Do It Yourself, Non Prescription Dewormer/Deworming

[Scooter1A]

Hello friends,

I know there are a million threads on deworming, but my question is pretty specific. First of all, my chickens don't have any visible worms or problems. This is about preventative maintenance, though I'm sure at some point in the future I'll have to deal with actual worms, so I wouldn't mind insight on that as well.

Problem: In the US, it seems I can't get a de-wormer specific to chickens without visiting an avian vet (or using google-fu and some off brand horse or goat product), and I don't have any avian vets within 100 miles. Furthermore, if there's something that works that isn't a drug, even if I did have a vet that would write me a prescription, I'd probably opt for that.

Anecdote: my sweet sweet hound dog was having anal gland problems. He kept "butt juicing" as we politely referred to it, almost every night in the middle of the night, and the entire room smelled like a can of tuna that had been out in the summer sun for a week. Anyway, I found some stuff on amazon that is basically pressed pumpkin pulp and psyllium husk, and one of those a day has COMPLETELY fixed the problem. Call my cynical, but I have a suspicion that if I took my hound to a vet and told them he was butt juicing every single night, chances are I would at the least have been pumping him with steroids and antibiotics, and more likely would have been footing the bill for a procedure to remove his anal glands. I prefer to keep things simple.

ANYWHO:

Is there an easy to administer, universally available, tried and true de-wormer that anyone here has experience with/recommends? One option is adding something to the water supply, but I've tried that a couple times with ACV and flock booster type powders, and the chickens just won't drink the water if I put any other stuff in it. And, the dosage seems completely dependent on how much they drink from that, and whether they're also drinking from other sources. Anyway, I've found some things on Amazon, and I have no idea of they're legit or snake oil. Specifically, I found a bottle of compressed tablets that contains garlic, wormwood, pumpkin seed, papaya, black walnut, clove powder, aloe vera, berberine. It's $20 for 100. I'm thinking about pulling the trigger. This would be exactly what I'm looking for, if it works - something I feed directly to my chickens rather than mixing in with their water. But I don't know if it's something I would be giving to them once a month, once a week... Next best would be something I could sprinkle on their food for 1 day, so I could visually confirm it had been eaten at the end of the day.

My backyard flock is only 3 chickens (RIP Hennifer), and fenced. It's just the 3 chickens and my hound dog, then whatever coons and possums pass through the yard at night, and the occasional wild bird eating their chicken feed crumbs.

I've had chickens for a little over 2 years, and I have never administered any type of de-wormer, natural or otherwise. I have never had any worm issues. But if it were to ever come up, I would feel horribly negligent for having not taken any preventative care. All they get is layer crumbles and garden-hose water from 3 waterers, changed out once a week. Occasionally they get some cherry tomatoes and sunflower seeds.

Man, that post kind of got out of control. What I'm asking is if anyone has a product they've used consistently for a long period of time and has kept their flock worm free, be that a water additive, a powder they sprinkle on the chicken feed a regular intervals, or a tablet they feed to individual chickens at specific intervals. I'm curious what has worked in the real world.

Thank you for reading my post.

I would try the amazon stuff. Maybe put it in some yogurt. Pumpkin seed is interesting. I agree with what you said the vet would do with your dog.

 

[Cheryli]

Liquid Safeguard (fenbendazole) and Valbazen (albendazole) are readily available at Tractor Supply and online without a prescription. Both wormers are indicated for use in goats but are safe for chickens at the correct dosage. The only type of worm they don't treat is tapeworm (which is more rare). However, the dosage and duration for each wormer is different (neither of them is water soluble, so you must dose each bird individually).

SafeGuard: 0.25 mL per pound (1.25 mL for a 5 lb bird), once a day x 5 days.

Valbazen: .08 mL per pound (so about 0.50 mL for a 5-6 lb bird) once and then again 10 days later.

Hello friends,

I know there are a million threads on deworming, but my question is pretty specific. First of all, my chickens don't have any visible worms or problems. This is about preventative maintenance, though I'm sure at some point in the future I'll have to deal with actual worms, so I wouldn't mind insight on that as well.

Problem: In the US, it seems I can't get a de-wormer specific to chickens without visiting an avian vet (or using google-fu and some off brand horse or goat product), and I don't have any avian vets within 100 miles. Furthermore, if there's something that works that isn't a drug, even if I did have a vet that would write me a prescription, I'd probably opt for that.

Anecdote: my sweet sweet hound dog was having anal gland problems. He kept "butt juicing" as we politely referred to it, almost every night in the middle of the night, and the entire room smelled like a can of tuna that had been out in the summer sun for a week. Anyway, I found some stuff on amazon that is basically pressed pumpkin pulp and psyllium husk, and one of those a day has COMPLETELY fixed the problem. Call my cynical, but I have a suspicion that if I took my hound to a vet and told them he was butt juicing every single night, chances are I would at the least have been pumping him with steroids and antibiotics, and more likely would have been footing the bill for a procedure to remove his anal glands. I prefer to keep things simple.

ANYWHO:

Is there an easy to administer, universally available, tried and true de-wormer that anyone here has experience with/recommends? One option is adding something to the water supply, but I've tried that a couple times with ACV and flock booster type powders, and the chickens just won't drink the water if I put any other stuff in it. And, the dosage seems completely dependent on how much they drink from that, and whether they're also drinking from other sources. Anyway, I've found some things on Amazon, and I have no idea of they're legit or snake oil. Specifically, I found a bottle of compressed tablets that contains garlic, wormwood, pumpkin seed, papaya, black walnut, clove powder, aloe vera, berberine. It's $20 for 100. I'm thinking about pulling the trigger. This would be exactly what I'm looking for, if it works - something I feed directly to my chickens rather than mixing in with their water. But I don't know if it's something I would be giving to them once a month, once a week... Next best would be something I could sprinkle on their food for 1 day, so I could visually confirm it had been eaten at the end of the day.

My backyard flock is only 3 chickens (RIP Hennifer), and fenced. It's just the 3 chickens and my hound dog, then whatever coons and possums pass through the yard at night, and the occasional wild bird eating their chicken feed crumbs.

I've had chickens for a little over 2 years, and I have never administered any type of de-wormer, natural or otherwise. I have never had any worm issues. But if it were to ever come up, I would feel horribly negligent for having not taken any preventative care. All they get is layer crumbles and garden-hose water from 3 waterers, changed out once a week. Occasionally they get some cherry tomatoes and sunflower seeds.

Man, that post kind of got out of control. What I'm asking is if anyone has a product they've used consistently for a long period of time and has kept their flock worm free, be that a water additive, a powder they sprinkle on the chicken feed a regular intervals, or a tablet they feed to individual chickens at specific intervals. I'm curious what has worked in the real world.

Thank you for reading my post.

I put 2 grams of Safeguard canine dewormer in thick oatmeal mash made with water a a little honey for 4 chickens. I do this for 2 days.

 

[CrimsonIdol]

So back to this thread! Old girl (2.5 yo ISA) came out of the coop a little drowsy this am. She ate, but not much and not with her usual vigor. I checked my Webcam and several times during the day she stood in one place for 5-10 minutes without moving, but without sleeping. I came home and she ate a few dried meal worms, but again more as a matter of routine and not because she was excited like usual. I caught her taking a dump and took a picture:

Her crop is a little puffy but it's also 86 degrees outside. It's not ballooned up like my last girl (RIP).

Thoughts? I see no worms, but it is noticeably bubbly. I do have a bottle of goat safeguard.

 

[CrimsonIdol]

All good this morning. Overnight her poops were all grainy and watery but she popped out of the coop this morning famished and took a huge, normal looking dump while she was eating. She just ejected one of the babies from the good roosting box (there are 5, but you know, only one good one) and is egging.

Chickens!