Food issues.. Beware

[Mr King]

Li

yeah?  That's what I used to think, too. Check it out on here and you'll see how many people do deworm regularly as a matter of course.  There are dewormers you can use where you don't have to stop eating the eggs, as well as Corid, you can eat the eggs while they are on it. If one has Cocci, they are all going to have it.  Some may not show symptoms. We had a severe problem with Capillary worms last spring....we lost several of our nice birds because they never showed symptoms until it was too late.  That's when I learned the good reasons behind deworming regularly.  If you're not going to deworm, at least have random fecal checks every six months.

Like enola just said ( two coments down) it's better to keep healthy flock by their own. Culling weak chickens is a good start.

 

[enola]

I also don't worm until I think there is a problem. I get away with that for a couple of reasons. I can't free range, i have neighborhood dogs that would kill every chicken I own in a few minutes. I also catch and handle EVERY chicken EVERY week. After 50+ years of feeling chickens, I can tell when a problem is developing. This winter is the first time that I have had a chicken "just drop dead" in over 20 years. So, I must be doing something right. I never use antibiotics of any sort. If worming a chicken then probiotics and vitamins don't cure what ails them, then I cull the chicken. I don't help chicks either, if they can't hatch on their own, they don't hatch. If they can't figure out how to learn to eat from other chicks in the brooder, then they get culled.

 

[enola]

I forgot to mention that I feed fermented feed. My feed bill went down, egg production went up, egg shells are stronger, hatch rates improved, growth rate of chicks improved, molting time is much shorter, and my chickens look better to me.

 

[Mr King]

I also don't worm until I think there is a problem. I get away with that for a couple of reasons. I can't free range, i have neighborhood dogs that would kill every chicken I own in a few minutes. I also catch and handle EVERY chicken EVERY week. After 50+ years of feeling chickens, I can tell when a problem is developing. This winter is the first time that I have had a chicken "just drop dead" in over 20 years. So, I must be doing something right. I never use antibiotics of any sort. If worming a chicken then probiotics and vitamins don't cure what ails them, then I cull the chicken. I don't help chicks either, if they can't hatch on their own, they don't hatch. If they can't figure out how to learn to eat from other chicks in the brooder, then they get culled.

keep it that way, you're doing great.!

 

[enola]

keep it that way, you're doing great.!

Thank you! I will.

. My chickens love me.

 

[hugz4all4]

Ok.. Well i only own 11 chickens now, I dont breed. I dont sell eggs. I only own hens. They are not even a year old yet.
Im not culling yet! I appreciate everyones advice. my girls have never been treated so Im going to treat them with the antibiotics " just in case" as I think they are all fine, maybe just a food intolerence because they a seem ok now. Then Im going to treat them for worms because I have never done that either.
I was at the feed store today to buy the medicines and saw a antibiotic from "durvet" that was in a package that treated a variety of animals chickens included for 16.99, i dont think it said Corid, maybe the longer version of Amproil? Is this what I buy or do I check TSC for something else? On the back of the bag it stated do not use on chickens over 21 weeks of age?
On the wormer.. They had Wazine.. Im assuming this is the correct stuff to use?
That clearly stated do not consume eggs after use. How long do I use that for? Thanks.
Oh and as I stated before my coop is cleaned weekly no other pests even last summer.. No mites etc. right now no bugs anyways still have quite a few imches of snow on the ground..

 

[enola]

Skip the wazine, it only kills round worms. And if you don't think your chickens are sick, why would you give them an antibiotic?

 

[enola]

Safeguard wormer for goats would be a much better choice to worm your chickens with.

 

[MrsBachbach]

I may be getting a new thread started here ( I've not gotten the hang of what exactly goes where and how so..) My husband swears that it is only free-range chickens that have a squishy poop that would make a poop board real handy in the henhouse. So, he's trying to convince me that, since we'll be feeding our chickens commercial food, their poop won't be hard to deal with, let 'em poop on the floor, no poop boards needed. I don't wanna be the one who ends up scraping poopy floors, dusty poppy floors. Or getting peeved 'cause poop boards have to be put in after all to keep the chickens healthier and make my life easier. Help!

Put in the poop boards. What they eat will make no difference in the smell once the summer heat and flies start up. Remove the poop from the boards daily. Cut's down on the poop in the house by half!

 

[enola]

Feeding fermented feed cuts down on the volume of poop and the smell of the poop. Win- win situation.