fenbendazole (a wormer)

[clooneysgirl]

I am having a problem of putting weight on my older girls. Despite all of my efforts of feeding them cottage cheese, yogurt, garlic, vinegar with mother, I still have one that seems to be wasting away although she is eating. I have never wormed them with chemicals I now think I should try that. I have read that England uses a product that contains fenbenazole, which they claim is safe for poultry without egg withdrawal. However, the U.S.. has not approved its use here. Because of this there are no products containing fenbendazole available for use in poultry here in the states. Fenbendazole products can be found for other animals the problem is finding the correct dose for chickens. I found a web site: msucares.com type in solutions for poultry that gives dosing info
for a flock of a thousand birds. Does any one have any information on how to dose fenbendazole for my small backyard flock of nine beautiful girls? Any info on worming or how to bring my two year old girls up to a healthy weight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I would get a fecal sample read by a vet or your state poultry lab. That way you'll know if they have worms, what kind and how badly infested they are (if at all).
I was about to worm and decided to have a fecal read. It turns out they didn't have worms at all but a bacterial infection of clostridia which needed tetracycline. I would have wormed and still not fixed the problem and wasted lots of time while they got worse.

 

[clooneysgirl]

What symptoms did your flock exhibit. My girls appear to be fine no abnormal looking or
smelling poop. They just have prominent keel bones, with one that seems to be tired . She walks around for awhile and then lays down alot. She has a really prominent keel bone. This has been going on for seven weeks now. I even changed the feed thinking maybe the brand was a bad batch. They have been eating the new feed and still are under weight. I have read that poultry should be chemically wormed twice a year. I have never wormed mine with chemicals. I have used garlic, vinegar with the mother and food grade diatamacious earth. Much literature claims this will only keep worms from becoming too over populated not rid the chicken of worms. I did not start the garlic and de until sevin weeks ago. That is why I am thinking that maybe worming them may help. Previous to adding the de to the food I was getting poopy eggs. After adding the de I no longer am getting poopy eggs. Poopy eggs , I have read is a sign of worms. Maybe the infestation is too large for the non chemical treatment to handle.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

All good points. I've used a chemical wormer on two different birds but that is after many years of chicken keeping.
The ones with the clostridia had diarrhea and poopy butts. I suspected roundworms.
Unless feed gets wet, the other thing to check (before you buy it) is the manufacture date. Old feed will lose a lot of nutrients. You might try fermenting the feed. I'm having problems keeping the weight off some of the birds. Some still have a prominent keel though.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/645057/fermented-feeds-anyone-using-them

 

[clooneysgirl]

Thanks for your info!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

It never hurts to take a poop sample into a vet to see if indeed they do have worms. But there are a couple chemicals out there that have no egg withdrawal if you are worried about this. But I wouldn't worm unless you see symptoms of worms....pale comb, very thin birds, diarrhea, lethargy....They could very well have a bacterial infection or virus, even a yeast or fungal infection in the intestinal tract can cause diarrhea.

Good luck with your birds and welcome to our flock!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC!! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.
X2 on what Two Crows said about the poo sample.

 

[gander007]

Have you been able to put some weight on your girls yet ?????

 

[drumstick diva]

You could post about the skinniest bird on "emergencies, diseases, injuries, cures," thread.

A photo might help. Please give as much detail as possible, how long this has been doing on, all symptoms, all attempts to remedy the situation, how old she is and so on.

I hope you get a diagnosis soon and advice on proper treatment.

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. You've received some good advice and links from the other members. Please feel free to ask any more questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in getting proper treatment for your birds.