How important is it to de-worm chickens?

[Rubysieg]

I have 18 hens, raised from chicks, (no rooster) who have never been around other chickens. They are about two years old now. I have never wormed them. Is it important to do that? It has been hot here lately and they are laying lots fewer eggs. Would worms cause that? Checking online, flubenvet is recommended, but it seems to be unavailable in the U.S. except with a vet's Rx. Does anyone have any other ideas? Someone said to put apple cider vinegar in their water. I bought some stuff called "Rooster Booster", which is supposed to be a de-wormer, but mostly i think it's a vitamin. Do y'all de-worm your chickens? How often? What do you use? Is it really necessary? Thanks for your input.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Never deworm your chickens unless you are sure they have worms. Because, if they don't have worms, the parasites will become resistant to the dewormer, so your birds really will get worms.

 

[dawg53]

I have 18 hens, raised from chicks, (no rooster) who have never been around other chickens. They are about two years old now. I have never wormed them. Is it important to do that? It has been hot here lately and they are laying lots fewer eggs. Would worms cause that? Checking online, flubenvet is recommended, but it seems to be unavailable in the U.S. except with a vet's Rx. Does anyone have any other ideas? Someone said to put apple cider vinegar in their water. I bought some stuff called "Rooster Booster", which is supposed to be a de-wormer, but mostly i think it's a vitamin. Do y'all de-worm your chickens? How often? What do you use? Is it really necessary? Thanks for your input.

Gather fresh fecal samples and take them to a vet to look at it under a microscope. They'll let you know if your birds have worms or not. Rooster Booster is a good wormer, mixed in feed for several days with no egg withdrawal period.
Warm moist/wet soil requires frequent wormings. Cool/cold soil or mountainous rocky soil require less worming, same with dry desert like soil/sand. I worm my birds every 3 months, sooner if we get alot of rain. I use valbazen, safeguard, sometimes pyrantal pamoate, infrequently wazine, and zimectrin gold for tapeworms.

 

[PulletNewbie]

Hi Dawg,
Quick question regarding gathering fresh fecal samples...
If worms are found after microscope analysis, then I assume it doesn't matter WHICH bird dropped the winning sample because it's likely ALL birds could have worms and all should be treated?

Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, if one bird has worms, they all do.

I agree with making sure your chickens have worms before you treat them. Some people have a real problems with them and treat their chickens regularly. I butcher chickens throughout the year and always check the guts to see if any worms are present. So far, I have never found a worm so I have never treated for worms. A vet should be able to check a fecal sample and really confirm that for you one way or another.

There are a lot of reasons they might be laying fewer eggs. Parasites is one but there are many others. Hot weather, they are hiding a nest, something is getting the eggs, they have been laying a long time without a break, or just some kind of stress. Hot weather can certainly do it. Getting them checked for worms is a good idea so at least you can eliminate that or know what to treat.