de-worming chickens??

[Barn Maid Ann]

Quote:
Commercial chickens on the other hand are very rarely raised on the land. They're kept in cages and/or on specially prepared floors in a broiler house. They aren't exposed to worms in those situations so there's no incentive for the big money flock raisers to invest in the development of medications for them.
My neighbor has been raising commercial chickens for 40 years and never once have they been wormed. Of course, her chickens have never even seen a blade of grass, let alone stood on one.

Can chickens develop their own immunity to worms? Like dogs often do.
My girls have had the occasionaly bout of loose stool (well only two of the three originals), but they seem to be fine and dandy, otherwise. I'm sure worms are more of a problem in certain areas of the country, with no winter freeze and such.

I checked out the RoosterBooster wormer and it kills three types of worms. It was reasonably priced, too.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
It's my understanding that most animals raised on the land can and will carry a small load of worms without any trouble. It's only when there is a large population of worms in the animal that it becomes a problem.
Different parts of the country probably have more choices of medications and preventatives available for chickens than we have here. Arkansas is a top producer of meat poultry. You can't have backyard chickens if you are a grower for a Tyson, Pilgrim's Pride or the like. If you are a grower, you get all your medications and supplies directly from the company. Us backyard keepers are out of luck. I have seen something similiar to Rooster Booster available here, but it's only a vitamin & mineral supplement, it doesn't treat worms. Count yourself lucky!
And btw, occasional loose stools are nothing to worry about. They're called cecal stools and all chickens have them.
Here's a great link that shows what to look for in chicken stools:
http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=17568

 

[bucky52]

Ivermectine on amazon.around 20.00 .

 

[kilby]

not with ivermectin.

 

[kilby]

I am getting about 10 eggs a day. If I worm, don't I have to throw away eggs for weeks?

not with ivermectin.

 

[kilby]

I decided to start a regular worming program for my own peace of mind. I've never seen signs of any worms except a few of the girls were thinner than I felt they should be.
After looking at all the options I chose to use valbazen. It treats liver flukes, tapeworms, stomach worms, intestinal worms, and lungworms. Worth every bit of the $35 I paid for it just to cover all the bases. Huge bottle and it's good until 2011.
I didn't see much point in using Wazine, since it only treats roundworms and that's just one type of worm chickens can have.
There's no listed withdrawel time for eggs, simply because it's not a chicken wormer. The experts told me two weeks and that's what I'm going with.
I didn't find it hard to use at all. My SO grabbed them and held them, I opened the beaks and squirted it in. Wattles sure come in handy for something.

Hi did the valbazen make those skinny chickens more normal?

 

[kilby]

I do us the Wazine. Use it first and do it twice in about a 2 week period. Then I check the poop of the chickens and wathc for lethargic chickens. I do have some injectable ivermectin and will use this if the guy warrant it. It put a drop in each chickens mouth. You are suppos to use 1cc per 100 pounds. So i am guessing a drop will do me. I band all the ones I have use ivermectin one, so it is a process.

You can loose your entire flock to worms. Check their poop and check it often. For a chicken, this is preventative medicine you can afford.

I wouldn't do that if I were you.
Ivermectin works by damaging the neural system of the parasites and more than one drop is easy mistake when using a syringe.

I only have 5 hens and would just take them individually and add it to a piece of food they like, like ground meat. Then put the done ones in a room until I know each has had their drop. How can you give just one drop in the mouth. Your chickens will lose balance and have neurological ticks. It is toxic at two drops.

 

[RaeRae2]

I have dewormed with Wazine 2x in the last year. It just so happened that about 10 days after the first time I ever used it, I had my old EE hen at the vet for a wellness exam (yes - she's 7 years old and she's a dear pet). Anyway, he did a fecal egg count of the chicken manure that was in her travel cage and said she had almost NO eggs in the poop at all, which he almost never sees. He asked if I dewormed, and I said, well yes I did, actually! LOL