Hens have worms- questions about cleaning run & coop

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Hi all! I saw wiggly worms in my Australorpe’s poo the other day, so I’m worming the flock. I have a few questions about the coop/run/yard clean up.

#1- how long can the worms survive in the stool? I’m in MD, and it’s been below freezing every night. I read that I should take the top 2” of substrate out of the run, but it’s frozen! I can do a general pooper scooper clean up, but as far as a “deep substrate clean,” I’m not sure I can do that. If I move the chickens to a different coop/run, Will their current run eventually be safe to put them back in it? If so, how long would that take?

#2- similar question regarding free ranging. On my property there are 3 separate spaces the girls can free-range (fenced back yard, unfenced front yard, & garden). They haven’t been in the backyard in over a week due to snow & ice. Would this be a safe “clean” space for them? Or might their still be wormy infectious poops?

#3- and with regard to cleaning the coop- should I clean it before I worm? After I worm? During worming (I’m doing 5 days of Safegard). Should I clean it and then keep it “sterile” for a while for easy cleaning? (I use deep litter, so I don’t want to dump a ton of bedding in only to have to repeatedly empty it (my coop is 8 x 12 I think). I’m wondering if it would be better to replace the thick bedding with a thin layer for a while so I can do frequent, repeated deep cleanings.

#4- do I need to replace all the sweet pdz in my poop tray that I’ve been pooper-scoopering daily?

Thanks so much for answering any of my many questions! I’m the kind of person who benefits from very precise instructions, lol. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it, but don’t make me overthink HOW to do it… lol!

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you post any pictures of what you saw in the droppings? How long were they and what color? There are at least 5 worms that affect chickens. Maggots are also sometimes seen in droppings that have been lying around, and can infest a soiled vent. They will be moving, and tapeworms which are small rice-sized worms, also may be seen wiggling. Large roundworms are the most common worm, and others may be too small to be seen without a microscope.

Don’t feel like you can sterilize your coop and run. I would just try to stir your bedding often, top with clean bedding often, and do a thorough cleanout twice a year. What type of bedding do you have? When I used Sweet PDZ for poop boards and in my small coop, I never changed it. I removed soiled parts and droppings with a kitty litter shovel daily. Some toss it all out once a year. Your chickens are boing to get exposed to worms whenever they are on the ground. Worming them occasionally will help to prevent a large worm load. Worms can do the most damage to growing chickens’ intestines. Make sure that you shake your Safeguard well when drawing up the dosage and use 1/4 ml per pound of weight for 5 days.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Can you post any pictures of what you saw in the droppings? How long were they and what color? There are at least 5 worms that affect chickens. Maggots are also sometimes seen in droppings that have been lying around, and can infest a soiled vent. They will be moving, and tapeworms which are small rice-sized worms, also may be seen wiggling. Large roundworms are the most common worm, and others may be too small to be seen without a microscope.

Don’t feel like you can sterilize your coop and run. I would just try to stir your bedding often, top with clean bedding often, and do a thorough cleanout twice a year. What type of bedding do you have? When I used Sweet PDZ for poop boards and in my small coop, I never changed it. I removed soiled parts and droppings with a kitty litter shovel daily. Some toss it all out once a year. Your chickens are boing to get exposed to worms whenever they are on the ground. Worming them occasionally will help to prevent a large worm load. Worms can do the most damage to growing chickens’ intestines. Make sure that you shake your Safeguard well when drawing up the dosage and use 1/4 ml per pound of weight for 5 days.

Hi! Thanks for your response! I don’t have a pic of the droppings. I haven’t seen it since that one time. But I did see the chicken defecate, and immediately saw the wiggling, so it definately was inside of the chicken. It was a cecal poop (? I think those are the dark oily ones?), and it was really hard to see the worms but there was distinct wiggling in the semi-liquid poo (looked like somethings were swimming laps ick!) I’m betting on roundworms, because they seemed to be long.

As far as bedding, my coop is pine shavings. I had been turning it weekly, but now I’m doing it daily. My run is half sand and half pine pellets/dirt. We haven’t gotten around to adding more sand yet, but plan to make it more like 2/3 sand and 1/3 pine pellets. I was going to do all sand, but the girls don’t seem to like it as much.

I had been scooping the run weekly, but admittedly have been slacking the last month or so due to a cold spell that kept most of the feces frozen hard to the ground. Now I’m scooping it daily. Would you recommend removing the top 2” of substrate from the run?

I also scoop the poop board daily with a kitty litter scooper. It stays pretty clean except for the tiny pieces the fall through the scooper. But those pieces seem to dry up and disappear. I had planned on emptying it once or twice a year- depending on how messy it seemed. I’ve had my girls for 3 years, but they just moved into this new (significantly larger) coop & run at the end of the summer, so I’m still figuring some of the maintenance out.

Does it take very long for the worms to run their course? I was planning on spring chicks that would be coop ready around April or May, but now I’m thinking perhaps I should push them back to later in the season to reduce the exposure. It seems from many threads here that worms can be hard to get rid of, and I do think I may have a bad case. (I’ve been giving them garlic, yogurt, & vinegar to help, but once I saw the worms for certain decided to medicate.

Thanks again for responding! Sorry for so many questions!