It has been very cold here lately, so I have been keeping my chickens cooped up in a dog crate in the garage where I can keep a heater going to keep them warm. The high for the day has barely been above freezing for 2 of the days so on those days I didnt let them out to range at all. I saw this coming so I cleaned the crate the night before we got the coldest temps and put fresh hay (usually use pine shaving but this was all i had) on the bottom of it. It was warmer today (and lows above freezing for atleast a week) so I put the girls back out into their coop/run. One of my girls pooped on me and it was very runny. After getting all of my girls into the coop one had pooped on the poop board and it had a long white worm in it, it was also very runny. I think I also saw some smaller probably baby worms in the same stool. I didnt have my camera with me so by the time I got back out there to take a picture the worm was gone (ewwwwwwww!).
I had been checking their poop regularly, but for atleast a week I have not but when I cleaned off their poop board (every other day until they moved into the garage 2 days ago) I have never seen any signs of worms or runny stools. Yesterday I got 1 egg (normally 5) but I assumed it was because they were stressed being in such close quarters.
Now for the barrage of questions (appologies in advance), what is the best dewormer to use to get rid of the worms? Could the runny poops be from stress or do you think they are sick, coccidosis? None have lost weight, they are very alert & bawcky and seem to have good appetites. They all seem normal and were more than excited to be "free" again, normal poops until today. How do I treat the coop, run & dog crate? I plan to treat all of the chickens because Im not 100% sure which one poop'ed the worm and I want to protect them all. I usually use DE but ran out a month or so ago
Some off topic questions, I will put them in coop management too, how can I keep them in their coop/run but still keep them warm when the weather gets so cold? They seem to hate any bedding I put in their coop, they have kicked out hay & pine shavings it never lasts more than a day. They do leave the bedding in the nest boxes but not in the rest of the coop, Im wondering if they are dumping out their food and scratching everything out to find it? Should I try using sand, they can't be comfortable in there with no bedding
Oh forgot to add they are just over 8 months old. They are 2 red sex links, 1 gold sex link, 1 black sex link & a Wyandotte/Buff Orp mix. The BSL & GSL are 3 weeks younger than the rest. I dont know if that is needed info but just incase I wanted to add it
Thank you for the help & advice, it is as always, much appreciated
***edited*** also forgot to add the worm was round not flat, I have been reading up to find out which kind it was and have checked the poop post as well.
Now for the barrage of questions (appologies in advance), what is the best dewormer to use to get rid of the worms? Could the runny poops be from stress or do you think they are sick, coccidosis? None have lost weight, they are very alert & bawcky and seem to have good appetites. They all seem normal and were more than excited to be "free" again, normal poops until today. How do I treat the coop, run & dog crate? I plan to treat all of the chickens because Im not 100% sure which one poop'ed the worm and I want to protect them all. I usually use DE but ran out a month or so ago
Some off topic questions, I will put them in coop management too, how can I keep them in their coop/run but still keep them warm when the weather gets so cold? They seem to hate any bedding I put in their coop, they have kicked out hay & pine shavings it never lasts more than a day. They do leave the bedding in the nest boxes but not in the rest of the coop, Im wondering if they are dumping out their food and scratching everything out to find it? Should I try using sand, they can't be comfortable in there with no bedding
Oh forgot to add they are just over 8 months old. They are 2 red sex links, 1 gold sex link, 1 black sex link & a Wyandotte/Buff Orp mix. The BSL & GSL are 3 weeks younger than the rest. I dont know if that is needed info but just incase I wanted to add it
***edited*** also forgot to add the worm was round not flat, I have been reading up to find out which kind it was and have checked the poop post as well.
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