Honey, i shrunk the kids.

[Buff Oreo]

hey. so its cold in iowa [Duh!!!] and my sweet australorp is SHRINKING!!!! she was about 7.5 pounds [pretty good for not even 1 year eh?] and has seemed to have lost about a pound and her comb and wattles are literally getting smaller. i dont mean shrivelling up bcuz of cold, i mean they lost size. can you help?

 

[mommissan]

Have they ever been dewormed? Worms steal a lot of valuable nutrition. Mine were badly infested a few weeks ago with roundworms. It cost the flock a few pounds...

 

[Buff Oreo]

ummm... all of our vets dont do birds, and i dont know how to do it... they havent had any thing besides cocci. vaccine and the other ones when they were sick. do worms show up in feces or near the picky area?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Worms can cause weight loss. Usually you see shrunken combs with molting from what I have read.

You may or may not spot worms in the poo. When you see them in the poo, it means they are probably infested badly. Some vets will run a fecal test for worms for a small fee, or you can just go ahead and worm whilst tossing the eggs as recommended.

There are diseases that cause shrunken combs as well...however, worms are so common in chickens that if you haven't wormed them it is a good place to start. Dehydration can cause the comb to shrink from what I have read. If the worms are getting most of the nutrition...maybe that would explain it, maybe not. Sorry I have never seen the shrunken combs myself.

 

[Buff Oreo]

okay... how long are the eggs contaminated? also did it just change the word 'picky' to "picky"???

 

[Buff Oreo]

Wow... you cant say A-N-A-L on a poultry site??? thats dumb.

 

[mommissan]

Worming. I did Wazine (piperazine) in the water for a day to eliminate adult roundworms. Then I followed up with Safeguard paste (fenben) a week later for a broad range dewormer. I withhold eggs for 14 days after the last treatment. Deworming annually to biannually is often recommended.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
With the wormers usually you see folks recommending a couple of weeks of tossing the eggs. Then if you dose again....more tossing the eggs.

 

[Chicken_Pauper]

Use the search here on BYC.. You need to search for and read.... "worming"... "worming with Valbazen".. "giving oral medications".. . "how much Valbazen".. "how to give Valbazen".... etc... you can pay special attention to posts by dawg53... get good worming info from him.

Eggs must be withheld and not eaten from the first treatment... repeat treatment in ten days.. withhold the eggs still until the 15th day after the second treatment..

Chickens can die from worms... they can show a variety of symptoms, "illnesses".... Also check her, and all your chickens for mites around the vent and under the wings ("armpits")... Sevin Dust for mites, also repeat in ten days.

Search "using Sevin Dust".... or "Sevin Dust for mites"...

Good luck.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Weight loss and "shrinking" combs are a sign of illness. Worms are a common source causing weight loss. By the time the chicken is visibly sick, the infestation is significant. FYI: A chicken's "picky" area is called the "vent".