do my chickens have worms?

[Mehjr10]

In searching on here, I'm seeing green poop is an indicator of starvation.
I really think my chickens eat, but now I'm getting worried they are "faking it" and another member posted her chickens do.
Should I be giving extra treats that I know they will eat, to ensure they are eating food.

Also my eggs this week (out of 7 laying hens) went from:
Wed: 6
Thurs:7
Fri: 4
Sat: 3
Sun: 2
Mon: 1
Today: 1

I don't know if it's coincidence or more are sick than I thought....

I feel so helpless, I don't know what I will do if I lose anymore

When the birds are over loaded with worms the worms are taking and using most of the nutrition, even though they may be eating well the are not seeing the benefit. So worming them is Good. Give them some time.

 

[dutchbunny83]

Now I'm getting worried... almost all my hens are now laying on the patio, where in 6 months they've never laid. Their head perked up and looked at me when they heard the camera, but their wings are all drooping down and they seem lethargic. Even the ones that weren't having diarrhea or coughing....

 

[casportpony]

How much do your hens weigh?

 

[dutchbunny83]

I don't know exactly, roughly between 4-7lbs depending on the chicken

 

[casportpony]

The left hand blob in the picture is less than half the size of a pea. Based on some quick math, for zimectrin that would be about 1600ug of ivermectin, your birds should be getting about a quarter of that (200ug dose per kg. 4.4lb bird = 2kg = 400ug dose). You're okay on the praziquantel.



ug = micro-gram
mg = milli-gram

 

[casportpony]

Not much you can do now, just keep an eye on them.

 

[dawg53]

FWIW, I have used Safegaurd during molt and have not seen any feather defects. The times that I used it I felt that the risk of parasite danger outweighed the need for a pretty feather coat. So far, so good, all birds have recovered and do look normal. Am I saying to worm during molt? No, of course not. When possible, use a different wormer or wait.

I've used safeguard ONE time during molt and my BO's feathers looked like they were trying to regrow back into the skin. My other birds feathers didnt grow all the way out and some curled every which way. I had 1 RIR, it didnt affect her though. I never used safeguard during molt again. I used eprinex once before during molt without any adverse effects. I havnt wormed during molt since.
There are others that have used fenbendazole during molt and have had similar results with weird feather regrowth.

 

[dawg53]

I've used a "pea" sized amount of zimectrin gold several times for tapeworms, and rewormed them again in 10 days using the same product. The birds wipe their beaks and then go on about their business as normal without any problems.
I agree with Casportpony, all you can do is observe them.

 

[dutchbunny83]

I put about half a pea size on a piece of bread and folded it up.
Some didn't finish, some of the bigger ones tried to peck up the scraps.
I went pretty light handed figuring I could always give more later, I couldn't ungive it, so I dont know.
The Zimecterin Gold is pre-mixed, so I don't know why a pea sized amount would be the proper amount of one ingredient and 4 times the amount of another!
Hopefully they all do okay, I don't understand how they all got sick.

Any insight on the blue and green poop???

 

[dawg53]

I put about half a pea size on a piece of bread and folded it up.
Some didn't finish, some of the bigger ones tried to peck up the scraps.
I went pretty light handed figuring I could always give more later, I couldn't ungive it, so I dont know.
The Zimecterin Gold is pre-mixed, so I don't know why a pea sized amount would be the proper amount of one ingredient and 4 times the amount of another!
Hopefully they all do okay, I don't understand how they all got sick.

Any insight on the blue and green poop???

Have your birds eaten purple cabbage, beets, berries of some sort? They would cause different color feces.