Ivermectin Pour on

[bayareapilot]

I stopped using Ivermectin as a wormer years ago due to its overuse treating birds for mites causing worm resistance in chickens. It is ineffective as a poultry wormer. It's best to stick with benzimidazoles or levamisole when it comes to worming chickens.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1439-0450.1989.tb00635.x
As a matter of fact, mites are showing resistance to Ivermectin in some parts of the country. See the link in post #8:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...osage-and-instructions.1351897/#post-22288649

I actually see a lot of posts of the sort that you made. I remember my uncle telling me once (he has a small hobby farm in Indiana) that it was his opinion that people overworm their chickens. He sees it as sort of akin to giving a kid some penicillin just because. My uncle's approach is to see if they're exhibiting any symptoms, ex: lethargy etc and after eliminating other possibilities try a worming medication. He always told me that you'll only get resistance if you keep providing it at a regular interval if it's given infrequently it shouldn't be as much an issue. I remember a vet telling me that once too he actually handled farm animals. Anyway everyone has a different way to do things I guess. I try to lean on the side of the conservative because too much of a good thing is still too much

 

[dawg53]

I actually see a lot of posts of the sort that you made. I remember my uncle telling me once (he has a small hobby farm in Indiana) that it was his opinion that people overworm their chickens. He sees it as sort of akin to giving a kid some penicillin just because. My uncle's approach is to see if they're exhibiting any symptoms, ex: lethargy etc and after eliminating other possibilities try a worming medication. He always told me that you'll only get resistance if you keep providing it at a regular interval if it's given infrequently it shouldn't be as much an issue. I remember a vet telling me that once too he actually handled farm animals. Anyway everyone has a different way to do things I guess. I try to lean on the side of the conservative because too much of a good thing is still too much

I agree with you to an extent, environmental factors primarily.
When your uncle saw symptoms, ie lethargy, reduced or not eating and all other possibilities eliminated before worming birds, did he consider the damage that has already occurred in the digestive tract and other internal damage prior to worming?
Birds are more susceptible to diseases due to worms weakening their immune system. Same is true for mammals.

We worm our dog on a monthly basis to prevent heartworms and other worms, not to mention a 3 month dose of Bravecto to prevent ticks and fleas. That's the way it is in our environment.
It's the same with chickens. Our environment, including the soil is warm, moist or wet most of the time. It's worm soup and other nasties. That's the way it is.
Chickens constantly peck the soil, in doing so they also pick up unseen worm eggs and swallow them. That's how the worms lifecycle gets started.

If you live in a cooler or cold environment or desert, rocky or mountainous area, you may not have to worm birds as often.

I've been using Valbazen for years and havnt seen resistance. There are other wormers available and I've used most of them at one time or another, but Valbazen is my go to wormer. It's very effective.

 

[bayareapilot]

I agree with you to an extent, environmental factors primarily.
When your uncle saw symptoms, ie lethargy, reduced or not eating and all other possibilities eliminated before worming birds, did he consider the damage that has already occurred in the digestive tract and other internal damage prior to worming?
Birds are more susceptible to diseases due to worms weakening their immune system. Same is true for mammals.

We worm our dog on a monthly basis to prevent heartworms and other worms, not to mention a 3 month dose of Bravecto to prevent ticks and fleas. That's the way it is in our environment.
It's the same with chickens. Our environment, including the soil is warm, moist or wet most of the time. It's worm soup and other nasties. That's the way it is.
Chickens constantly peck the soil, in doing so they also pick up unseen worm eggs and swallow them. That's how the worms lifecycle gets started.

If you live in a cooler or cold environment or desert, rocky or mountainous area, you may not have to worm birds as often.

I've been using Valbazen for years and havnt seen resistance. There are other wormers available and I've used most of them at one time or another, but Valbazen is my go to wormer. It's very effective.

One thing that might benefit my small flock as well as my uncles (larger flock) is that I learned from him as well as this website, to have nothing but a thick substrate of dry sand in their run and the entire run is covered from the top with a clear waterproof cover 'ceiling' so to speak, that sits about 6 ft above the Run and measures approximately 15 by 40 ft Nothing grows in that dry sand and it's easy to clean with a long-handled kitty scoop which I do daily. I refresh the 1500 lb of sand twice a year.

I also use zeolite granular on my coop floor, exclusively. Virtually eliminates ammonia and dries any droppings that land on it out quickly.

Perhaps the latter is why constant worming isn't as necessary for me (or my uncle)?

 

[dawg53]

One thing that might benefit my small flock as well as my uncles (larger flock) is that I learned from him as well as this website, to have nothing but a thick substrate of dry sand in their run and the entire run is covered from the top with a clear waterproof cover 'ceiling' so to speak, that sits about 6 ft above the Run and measures approximately 15 by 40 ft Nothing grows in that dry sand and it's easy to clean with a long-handled kitty scoop which I do daily. I refresh the 1500 lb of sand twice a year.

I also use zeolite granular on my coop floor, exclusively. Virtually eliminates ammonia and dries any droppings that land on it out quickly.

Perhaps the latter is why constant worming isn't as necessary for me (or my uncle)?

You're absolutely correct about sand. I've been using it for years, including inside the coops and nest boxes. It's easy to scoop poop and doesnt wash away nor cause nasty mudpuddles that birds love to drink. Sand also deters parasites. My pens are elevated with sand and dont flood. Coops are elevated except my shed coop. I scoop poop several times a day. (It's nice to be retired lol.) Coops cleaned out each morning.

My coops and pens are covered but there are also "sun room extensions" so to speak, so they can dust bathe in the sand and sun.
However, since my birds are penned and never free range due to predators around here, they are kept on the same sand and it can be contaminated with worm eggs and simply picked up by my birds. It happens. Birds kept on the same soil/sand require frequent wormings.

Like everything else, an 18 cubic yard of sand brought in by a dump truck has gone up alot in price. It's barely affordable anymore, and I live in Florida lol. I still have one-third of a pile of sand and I'm saving it for my coops only.

Again, it depends where a person lives, and their environment. Some folks may only need to worm birds once every 3 or 4 months, twice a year or just once a year.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I’m a recent convert to deworming a flock and specifically using pour-on ivermectin. I won’t rehash everything I said on page 42 of this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...e-survival-junglefowl-x-liege.1424023/page-42

But I will add that since I dewormed my free range flock on October 20-22, nearly all of them have significantly increased their breast tissue. The sickly 3/4 Liege stag that prompted me to try this has put on 12 ounces in 13 days.

 

[dawg53]

I’m a recent convert to deworming a flock and specifically using pour-on ivermectin. I won’t rehash everything I said on page 42 of this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...e-survival-junglefowl-x-liege.1424023/page-42

But I will add that since I dewormed my free range flock on October 20-22, nearly all of them have significantly increased their breast tissue. The sickly 3/4 Liege stag that prompted me to try this has put on 12 ounces in 13 days.

Try some Valbazen. It'll get the worms that Ivermectin doesnt get.