how to naturally / organically de- worm your birds

[AHappychick]

So the season is upon us so here is the organic worming procedure/recipe I use and I have never had any worms or a problem with them that I know of. I have never used any de-wormer medicines and have some very healthy 4 year old hens that show no signs of slowing down. in addition to doing this treatment twice a year (as soon as pumpkins are available and then again in Dec with pumpkins I saved) I give the girls raw buttermilk from my co-op about once a month or so. This has been mentioned before in BYC but I figured it would not hurt to mention it again.

I use raw buttermilk like I said from my co-op and organic pumpkins I grow myself but you can use the stuff in the store as well. No need to waste the pumpkin either just use the seeds from the one you are carving for Halloween although you may need several if you have a large or multiple flocks.

This treatment is a 3 day process. You will need fresh pumpkins, buttermilk, bran, regular milk


Day 1 remove all feed (leaving water) by noon so that chickens have nothing to eat and must fast (they will not be happy about this)


Day 2 Cut pumpkin like you are making a jack-o-lantern and scoop out all of the seeds (it is fine to have the stringy stuff as well. put in a blender with buttermilk and blend at high speed so that it becomes a wet mash of pulverized seeds and buttermilk.

feed this as the only feed after a day of fasting to all chickens (make sure there is enough for them all to fill up on it during the day) they will love it ad just might forgive you for starving them the day before.


Day 3 Now make a mash of bran flakes and regular milk (again I use raw cows milk since that's what we drink, and you should too

) make sure they have enough of this all day as well.

Feed this mash to the birds and stay away from their rear end as there will be some wet yucky poo happening now.

Day 4 back to regular feed as usual with some DE and ACV in water ETA real yogurt as well will put back the good bacteria

although if you use raw milk it will be in there as well.


Sounds weird I am sure but here is why you do this. The pumpkin seeds have a natural chemical in them that paralyze the worms and parasites in the birds intestines. The pumpkin seeds must be raw and chopped up in order to work. the buttermilk is a natural de-wormer of sorts not sure of the exact reason for it though. Anyway the worms get paralyzed and the next day the bran and milk act as a laxative expelling them from the bird. I have never seen any in the poo but since I dont have a problem with worms I dont really expect to, but I have spoken to people who have seen the worms be expelled when they did it and looked at the feces afterwards.

Hope this is helpful to those wanting an organic natural approach to worming

 

[@~rosecityfarmgirl~@]

Wow! Great info

I wonder if this would work on household pets as well?
I read on another thread to add 3 Tbsp ground cayenne pepper to 1 gallon of feed, so that's what I've been doing, and no problems yet. This is a great idea though!

 

[Hoosiermomma]

Thanks for the info!!!!!

 

[BayouPoules]

This is good information and well explained,..

This is what we do too! It works and it's healthy,. those pumpkin seeds are packed with vitamins!

After the worming is over we follow up with some yogurt to pack some probiotics back in them,.

 

[AHappychick]

yes cayanne pepper is good as well I also give that to the girls sometimes, also I did not mention a follow up with yogurt I actually give them some every week or so as just part of thier feed so I plum forgot to mention it but very important!

 

[BayouPoules]

Quote:
I kinda figured ya did,.. but I am helping a new egg in my neighborhood learn about her new chickens,.. and it reminds me of how much we take for granted that others know,. she thought I was joking when I told her to give yogurt to her hens,. especially after cleansing or antibiotics,.. then she wanted to know what flavor they liked best?? You should have seen her face when I showed her how much sugar is in flavored yogurt,..

poor thing,. I think I ruined her day,..

It's really nice to see threads like yours because I sometimes take for granted that everyone knows how to go natural,.

and yes I agree with ya about the Cayenne! We use Cayenne for everything and everyone it's such a great tonic! My DH says that's why his cajun family is so healthy,.. they eat those peppers every day!

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

AHappychick: I realize this post is a year old but I'm hoping you are still watching.

Have you seen this work for tapeworm too? I found tapeworm segments in the girls' poo and in an egg!!!

This is the first time I've been temped to go non-organic and de-worm with Valbazen. I can't bring myself to eat another egg until this is taken care of.

 

[aoxa]

Can you do this without starving them the day before?

That would be really hard for me.. Especially since we have mixed ages and a couple are pretty young (8 weeks or so).

 

[ll]

In an egg?! -faints-

I didn't even know that was possible.

 

[Chicken_Pauper]

Quote:
I have just given my FOURTH dose of Valbazen -- today... tapeworm segments. Tapeworms are tough, it is taking forever, repeated dosages, and I have had to buy eggs... YUK!

I will be watching.. I was still seeing tapeworm segments ten days after the third worming with Valbazen. Uhg. Can't wait for this to be over and me to get my beautiful, wonderful eggs back safe to eat!

Good luck.... I hope yours aren't as tough as mine.

(I had also done the pumpkin seeds, raw, ground, buttermilk mixed with them... two or three times while doing this worming with Valbazen, still I have tapeworm segments!)
I am very sure the pumpkin seeds and buttermilk were good for all the chickens and may have helped to "move out" the dead and dying worms from their system.... but... for serious tapeworms like this, I will stick with the Valbazen (or Zimectrine Gold sp?)

I want my "kids" well and worm free and laying my beautiful eggs.. I'm hungry!!

I was eating the eggs while they had tapeworms and I didn't know it.. and it was fine... sounds yuckky, but was fine.. the eggs were good, no worms in the eggs... but, the medicine means tossing the eggs.. save them up and put them in the trash the last day before trash day, well wrapped up... or find someone with a pig they haven't wormed??