Well, spring is here, and this year I've added 3 hens to my suburban homestead. I've already got more lettuce, spinach, and cabbage than I can eat, I grow tomatoes in the cool season (I hesitate to call it winter here,) I keep various peppers year round, various herbs, and even started some quick radishes this year. My 3 girls are all Golden Laced Wyandotte pullets, from the same batch, around 6 months old. I purchased them from our local 4-H club at the county fair. We moved them into their large hen house with ~10'x5' run two days ago, and all three have produced their first egg in their new home. One problem I've noticed is that my girls most definitely have a roundworm infestation, and I'm wondering about the best treatment available in the US? I plan to UTFSE and possibly open a thread in the appropriate area, but any help here would be appreciated as well. I am looking forward to being a productive member of this forum!
Hello there and welcome to BYC! You might stop by this article in our learning center on treating for round worms or any other worm you may have...https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/internal-parasites-parasitic-worms-in-chickens Definitely get a hold of this worm infection as worms will kill your birds. They live in the intestines and eat all the food your bird eats. The worms basically starve the bird to death or impact in the intestines badly enough to kill the bird. Good luck and we do welcome you to our flock!
Welcome! I'm glad you joined our community. Good luck with your birds! The two best dewormers are albendazole (sold under Valbazen) or Fenbendazole (easiest to find as Safeguard for goats, horses, etc). Piperazine (sold as Wazine) may also work, but kills worms all at once. This can dangerous if a bird has a heavy worm infestation, as it can clog the intestinal tract.
Hello and Welcome to BYC. It would be good to have a stool check done - they may have more than roundworms, and you'd want to treat for all of them.
Thanks for the replies everyone! I treated with Wazine 17 yesterday per directions on bottle and have already noticed a marked difference in the birds' appetite. All three layed beautiful eggs yesterday, but I threw them out just to be safe. Today though, I found a single paper thin shelled egg. It seems unlikely that it is a calcium deficiency, since I keep crushed shell in the cage and provide as much layer feed as they can eat. I am attributing it to the Wazine, until told otherwise. I plan to re-treat in 10 days, so I'm looking at a total of 24 days without eggs. This weekend, I plan to rake out the run, then apply food grade diatomaceous earth to the floor of their run, along with some lime to reduce moisture and make the pen inhospitable for parasites and ants. I will also remove all bedding, thoroughly clean the hen house, and then apply new bedding. Thanks for all the help!