I hope someone might be able to guide me here; I haven't found this exact situation in the forums or elsewhere online. No, I'm not trying to worm new chicks -- but there is an immediate need to do worming in the flock, and some happen to have just been hatched.
I found an unmistakable pile of roundworms in one of my chickens' poops yesterday. I put Wazine in the water, but I have one broody in a separate pen right now, whose eggs were due to hatch yesterday, so I didn't treat her water, in case the chicks came out and drank any during the day. In fact they all hatched today, so I COULD have, but who knew?
I can't seem to ascertain anywhere online whether Wazine is harmful to newborn chicks. One thread suggested a lady wait until they are two weeks old to worm the mama with Wazine. So I thought I would go with that.....
...But, checking in on Broody after work today, I noticed that she was sometimes doing this wide-beaked gasping breathing thing, like a chicken will do when it's really hot outside. It's not hot today, though. There is no raspy sound, and she's eating and paying attention to her chicks and otherwise seems normal. But it reminded me that one of my other hens has been doing that same thing for some weeks now as she goes around the yard, and I thought she was just hotter than the others because of her feathered legs and feet. Now I'm wondering if they have other types of worms going on, such as the kind that infests the trachea. I have read that this causes gasping (and eventually, strangulation). Now I'm keen to get some Ivermectin on them, though I know I'm supposed to wait at least 10 days after the Wazine to make sure they don't have trouble expelling the worms.
Broody, on the other hand, hasn't had any Wazine. If she has tracheal worms I'd just as soon put the Ivermectin on her first. Is that okay, to use the Wazine later on? I understand Ivermectin is applied with a certain number of drops on the skin at the back of the neck. May I assume this is a confined enough area that it won't get on the chicks? Does anyone have a recommendation on the timing of this? I don't want to hurt the babies, naturally, but I also don't want my broody to suffer or die because I didn't act quickly enough. Thanks very much, everyone.
(Here's a short video of her breathing:
)
I found an unmistakable pile of roundworms in one of my chickens' poops yesterday. I put Wazine in the water, but I have one broody in a separate pen right now, whose eggs were due to hatch yesterday, so I didn't treat her water, in case the chicks came out and drank any during the day. In fact they all hatched today, so I COULD have, but who knew?
I can't seem to ascertain anywhere online whether Wazine is harmful to newborn chicks. One thread suggested a lady wait until they are two weeks old to worm the mama with Wazine. So I thought I would go with that.....
...But, checking in on Broody after work today, I noticed that she was sometimes doing this wide-beaked gasping breathing thing, like a chicken will do when it's really hot outside. It's not hot today, though. There is no raspy sound, and she's eating and paying attention to her chicks and otherwise seems normal. But it reminded me that one of my other hens has been doing that same thing for some weeks now as she goes around the yard, and I thought she was just hotter than the others because of her feathered legs and feet. Now I'm wondering if they have other types of worms going on, such as the kind that infests the trachea. I have read that this causes gasping (and eventually, strangulation). Now I'm keen to get some Ivermectin on them, though I know I'm supposed to wait at least 10 days after the Wazine to make sure they don't have trouble expelling the worms.
Broody, on the other hand, hasn't had any Wazine. If she has tracheal worms I'd just as soon put the Ivermectin on her first. Is that okay, to use the Wazine later on? I understand Ivermectin is applied with a certain number of drops on the skin at the back of the neck. May I assume this is a confined enough area that it won't get on the chicks? Does anyone have a recommendation on the timing of this? I don't want to hurt the babies, naturally, but I also don't want my broody to suffer or die because I didn't act quickly enough. Thanks very much, everyone.
(Here's a short video of her breathing:
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