evidence of internal parasites?

[horsecrazy]

hi,
I thought I read somewhere that runny poop is a sign of internal parasites. I noticed today one of my laying hens squirted out some diarrhea. she is about 1-1 1/2 years old. can I worm her?

 

[chickenbike]

Sorry, I don't have an answer, but I am curious about the answers to your question. I hope someone will have some advice. I thought I had read before that chickens poop a runnier poop every 10-12 poops as regular practice?

Do people use a de-wormer for chickens as a regular, routine schedule? If so, what age do you start, and how often do you de-worm?

 

[horsecrazy]

egg-zactly my questions.

hahaha.

ok bad pun.

 

[simba49450]

if they have a lot of greens grass etc they will get the runs, i give mine oats from the store and give just a small dixie cup full depending on how many chickens you have and it clears it right up.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Chickens do get the runs every now and then...especially if they are given free range of grasses and veggies. I have heard tho that a year and 1/2 is a good time to worm your hens. I purchased Wazine (sp?) from Fleet Farm and plan on worming mine about that same age. Now I am finding that their may be a healthier way to worm and you can still eat the eggs. I may try it...I have to find the link again tho. Also do you use DE regularly in their food and bedding? If you do you may not even get worms...it's a great preventative for your chickens.

 

[jjthink]

Happily, it doesn't necessarily mean worms - may just be a function of what she ate before that happened.

You can certainly worm them if you'd like. Lots of posts on BYC about different wormers - do a "search" (above in the blue bar) and you can see what wormer you'd like to use and when you'd like to start. I've used Ivomec Eprinex "spot on" - you'll see references to that product when you do the search under "worming", "worms" or similar.

Once a year is often the schedule, late in fall. Varies depending upon lots of factors, which you'll read about in the posts on this. Natural, less agressive, wormers can be used in other seasons, e.g. pumpkin seeds. Of course, if you see any worms, that's the time to worm. Some folks never worm at all if they see no problems.
JJ