Deworming chickens?????????

[bragan]

We have an order of chicks due to arrive in a few weeks. I've been reading on a couple of posts about worming chickens & now I have LOTS of questions!
~How often should you worm them?
~At what age should you start?
~Is there anything that is effective, but safe...........won't affect the eggs?? Most of what I've read talks about having to throw out the eggs for a couple of weeks.
~Do chickens get the same kinds of worms that dogs & cats do & people can get?? We have big indoor dogs (a German Shepherd & a Standard Poodle) & 1 cat, they've never had worms. I am super paranoid about intestinal, or any sort of internal parasite!!!! ICK!!!

Thanks for any info!!

 

[CMV]

Depending on where you live will dictate how often you should worm. Being down south, you will likely need to worm your birds twice a year. Everyone has mixed views on what age to start worming. I didn't worm mine until they were 2 years old, but I live up north where there are fewer worms. Again, based on where you live I might start them on a regimen at 6-9 months old. There are many products out there to use for worming, but you will need to toss your eggs for a withdrawal period after using most wormers. Generally worms are species specific. There are a few that cross species lines, but most stick to one host.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Judy]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=456306

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=203048&p=2

http://healthybirds.umd.edu/Disease/Deworming%20Birds.pdf

http://www.cfo.on.ca/_pdfs/PoultryWithdrawalTimeChart-Mar30-07.pdf

Some material I have bookmarked, so you can decide for yourself.