Deworming

[Agapehomestead]

I’m so sorry, I know this has been asked but I’m confused. If I buy this goat dewormer..
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/s...210107&click_id=4223409635&clickId=4223409635

And I have 10 chickens, what would be their dose? I wet their food so I could add it to their food or their waterer.

 

[DobieLover]

I’m so sorry, I know this has been asked but I’m confused. If I buy this goat dewormer..
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/search/safe guard for goats?utm_source=pepperjam&utm_medium=affiliate&cid=pepperjam-affiliate-210107&affiliate_id=210107&click_id=4223409635&clickId=4223409635

And I have 10 chickens, what would be their dose? I wet their food so I could add it to their food or their waterer.

You need to dose them individually.
This wormer is not water soluble.
It is not difficult. I individually worm my flock of 23.
You need to weigh each bird so you know how much to give them.
The dose is 0.23 ml/lb.
I have found the easiest way to do this is just after roost time when it is still a little light out. Remove the bird you want to dose, weigh her, then measure out the dose and squirt it into a little piece of bread. You may need a few little pieces of bread. Stale bread works well because it absorbs more.
If your birds have never eaten bread before, I would go out now and keep offering them tiny pieces of bread so they will readily accept it when it is dosed with the dewormer. Otherwise they will just stare at it because it's not a treat to them.
When the first bird is done, put her back on the roost and grab the next one. Don't try to dose on the roost because they WILL fight to steal the dosed bread from each other and you run the risk of double dosing a bird.
You can save some time on the night of the dosing by pre-weighing the birds and recording it next to their names so all you have to do during treatment is give them the meds.
You can either repeat this dosing for 5 consecutive nights and they'll be done or repeat the one time treatment in 7-10 days to get the worms that hatch from eggs left in the GI tract.
I like to follow up a deworming with a few days of extra probiotics to help heal the gut. I put Kefir or Greek yogurt in their morning fermented mash.

 

[Agapehomestead]

You need to dose them individually.
This wormer is not water soluble.
It is not difficult. I individually worm my flock of 23.
You need to weigh each bird so you know how much to give them.
The dose is 0.23 ml/lb.
I have found the easiest way to do this is just after roost time when it is still a little light out. Remove the bird you want to dose, weigh her, then measure out the dose and squirt it into a little piece of bread. You may need a few little pieces of bread. Stale bread works well because it absorbs more.
If your birds have never eaten bread before, I would go out now and keep offering them tiny pieces of bread so they will readily accept it when it is dosed with the dewormer. Otherwise they will just stare at it because it's not a treat to them.
When the first bird is done, put her back on the roost and grab the next one. Don't try to dose on the roost because they WILL fight to steal the dosed bread from each other and you run the risk of double dosing a bird.
You can save some time on the night of the dosing by pre-weighing the birds and recording it next to their names so all you have to do during treatment is give them the meds.
You can either repeat this dosing for 5 consecutive nights and they'll be done or repeat the one time treatment in 7-10 days to get the worms that hatch from eggs left in the GI tract.
I like to follow up a deworming with a few days of extra probiotics to help heal the gut. I put Kefir or Greek yogurt in their morning fermented mash.

Thank you. This is helpful. These birds are very flighty and not handled much at all. Is there a good option for deworming in their food or water? I’m I do have injectable ivermectin.

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Thank you. This is helpful. These birds are very flighty and not handled much at all. Is there a good option for deworming in their food or water? I’m I do have injectable ivermectin.

Ivermectin is NOT a good general dewormer--it usually doesn't even get rid of roundworms.

I recommend the safeguard paste (if no chickens are molting) or valbazen. Either can be mixed into a little bit of food (bread or mash) that your chickens will hopefully eat up. You will still need to separate and feed each one individually to be sure they get the right dose, but it's easier than forcing it down their throats.

 

[dawg53]

Ivermectin injectable is ineffective treating worms in poultry.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1439-0450.1989.tb00635.x
Putting wormers in water or food is not an effective way to worm birds. You dont know if they ate or drank enough to be effective nor if they drank or ate it at all. Sick wormy birds wont drink nor eat. Birds drink less in cool or cold temps.

It's best to worm each bird orally. Here's a link for you to read that should help you: See post #4:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/worming-questions.1515680/#post-25504826

 

[Agapehomestead]

Ivermectin is NOT a good general dewormer--it usually doesn't even get rid of roundworms.

I recommend the safeguard paste (if no chickens are molting) or valbazen. Either can be mixed into a little bit of food (bread or mash) that your chickens will hopefully eat up. You will still need to separate and feed each one individually to be sure they get the right dose, but it's easier than forcing it down their throats.

View attachment 3354694View attachment 3354695

Thank you. Is there a difference between the paste and this? I have to get some and will make up a mash like you suggested. Pretty sure I’m dealing with round worms and thankfully none of these are molting.

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Thank you. Is there a difference between the paste and this? I have to get some and will make up a mash like you suggested. Pretty sure I’m dealing with round worms and thankfully none of these are molting.

That one is fine too. I'd mix individual doses into individual meals because I'm a little uptight about making sure everyone gets the right amount, but people with large flocks do calculate the amount for their whole flock, mix it into a mash, and not give them any other food until it's been eaten, but with that method someone is bound to get too much and someone else too little...

The other consideration with safeguard is whether to treat once and repeat in 10-14 days or treat for 3-5 days straight and then repeat in 10 days. From what I've read if its just roundworms you're concerned about the first plan should be fine, but other worms require the second method. The website PoultryDVM only lists the second method, but I'm not sure who runs that site or where they get their info from... http://www.poultrydvm.com/drugs/fenbendazole

 

[dawg53]

That one is fine too. I'd mix individual doses into individual meals because I'm a little uptight about making sure everyone gets the right amount, but people with large flocks do calculate the amount for their whole flock, mix it into a mash, and not give them any other food until it's been eaten, but with that method someone is bound to get too much and someone else too little...

The other consideration with safeguard is whether to treat once and repeat in 10-14 days or treat for 3-5 days straight and then repeat in 10 days. From what I've read if its just roundworms you're concerned about the first plan should be fine, but other worms require the second method. The website PoultryDVM only lists the second method, but I'm not sure who runs that site or where they get their info from... http://www.poultrydvm.com/drugs/fenbendazole

I wouldnt go by what poultrydvm says. They arnt a veterinarian at all. For example; it says fenbendazole may not be effective against capillary worms. That is misinformation. Fenbendazole treats capillary worms as well as other types of roundworms.

 

[NightingaleJen]

That one is fine too. I'd mix individual doses into individual meals because I'm a little uptight about making sure everyone gets the right amount, but people with large flocks do calculate the amount for their whole flock, mix it into a mash, and not give them any other food until it's been eaten, but with that method someone is bound to get too much and someone else too little...

The other consideration with safeguard is whether to treat once and repeat in 10-14 days or treat for 3-5 days straight and then repeat in 10 days. From what I've read if its just roundworms you're concerned about the first plan should be fine, but other worms require the second method. The website PoultryDVM only lists the second method, but I'm not sure who runs that site or where they get their info from... http://www.poultrydvm.com/drugs/fenbendazole

I know this is an older thread, but does this work? Quite a few of my birds have no wattles at all, or teeny tiny ones, and dosing even the sweetest ones is a trial. They do love mash, though! (We tried bread once, and the girls didn't even know what it was.)