Deworming Molting Hens

[Melrow1015]

I’ve been checking our chickens’ poop daily when I go to clean out their coop and run and so far haven’t seen evidence of any worms, but today my husband saw a large roundworm on a fresh pile in our yard this morning. Our neighbor gave us some cantaloupe scraps with flesh and seeds yesterday that we fed them so idk if that’s what made it come out. We planned on using Aquasol for chickens but in doing further research it says you can’t use it in molting chickens or those with active feather growth and we have several hens that are recovering from feather pecking. The temperatures around our area are dropping so I expect them to start molting fairly soon. Should we use a different wormer or just wait until after they molt? They aren’t acting ill other than having some diarrhea occasionally.

 

[FurryHerbalist]

A couple of ‘natural’ ways to expel the worms are:

Freshly ground raw pumpkin seeds (unsalted of course) - 1/4c per hen for three days. Just add to their feed. Ground seed will lose potency within a week or two, so grind fresh for best results.
Feeding pumpkin seeds as a treat is a good preventative. I usually roughly grind them but some feed them whole.

Powdered Black Walnut hulls - 1/4 teaspoon per bird in their feed for no more than 3 days. Allow 3 weeks before retreating if necessary. This is a potent herb so more isn’t better! Don’t use with very young birds.

Garlic is another old remedy, but you risk flavoring the eggs.

Preventative:
Sprinkle diatomaceous earth (food grade, not pool filter kind) on dropping boards to kill any parasitic eggs and mites. Apply while the chickens are out of the coop and wear a mask so you don’t inhale any of the dust.

Adding thyme or oregano (or a combination) to their daily ration will help expel worms and are antibacterial as a bonus. 1 tsp of either is a good dose. You can also simply grow the herbs in their run and they will self medicate.