Deworming

[MillyG]

I everyone! I'm new to the forum. I just discovered roundworms in droppings. I have 22 hens so I went for a dewormer I could put in their water. I feel like this is a silly questions, but with that many chickens and the heat the way it is, I'm concerned with how to distribute this in their water. Should I add it in the correct portions to all of their water sources and just put less water to make sure they consume it all?? I can't really change out their water until I guess it's all been consumed. Ugh. I'm probably making this more complicated. The directions say to add it to the water for 3 day. It's so hot in Texas right now that I change out their water several times a day and this is where I'm contemplating how to handle the distribution. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear! Thank you in advance.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Welcome to BYC!

What kind of wormer did you get? Is it Aquasol? My understanding is that wormers available in stores (that aren't hundreds of $$) are not water soluble. Do you have a picture of it?

SafeGuard and Valbazen both need to be given to each bird individually (it's based on weight of the bird, so trying to get the correct dose to the correct bird would be nearly impossible in a waterer - also, both of those wormers settle out of water, so again, not a good route for dosing).

@dawg53 can you advise?

 

[dawg53]

I everyone! I'm new to the forum. I just discovered roundworms in droppings. I have 22 hens so I went for a dewormer I could put in their water. I feel like this is a silly questions, but with that many chickens and the heat the way it is, I'm concerned with how to distribute this in their water. Should I add it in the correct portions to all of their water sources and just put less water to make sure they consume it all?? I can't really change out their water until I guess it's all been consumed. Ugh. I'm probably making this more complicated. The directions say to add it to the water for 3 day. It's so hot in Texas right now that I change out their water several times a day and this is where I'm contemplating how to handle the distribution. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear! Thank you in advance.

Please read Posts #2 and #4 in this link on how to worm chickens:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/worms-in-chicken-poop.1575508/#post-26765905

 

[MillyG]

Welcome to BYC!

What kind of wormer did you get? Is it Aquasol? My understanding is that wormers available in stores (that aren't hundreds of $$) are not water soluble. Do you have a picture of it?

SafeGuard and Valbazen both need to be given to each bird individually (it's based on weight of the bird, so trying to get the correct dose to the correct bird would be nearly impossible in a waterer - also, both of those wormers settle out of water, so again, not a good route for dosing).

@dawg53 can you advise?

I bought SafeGuard for goats, but after reading further and seeing your comment, even though many people use it as a water soluble (even a vet I just reached out to), apparently the SafeGaurd for goats can settle in the water. i think I'm going to just suck it up and buy the Aquasol for Chickens. Thank you for the response, and I believe your advice is accurate. I'm sure many people go ahead and just add the safeguard for goats to the general water source, but I don't feel good about that!

 

[Ruski]

I actually just purchased the Aquasol, and was doing research on the dosage. I came up with 0.079ml when calculating for approximately 35LBs in my total flock. Do I just add this to 1 gal of water, once per day changing the water daily for 5 day? Or Is this the dosage per bird orally? Looking for the amount to be added to the water feeder.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I actually just purchased the Aquasol, and was doing research on the dosage. I came up with 0.079ml when calculating for approximately 35LBs in my total flock. Do I just add this to 1 gal of water, once per day changing the water daily for 5 day? Or Is this the dosage per bird orally? Looking for the amount to be added to the water feeder.

Welcome To BYC

Safeguard Aquasol is formulated to be mixed with water. Instructions for dosing and usage should be on the label of the bottle and can also be found at the manufacturer's website.

https://www.merck-animal-health-usa.com/species/poultry/products/safe-guard-aquasol

 

[Ruski]

Welcome To BYC

Safeguard Aquasol is formulated to be mixed with water. Instructions for dosing and usage should be on the label of the bottle and can also be found at the manufacturer's website.

https://www.merck-animal-health-usa.com/species/poultry/products/safe-guard-aquasol

I have read this several times, as well as several post by dawg53 and casportpony, and I guess I'm still a bit confused. I'm reading the merck data as a 1:1 dilution. So if I need .079ml, then I dilute it with .079ml of water? That just doesn't seem right.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have read this several times, as well as several post by dawg53 and casportpony, and I guess I'm still a bit confused. I'm reading the merck data as a 1:1 dilution. So if I need .079ml, then I dilute it with .079ml of water? That just doesn't seem right.

You have Safeguard Aquasol.
If you've figure the dosing for Aquasol at 1mg/kg and came up with 0.079ml of Aquasol as your dosage for the flock, that would go into 1gallon of drinking water. Do this every day for 5 days.
(((Total estimated body weight [kg] of the chickens to be treated x 0.005 mL = mL Safe-Guard® AquaSol/day)))

Very likely the posts you are reading from Dawg53 and Casportpony they are referring to Safeguard Liquid Goat Dewormer 10% or Equine Paste 10%. Totally different formulation than Aquasol!

Safeguard Aquasol - goes in the Drinking water.

Safeguard Goat Dewormer or Equine Paste are dosed by weight (usually at 50mg/kg) and given orally, they are not formulated to mix with water.

I actually just purchased the Aquasol, and was doing research on the dosage. I came up with 0.079ml when calculating for approximately 35LBs in my total flock. Do I just add this to 1 gal of water, once per day changing the water daily for 5 day? Or Is this the dosage per bird orally? Looking for the amount to be added to the water feeder.

 

[MillyG]

I actually just purchased the Aquasol, and was doing research on the dosage. I came up with 0.079ml when calculating for approximately 35LBs in my total flock. Do I just add this to 1 gal of water, once per day changing the water daily for 5 day? Or Is this the dosage per bird orally? Looking for the amount to be added to the water feeder.

I just looked on their website - I haven't received my order yet. It's weird bc it doesn't say how much water to add it to, ie. gallon, liter, ...
I agree that it's not clear. I keep reading on blogs that it would be a gallon, but it doesn't say that on the instructions that I'm seeing. I would think that the amount of water it is added to would make a huge difference on how much each chicken receives.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

The dosage for Aquasol, as I understand it, is by total weight of your entire flock. The labeling is geared toward VERY large operations (thousands of birds/thousands of lbs), and for use in "medication tanks", which is not something backyard chicken owners typically have handy.

The 1:1 dilution in the directions is a way of first mixing the Aquasol with a small amount of water and THEN adding it to the larger water tank.

So, if you have 22 birds that each weigh about 4lbs, the total weight of your flock is (22x4) 88lbs. If you have heavier breeds (or lighter) you would need to adjust accordingly.

Now, you have to convert lbs to kg. 88lbs is about 40 kg. The directions for calculating amount of Aquasol/day is:

Total weight of birds to be treated (kg) x 0.005mL = mL of Aquasol/day

• 1. 40kg x .005mL = 0.2 mL Aquasol/day
• 2. Shake the Aquasol well, then mix the 0.2 mL of Aquasol with 0.2 mL of water (this is your 1:1 dilution)
• 3. Add the 1:1 mixture into the waterer that is filled with only enough water to be consumed within 3 to 24 hrs (that may be 1 quart for some flocks and 1 gallon for others - you need to figure this out for YOUR flock). Add clean water to the container that you mixed the 1:1 in and pour that into the waterer to ensure all of the Aquasol solution from the mixing container gets into the waterer.
• 4. Stir the medicated water until it appears hazy. It does not need to be stirred again during the treatment period that day.

**This entire process must be repeated daily for 5 days. Fresh solution and water must be mixed every day.

"During treatment, all animals must have sole and unrestricted access to the medicated water. After complete consumption of the medicated water, the animals should have access to non-medicated drinking water ad libitum. Ensure that the total amount of medicated water offered is consumed."