Help!! My hens have long worms, what do i do?

[Cr8zycknlady]

I have used wazyne (spell?) in the last 3 months aNd i thought i cleared the problem, but apparently still a problem. These worms are visible to the naked eye, they are skinny and long. When the hens poops, i always l look at their poop, call me crazy, but this is how i can see these things. These two hens, their poopy is orange, foamy and it has the worms in it. I try to keep their coop clean, i pick up the poo everyday. Also i pick up the poop outside in the run everyday as well, so i son't know what i am doing wrong.
These hens abort eggs about 3-4 times per week. Is this part of the problem ? I treat the hens for one month twice a year (following the instructions on the bottle). I wonder if i am not catching the problem completely or the worms are getting a high tolerance for the medicine.

Any help you guys can supply is greatly appreciated. Thank you much in advance

 

[cafarmgirl]

Try deworming them with something more effective and broad spectrum such as Valbazen or liquid Safeguard for goats. Give each bird 1/2 cc and repeat the dose in 10 days.

Keeping a clean coop and run is always helpful but chickens will get worms just due to their lifestyle of picking around on the ground all day. WIld birds often have worms so they are just in the environement. But deworming with something effective a couple times a year, depending on your climate, usually keeps things under control.

If you want to spend more money you can take a fecal sample in to a vet and have them take a look and tell you exactly what worms your birds have. I prefer not to spend extra $$ doing that and I just use a good, broad spectrum wormer 2 or 3 times a year.

 

[Cr8zycknlady]

Cafarmgirl

Thank you for your response, I will try the liquids. Do you abstain from eating their eggs while treating them with these dewormers? I know I do that with the Wazyne.

Is it safe to eat the eggs the infected girls will lay? Just curious.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Cafarmgirl

Thank you for your response, I will try the liquids. Do you abstain from eating their eggs while treating them with these dewormers? I know I do that with the Wazyne.

Is it safe to eat the eggs the infected girls will lay? Just curious.

Eating the eggs is something you'll get mixed reviews on. I, personally, have never discarded eggs post treatment - if you think about it, the amount of chemical that would actually be present in any one egg (and that is another area of debate - as to whether the medications even enter the bloodstream to reach the eggs) from a treated bird is already going to be less than what was given to the bird to begin with - factor into that the difference between the size/weight of the bird and the size/weight of you and you can see how the already diminished amount of chemical would be further diminished as any sort of "threat" to you by virtue of being a MASSIVE under-dose for your weight - and, that really the only thing it would *do* anyway is to act as a de-worming agent in your own system. From a health perspective for you, there really is no danger (imo) - however, if you did have a parasite problem you would be exposing the parasites to a less than lethal dose of de-worming medication which is a problem in that it helps parasites to build a resistance/tolerance to the chemical agents in question - that would be the only negative to the whole scenario, imo.
There is no "proof" it is safe or that it is dangerous (because it is not cost effective to the drug companies of the meds in question to go through the trials processes involved in determining safety and getting the approved labeling on the product - so it really comes down to having to make your own call for yourself as to whether you want to eat the eggs or not. Now, if you are planning to sell or distribute the eggs that may mean you need to take a bit more time in thinking it through due to the issue of essentially making this call for others.

 

[Cr8zycknlady]

Well actually I don't discard the eggs perse, I boil them and give them crushed to the hens again, I don't eat them. But everything you say does make a lot of sense. Thank you!

 

[cafarmgirl]

Well actually I don't discard the eggs perse, I boil them and give them crushed to the hens again, I don't eat them. But everything you say does make a lot of sense. Thank you!

The issue involved with feeding the eggs back to the chickens is that they do contain trace levels of wormer so you are in effect feeding back very low levels of the wormer to the birds. That is a very good way to help parasites develop resistence to the drugs we rely on. I would simply discard them and not feed the to any animals. Whether or not people should consume them is up to each person and Ol Grey Mare pretty much covered that perspective. I personally do not. The only issue I might add is the possibility of human allergy to any trace of the wormers in the eggs. I definitely would not sell or give away for human consumption eggs from treated hens until the withdrawal period is over.

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
x2 There's residue in the eggs, however slight., and can cause worm resistance eventually making the wormer ineffective. It's best to toss eggs in the garbage for a couple of weeks, a small price to pay for healthy hens.
Valbazen and safeguard have been tested for safety and effectiveness, with proper dosing there's nothing to worry about.

 

[Cr8zycknlady]

Thank you Camfarmgirl and Dawg53. Question though. These wormers are liquid, so I will need to feed through mouth and not place in food, correct? I hate to stress the girls out, one person holds them and the other person struggles to open beak and drop medicine

I ask because I found this one a minute ago at mypetchicken.com and it is powder which is placed in the food. http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog...Booster-Triple-Action-Multi-Wormer-p1399.aspx
have you all used it and if so, have you had any results?

 

[Grannychick55]

Try deworming them with something more effective and broad spectrum such as Valbazen or liquid Safeguard for goats.  Give each bird 1/2 cc and repeat the dose in 10 days. 

Keeping a clean coop and run is always helpful but chickens will get worms just due to their lifestyle of picking around on the ground all day.  WIld birds often have worms so they are just in the environement.  But deworming with something effective a couple times a year, depending on your climate, usually keeps things under control.

If you want to spend more money you can take a fecal sample in to a vet and have them take a look and tell you exactly what worms your birds have.  I prefer not to spend extra $$ doing that and I just use a good, broad spectrum wormer 2 or 3 times a year.

x2 There's residue in the eggs, however slight., and can cause worm resistance eventually making the wormer ineffective. It's best to toss eggs in the garbage for a couple of weeks, a small price to pay for healthy hens.
Valbazen and safeguard have been tested for safety and effectiveness, with proper dosing there's nothing to worry about.

I am looking for info on worming when I saw this post. I Safequard for horeses it is a paste and safequard alfalfa pellets that is 0.5% fenbendazole the paste is10% fenbendazole . Can I use either of these meds?

 

[dawg53]

Thank you Camfarmgirl and Dawg53. Question though. These wormers are liquid, so I will need to feed through mouth and not place in food, correct? I hate to stress the girls out, one person holds them and the other person struggles to open beak and drop medicine

I ask because I found this one a minute ago at mypetchicken.com and it is powder which is placed in the food. http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog...Booster-Triple-Action-Multi-Wormer-p1399.aspx
have you all used it and if so, have you had any results?

I've never used Rooster Booster wormer. It is an effective wormer mixed in the chickens feed over a period of days. I don't know how many days though. There isn't a withdrawal period using this product neither.
For the liquid wormers we mentioned, pull the wattles down and the hens mouth will open. Hang on if she struggles, she'll tire eventually. Then use a preloaded syringe without a needle and squirt the 1/2cc liquid in her mouth and immediately let go of the wattles so the hen can swallow the liquid on her own. if you don't immediately let go of the wattles, she could aspirate with the liquid going down the windpipe...not good. There's a 14 day withdrawal period after the last dosing of the safeguard and/or valbazen.