De-worming program

[chickenwhisper2]

What age should a chicken be when a de-worming program is started? With the older chickens I usually begin the first treatment with Wazine and thirty days later...follow uo with Valbazen. Is this advisable for young chickens as well? My younger flock is about 14 weeks and another flock around 20 weeks of age.
As always...Thanks for all your informative information. You guys/gals are great!!

 

[Judy]

Dawg53 says you can worm around 5-6 months but he usually waits til 8-10 months. With Valbazen, because it works slowly, you don't have to treat with Wazine first. Here are a couple of reference threads:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/profile.php?id=19157

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=538241&p=3

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
I recommend that you just use the valbazen and skip the wazine. Also, you should worm 10 days after the first dosing, not 30 days later. You can start worming your 20 weeks old if you wish. If you have reason to believe that your 14 week old flock has worms, go ahead and worm them as well, 1/4cc orally.

 

[simplynewt]

Good to know. I had no idea I would have to deworm my hens. Is this somethiong that comes in feed form or how is it delivered?

 

[branston]

I hatched my chicks back in April and haven't wormed them, do I really need to? I haven't seen any evidence of worms, although, not sure I would know what to look for anyway but I clean my coop every day and poop all looks normal

 

[saladin]

Quote:
Some of us use wormers some do not; it's really a personal choice based upon conditions. I use wormers because my birds free-range (when young) and all my birds are on the ground. If your birds are raised on wire then there is no sense in de-worming.

Personally, I prefer Ivermectin.

 

[chickenwhisper2]

Thanks to everyone for the replies to my post...concerning when to begin a worming program for our new flocks. You guys are great!

 

[elmo]

I bring stool samples periodically to our vet to check for worms. So far, all clear, so I haven't wormed the flock. Our vet said that it was not unusual for a small backyard flock not to develop worms, even when they're allowed out to free range and even down here in Texas. There just isn't the concentration of manure around to make it inevitable.

I continue to monitor it, though. If you have a microscope already, it isn't that expensive to buy the kit to do the fecal checks yourself. That's something I may look into when I've got more time on my hands than I do now.