Deworming???

[Nicolla]

I have been reading the forums quite a bit and some people talk about their chickens being dewormed/vaccinated. Am I supposed to take them in to be dewormed? I am planning on feeding them the medicated feed with amprolium when they are around 4 weeks or so when they will start having visits outside, but I don't know anything about them getting dewormed? Thank you so much for the help!

 

[Wildflower_VA]

They sell 'medicinal' dewormers, but some think they are too harsh. If you put DE ( diatomaceous earth) in their sand, it is a natural dewormer. Some of the 'natural' dewormers sold are nothing more than DE at triple the price. You can buy large bags of food grade DE at farm stores or a swimming pool supply place. DE in the dust bath helps get rid exterior parasites as well.

Edited to add: The medicated feed is to get them off to a good start when just hatched and my research has led me to believe they should never have antibiotics in feed. When you put them outside they should have enough resistance to disease to no longer need medicated feed. The medication (antibiotics) kills off good bacteria as well as the bad bacteria in the chick's gut. There is no good reason to give medication to a healthy chick.

 

[Nicolla]

Thank you very much, that helps

 

[gritsar]

Okay, a different viewpoint.
Amprolium, the drug most commonly used in medicated chick starter is NOT an antibiotic, it's a coccidistat. The definition of a coccidistat is: a chemical agent added to animal feed (as for poultry) that serves to retard the life cycle or reduce the population of pathogenic coccidia to the point that disease is minimized and the host develops immunity. *dictionary.com

It keeps the amount of coccidia in a chicks gut in check, giving the chicks immunity system time to build an immunity to it.

The thing is, you have to expose the chicks to the cocci in the soil in order to jump start the whole immunity process. A body cannot build an immunity to something it's never been exposed to.

Therefore, if they were my chicks I would keep them on the medicated feed for at least 8 weeks while taking them outside.

Hope this post makes sense. I'm caffiene deficient this morning.

Good luck with your chicks.