Deworming question

[lissalischicks]

Long story short I am deworming my girl Pepper.

I was wondering how hard it is on chickens for them to go through deworming. I am deworming with safegaurd. Pepper was doing better but just a few days after starting deworming she looks like she is not doing well. She does not want to walk around a lot and looks weak. I am suppose to do a follow up dose on Saturday but worried about her. Is this normal?

 

[chickenmeadow]

A while back, I read somewhere to just put DE (diatomaceous earth, human grade) on all the chickens pellets or crumbles for a few days. The article said that if the eggs were messy/dirty looking in the nest then most likely the flock needed worming. So, I sprinkle some on the layer feed in my hanging feeders for about 3 days & always notice that the eggs get cleaner. So easy & none of the chickens show any signs of suffering from it.

Thought I'd give you an easy & safer worming alternative to try next time.

Hope your "Pepper" is doing better soon.

 

[lissalischicks]

Oops should clarify I am using safeguard to deworm

 

[WhiteWyan]

Was she like this before you started treatment? Why did you start, just to be safe? Have you ever treated for coccidia? What's her poop like,how old is she? Sorry to hear she is sick.

 

[WhiteWyan]

Also if the instruction say to repeat on Saturday I would.
I've never used safeguard but maybe you should double check your dosage/ administration to be sure you're using it right. Also I've never heard of safegaurd having side effects like that.

 

[lissalischicks]

Long story short she had severe diarrhea, lost a lot of weight and was going through a molt. After weeks still had diarrhea and the thought of worms were brought up. I did not do a float test but the vet was too expensive in my area. They also charge an additional exotic animal fee on top of regular fee so to do a float test would have been too much. I had already taken one before to the vet and the bill was not nice.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Long story short I am deworming my girl Pepper.
I was wondering how hard it is on chickens for them to go through deworming. I am deworming with safegaurd. Pepper was doing better but just a few days after starting deworming she looks like she is not doing well. She does not want to walk around a lot and looks weak. I am suppose to do a follow up dose on Saturday but worried about her. Is this normal?

Long story short she had severe diarrhea, lost a lot of weight and was going through a molt. After weeks still had diarrhea and the thought of worms were brought up. I did not do a float test but the vet was too expensive in my area. They also charge an additional exotic animal fee on top of regular fee so to do a float test would have been too much. I had already taken one before to the vet and the bill was not nice.

Do you have photos of her and the poop?
What dosage of Safeguard are you using?
What are you feeding (type of food/treats)?
How old is she?

It sounds like she had something else going on before you wormed her - diarrhea, weight loss and molting. Worming can be hard on them, but so can molting.

Safeguard is administered at 1/4ml per pound of weight, given 5days in a row - I'm not sure what you mean by your going to do a follow up dosage on Saturday.

Molting is very hard on them and sometimes an underlying illness can present itself during this time. Try to keep her hydrated, offer poultry vitamins and see if she will eat some egg in addition to her normal feed.

I do understand that having testing is not always possible. Vets are expensive and a lot of times not that accommodating when it comes to poultry. Something you may want to look into is if you have a CA State vet lab near you or see if you can send a fecal sample to them - sometimes state labs are much more reasonable. @casportpony is knowledgeable about UC Davis labs and what services they provide, so maybe she can chime in. http://cahfs.ucdavis.edu/

I look forward to photos if you would like to share and hope she gets better.

 

[casportpony]

The lab in San Bernadino will do fecals for a small fee. If it's too far to drive to, call and ask for their FedEx number and overnight their poo.

 

[lissalischicks]

I gave a pea sized and was informed to give another pea size dose in 8 to 9 days. I was just concerned about her. She was not doing well in the beginning. I don't know how to tag my other thread in her with the BYC app.
Her poop has become more normal now (less water and more solid). The labs are a distance away but didn't realize San Bernardino would do fed ex. I will do it next time for sure. So thank you so much for the info. I haven't gone home to see how she is today so crossing my fingers she us doing better.

 

[lazy gardener]

A while back, I read somewhere to just put DE (diatomaceous earth, human grade) on all the chickens pellets or crumbles for a few days. The article said that if the eggs were messy/dirty looking in the nest then most likely the flock needed worming. So, I sprinkle some on the layer feed in my hanging feeders for about 3 days & always notice that the eggs get cleaner. So easy & none of the chickens show any signs of suffering from it.

Thought I'd give you an easy & safer worming alternative to try next time.

Hope your "Pepper" is doing better soon.

DE will do nothing to rid a bird of internal parasites as it only works when it is dry. That article that indicated that poo on eggs was due to worms was an old wive's tale. Eggs get poopy b/c the hen defecates in the nest, she carries poo in on her feet, or her cloaca is subluxed, allowing poo to drop down along with the egg.