deworming chickens????????????????

[gritsar]

Quote:
The suggested egg withdrawel time for Valbazen is much the same as most other poultry wormers, two weeks. Valbazen is a wormer that is frequently prescribed for humans with worms, but better safe than sorry.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The only actual studies I’ve been able to find from people without an agenda on pumpkin seeds affecting worms were on goats, not chickens. They had trouble getting the goats to actually eat the pumpkin seeds to start with, but once they worked that out they clearly found the effect of pumpkin seeds on worms is not much. Sometimes the worm count would go up, sometimes the worm count would go down. Sometimes the goats gained weight a little faster on pumpkin seeds, sometime snot. The researchers said it could have easily been something besides pumpkin seeds that could have caused that small difference in weight gain. If anyone can come up with a real study on this in chickens, I’d love to get a link to that study.

They’ve isolated a chemical in pumpkin seeds that will paralyze worms in the laboratory in high enough dosages. But different pumpkin, squash, and cucumber seeds have differing amounts of that chemical. How many seeds would the chicken have to eat at one time to have an effect? I don’t have a clue.

I have not seen any real studies on any of that other stuff. Again, if anyone has any on them, I’d love to see a link. I believe bleach in a small dosage is recommended as a treatment for thrush. I can see where some of that stuff will help sanitize the drinking water. There might be some benefit in that. In low enough dosages it won’t hurt your chickens. Will it help them? Your opinion is as good as mine and since you’re the one that owns your chickens, your opinion to you is more important than mine. Do as you will. Just try to not overmedicate them to the point you harm them.

If someone has any real studies made by people that really are trying to get an answer instead of reinforcing a set agenda, please let me know. I’d love to see them.

 

[Dee5385]

Ok....I'm beyond confused here. I've read through this thread and I still don't feel comfortable with deworming. I've seen posting about the following deworming products:

Coumaphos (Meldane)
Piperazine
Phenothiazine
Levamisole
Thiabendazole
Mebendazole
Iveremctive
Wazin
Flubenvet
Ivermectin
fenbendazole

Where do I start with my questions....most of the post say these products aren't meant for chickens so I'd just need to research for dosages. How is there not a deworming product for chickens? I would prefer a deworming product that I can put in their water or food so it's less stressful then me trying to catch them; I'm new this the whole chicken thing. I don't have worms now so I'm doing this more as a precautionary treatment. Also, I'm getting some baby chicks this weekend...is it safe to deworm them using the same product? Which product(s) are best? Where can I find them because when I did an internet search for a few of them I wasn't having much luck. Should I be searching on like 1-800-petmeds?

Also, on a side note...when reading about deworming a lot of people mentioned ACV (apple cide vinegar) to put in their water, it said it has health benefits for the birds. What kind of health benefits? And are there any other products that I can give to my birds to help boost their ammune system? I bought electrolytes from tractor supply...I'm just trying to cover my bases.

Whew....any suggestions would be great.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Of the products you listed I would most lean toward fenbendazole, commonly sold as Safeguard. I use the liquid Safeguard for goats as it's easy to measure and administer. Ivermectin's I wouldn't waste time on as they have become quite ineffective as a poultry dewormer. Wazine will only get rid of roundworms and chickens can get many other worms. I guess my point is that if you are going to deworm, use something effective that will do the job. Another very good one is Valbazen (albendazole) Valbazen will get rid of anything a chicken can pick up. I use that in rotation with the Safeguard.

The downside to using dewormer's in their water is that dosing is hit and miss. BIrd's may drink more or less depending on the weather and other factors. But for people who have very large flocks it may be the only way to get the job done. It's really not that stressful to dose each bird. No, they don't like it but it's over in a second. We get them off the roost in the evening. I have my syringes all loaded and we are in and out of the coops very fast.

And no, most dewormer's are not labeled for chickens. If we want to control worms effectively we must use other products "off label". And no, you will not find anything on 1-800-Petmeds. Do some research here and buy from your local feed store or on-line. I get my Valbazen from Amazon. But check with your local feed stores or Tractor Supply.

Chicks do not need to be dewormed. They haven't been around long enough to develop a worm load. I deworm my birds for the first time at 6 months old and deworm twice a year. Your climate will dictate how often you should deworm. A warm/wet climate = more worms, hotter/dryer = less.

Lots of people like to use ACV. I used to, I don't bother with it anymore. If you have plastic water containers it does help with the algae. It won't deworm your birds. I really don't like to go overboard adding much of anything to my birds water other then vitamins occasionally. When we have a heat wave I'll add some electrolytes, otherwise they just get fresh, clean water every day.

 

[Dee5385]

I've NEVER used safeguard...is it a liquid? Do I feed it to the chickens or put it on their skin?

 

[cafarmgirl]

I've NEVER used safeguard...is it a liquid? Do I feed it to the chickens or put it on their skin?

It is available as a paste for horses and in liquid for goats, I use the 10% liquid for goats. Dose is 1/2 ml for standard size birds, 1/4 ml for bantams. Use a little 1 ml syringe with no needle and give it to them orally. Just take your time and go slowly, allowing them to swallow a little at a time. Whatever you use repeat the dose in 10 days.

 

[Bukbuk Betty]

Blergh! Way too many differing opinions on here and elsewhere on the net about this! One vet approves one thing and another disputes it. How am I supposed to make an educated decision about something that seem like it should be black-and-white? Chickens get worms, X kills the worms, don't eat eggs for Y days, the end.
I've never wormed my birds, but have several with consistently poopy bums and not really any other symptoms. Thought worming might be a thing to try. ACV in their water made no difference. Winter setting in means birds are indoors more now, so pecking around in shavings more now that there's no nice outdoor ground.
Was looking at using our sheep drench Ivomec but the jury seems to be out on that too.
Going to see what the local farm supply carries and go from there.... Sigh...

 

[RichnSteph]

Blergh! Way too many differing opinions on here and elsewhere on the net about this! One vet approves one thing and another disputes it. How am I supposed to make an educated decision about something that seem like it should be black-and-white? Chickens get worms, X kills the worms, don't eat eggs for Y days, the end.
I've never wormed my birds, but have several with consistently poopy bums and not really any other symptoms. Thought worming might be a thing to try. ACV in their water made no difference. Winter setting in means birds are indoors more now, so pecking around in shavings more now that there's no nice outdoor ground.
Was looking at using our sheep drench Ivomec but the jury seems to be out on that too.
Going to see what the local farm supply carries and go from there.... Sigh...

We did our second round of deworming last night with Safeguard 10% liquid for goats.

snip from cafarmgirl above [Dose is 1/2 ml for standard size birds, 1/4 ml for bantams. Use a little 1 ml syringe with no needle and give it to them orally. Just take your time and go slowly, allowing them to swallow a little at a time. Whatever you use repeat the dose in 10 days.]

RichnSteph

 

[Bukbuk Betty]

I left the sheep drench alone, as it seemed too many opinions about it online for poultry use. I picked up a packet of piperazine (15$) which is used for poultry, swine, horses. Anyhow I mixed it into their water for the day. Will see how they do! Seemed like something I should start doing as they free-range all summer. Cheers!

 

[henmama6plus]

ok after reading almost all of these differing opinions I never saw anybody mention Durvet Strike 111 which is a Type B medicated Feed poultry dewormer. Has anybody used this and if so what did you think of it. I was wanting to treat my 3 hens and 2 roos as a preventive measure as I am not sure they do or do not have any problems. Anybody know about this stuff and how much i use it. It says to mix the 1 lb bad to a 50 lb bag of feed. But that would mean they would have this until the bag was used up???? Im confused on this issue. Not much on the way of instructions on the bag and this was the only type of dewormer TS had on its shelf. Help Please.