containers, rinse & refill with fresh water every other day. It is freezing here now off & on, so they also have a water dispenser inside the coop for daily fresh water. Clean water helps with egg laying of course. Your Chicken nipple system sounds great! Chickens can be messy, but your other birds probably just love making mud & mess.

For scruffy feathered or thin chickens, I do two things right away: delouse mites with an open tray outside undercover to keep dry (large kitty litter plastic box bottom or the like) of wood ash, a little sand & a little DE for their dust bath (at their free will) year-round; also I deworm with a little DE (food grade diatomaceous earth from the feed store, first saw some videos on YouTube about worming chickens with DE) on their pellets for a few days, about 2 to 3 x's a year or when needed with signs of wormy droppings, constantly messy eggs showing digestive problems, etc. But I don't worm with chemical poisons, it's too hard on them & toxic to us egg eaters; but can see why it is cost effective in commercial settings.

Keep asking the good questions, they BYC'ers are very helpful here. Take a look at the Forums, Articles & Reviews tabs above, just click on them to find standard info. There may be many different opinions & agendas, but it all boils down to happily raising chickens & other poultry for their betterment & ours. Best wishes.

Thanks for the info! Yes got some Wazine 17 but see cannot ever eat eggs again?!? See using food grade DE plus mention of yogurt and garlic. Thought would try those instead.

Any hints on how much DE to mix with food? See 2% by weight but looking more for how many cups to put in a 50lb bag sorta thing. Thinking of trying maybe 2 cups?

Also, like the dust bath thing. No idea what to substitute for wood ash--well might have to fire up the fireplace I guess.

Since my geese constantly have the water pure mud, it makes sense they would have some mannet of worms. My dogs regularly get round worms here.

 

[coach723]

You are going to find lots of conflicting opinions on 'natural dewormers'. I am only speaking from my experience, but they are not effective to actually treat a worm load. They are fine as preventatives, how effective they are is open to debate. Every environment is different and has a different parasite load. A bird kept in a low load environment may have little to no problem. A bird in a high load environment will have more. I tried the 'natural' remedies and had really sick birds because it did not work. I now worm regularly with chemical wormers. It's important that you verify that you actually have a parasite issue and that you identify which one, not all wormers are effective on all types of worms. DE is often touted for deworming and it's really a myth. DE works when it's dry on the exoskeleton of insects, it is not effective when wet, as in the digestive tract of a bird. A fecal float test is simple and inexpensive and is the first step, either find a vet that will do it or use the mail in option. You may or may not need to treat, and if you do it could be once a year, twice a year, or more depending on the needs of your flock. There is no single right answer. Most wormers used for chickens are used 'off-label' and there are no withdrawl recommendations on the labels, most people say 14 days after dose to not use the eggs. (Safeguard aquasol was approved and the label will be changing to remove the prohibition for laying hens - https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinar...64b7f4&elqaid=2013&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=1367) People have been using them on chickens for a long time. Here is an article with more info on worms and worming: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2015/11/control-treatment-of-worms-in-chickens.html

 

[Lazy Farmer]

The geese keep fouling the water within minutes of fresh water put in. Believe the chickens are full of worms.

I haven't bought a store bought waterers in years. They are over priced poop collector units.
Buckets on the reuse are FREE and stay poo free as well. Cut holes, add water. Done.