How to determine worms?

[cafarmgirl]

I've never dewormed my chickens? Should I do it now? What do I use? They seem fine to me, but if I've never de wormed them don't you think they should be done?

Here's a link that has pics of various worms and treatments. Note that albendazole (Valbazen) treats them all.
http://healthybirds.umd.edu/Disease/Deworming Birds.pdf

Yes, you should. See all above posts from Dawg53 as well as the one you quoted as to what to use. Dose is 1/2 cc for standard size birds, 1/4 cc for bantams. Repeat in 10 day. Discard eggs from time of first dose until 10 days after 2nd dose.

 

[TherryChicken]

I did, tried to look but showed me nothing but horse dewormer and so then throw away eggs for 21 days?

 

[dawg53]

I did, tried to look but showed me nothing but horse dewormer and so then throw away eggs for 21 days?

You can purchase Safeguard equine paste wormer and dose your chickens with it. Dosage is a "pea" size amount given orally to each chicken. Repeat again in 10 days. Discard the eggs for 14 days after last worming. Dont use safeguard if your birds are in molt.

 

[Island Roo]

Do you see the round worms in the poop before or after worming? Or both?

How long after giving medication would a chicken typically take to start acting like a chicken again?

 

[dawg53]

Do you see the round worms in the poop before or after worming? Or both?

How long after giving medication would a chicken typically take to start acting like a chicken again?

You may or may not see worms in poop before or after worming. It depends if there's a heavy wormload or not. Most of the time the worms are absorbed as protein in the digestive tract after worming. You should see improvement 24-48 hours after worming, again depending on the wormload.