Mites, worms, some questions

Morgan7782

Dense Egg Goo
9 Years
Mar 22, 2010
2,013
124
201
Sacramento CA
I was curious of a few things. Do you worm chickens on a regular basis? Or just when you see signs of worms? Same question about mites/lice. I've read about mite dustings that you can use, but was curious if this was done as a PREVENTATIVE or cure? Do I dust my chickens for mites every year or so? Or just when I see signs of mites?

What are classic signs of mites? Thanks for any information. None of my hens are sick which is why I didn't post in ER section, if it needs to be moved let me know. Thanks for any responses!
 
I just de-wormed my chickens for the 1st time this summer I will be de-worming once a year from now on. I use DE in the coop and dusting area's I haven't seen any mites/lice yet but I do try and check the chickens once a week. Some people say DE works great to get rid of mites others say its a preventive it is all that I could find right now so that is what I am using we shall see. Hopefully some of the people who have had chickens for a while will post. threehorse's has some great advice about de-worming and dawg53 knows a bunch he is who I talked to when I needed help with de-worming. I do use Apple cider vinegar "with mother" in their water and use DE I have not put the DE in their food yet have not found anyone that knows how much is okay to put into the food.
 
Hi, I actually put a holistic worming agent in my feed. It can be purchased through the holistic horse online. I used it for 90 days straight and now use it a couple times a week. It really does work and naturally and you can also eat eggs while using it. I also purchase a holistic lice/mites dusting that can be used on hens, coop, and laying nests. I actually dust every Hen/Roo prior to them entering my flock and then again 1 week later for the eggs that they lay. Good luck and hopefully you get a chance to check out that website.
big_smile.png
 
Opinion is quite divided among chickenkeepers whether to worm regularly or only when signs are seen. You will have to decide for yourself.

Mites and lice, though, you should probably be inspecting for regularly -- not looking for signs of them affecting the birds, I mean, but looking for the mites/lice *themselves* on the birds and on the roost. Me, once a week I try to make a fairly closeup check of most of the birds' bottoms as they sit on the roost in the evening (will also let you know if there are diarrhea or other vent-area problems going on) and I try to pick a few of them up a couple times a week -- whichever chickens are handiest at that moment, I am not systematic about it -- and blow their feathers apart on the neck and base of neck and look real fast and closely for any wildlife in there. (e.t.a. - and then, after holding a bird for a couple minutes, I examine my hands and arms to see if anything is crawling on *me*, as northern fowl mites are easier to see that way than on the bird IME)

If I see anything at all, I dust all the birds thoroughly and their roosts/nestboxes/etc as appropriate (I use DE if there was just like one or two mites on one bird, sevin or rotenone dust if mites were more abundant or widespread). That is what works for me -- I've only had to do any dusting just a handful of times in the last several years -- but of course bazillions of other programs would work too
smile.png


What does NOT work well is to fail to check regularly, because mites/lice are a heck of a lot easier to deal with when there are relatively few of them than when you've already got a galloping infestation.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat
 
Last edited:
Thank you very much for the information! Like I said, none of my chickens have anything now, but I will be doing the mite/lice check too now that I know how and what to look for. All my girls are easily handled so that makes it a little easier. Thank you again for the help!
big_smile.png
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom