Deworming?

[JewellFarm]

I know that deworming is an important part of raising chickens to keep them healthy. I am sure this question has been asked before, but I can't find it. What I need to know is:

1. What age do you start deworming?

2. What is the best dewormer to use?

3. How much do you use?

4. How often do you use it?

5. Do you generally need more than one type for different kinds of worms?

6. Is DE an all around good dewormer or just for certain types of worms?

Sorry for all the questions, but I guess I am a little ocd.

 

[Judy]

Here are a couple of threads that should help:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=103771&p=1

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=174004

 

[Judy]

On the FAQ page you will find links to good threads about DE as well.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Well, actually, that is not necessarily the case.

A pretty good strong argument can be made for only worming if you see evidence of an actual problem.

This is because there are no very-nontoxic-to-animal, large-margin-of-error, wide spectrum wormers available for poultry the way there are for the other animals you're probably familiar with. Various 'natural' things are touted but the evidence is somewhat lacking, although they are probably relatively harmless if it makes you feel you're doing something useful; ivermectin probably comes the closest to a low-impact 'safe' broad-spectrum wormer but the withdrawal period for the eggs is poorly studied (affects both eatin' and hatchin' qualities of eggs.

Internal parasites are a part of life. We've all got 'em. As long as the chickens are well-kept and healthy they can easily tolerate a few worms; the only reason to worry would be if they start having more than they can gracefully tolerate, in which case THEN you can identify what worm(s) they've got and apply an appropriate wormer.

Good luck, ahve fun,

Pat