Most trustworthy ways to naturally worm my chickens???? (Answered!!!)

94countrygrl

In the Brooder
6 Years
Oct 31, 2013
18
0
24
Hello Everyone,

I have owned chickens for going on 6 years and have had alot of experience with them.. how ever this recent happening has caused me some head scratching. My chickens seem to be losing weight... I have no Idea why... they have a constant supply of feed, bugs, grass, and fresh water all day everyday. They all act healthy right now and I've checked them for lice or bugs and nothings showed up.... they have majorly cut down on laying and alot of them have been "molting" forever now it seems.. or constantly just losing feathers!! I know molting and this is unusual.. I just recently had 2 hens die, i think one died from old age, but the other should've been fine, although she was really lethargic and kept sitting everywhere, wasnt very active at all. not sure what took her, but i had another chicken die.. but i think it was because she had bumble foot and the infection ended up spreading through her body. Does anyone know what might be causing my chickens to have these problems??? I'm wondering if its worms.. so im trying to treat for that with pumpkin, pumpkin seeds and cayann pepper in their food.. does anyone else know any tried and true methods for deworming? i've never had to do it before!! :) or does anyone know what might be wrong with my chickens? they range from 6yrs-1yrs old... also, i got a hobo chicken that was running around our neighbor hood, she didnt have any mites or nothing but her bottom feathers are all missing and its constantly a bright red... does she have an infection or is it just a bad molt?

Sorry so many questions.. just dont want anymore unnessesary deaths and unhealthy chickens!

(this question has been answered! 11/10/13)
 
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Even though you have searched your chickens for mites/lice, I would treat them for it anyway, and treat the coop (repeat all treatments at 7 days to kill the hatching ones). Toss all nesting material and bedding too.

There could be the red mite in the coop, which comes out at night and hides during the day. I do have to say that I can never find mites on my chickens when they have them...I just find them on ME, biting me. The feathers looking disheveled is classic.

The loss of weight is a possible sign of worms. Also diarrhea if they have it.

I don't know about your neighborhood chicken's problems. Hopefully someone else can help too.

Some vets will do a fecal test for worms for a small fee (false negatives are possible). I would recommend using a good dewormer instead of the natural remedies since they are losing weight and worms can kill chickens. So can mites.
http://healthybirds.umd.edu/Disease/Deworming Birds.pdf

There are lots of threads on safeguard and valbazen (both off label for chickens) and Wazine too. There needs to be a retreatment to break the life cycle of the worms. Make sure you pay attention to the tossing of eggs after giving medications, as they are not labeled for egglaying hens. A fecal test may be helpful as there are several types of worms.
 
Some of mine had the depluming mite, normal treatments wont kill it only thing that works for the depluming mite is sulfer. here is some info on the different mites. also I use valbazen to treat for worms 1/2 cc orally and again in 10 days then no eating of eggs for 15 day withdraw so 25 days total.
The northern fowl mite (Bdellonyssus sylviarum), also called the feather mite, is distributed widely over the United States, but is encountered less frequently than the chicken mite. It looks like the chicken mite but has a different life history.

Northern fowl mites normally spend their entire lives on chickens or other birds, but they are sometimes found in birds' nests and can breed on or off the birds. Their entire life cycle lasts 8 to 12 days. They can be found on the birds during the day. They move rapidly. If infested birds are picked up, the mites crawl over the handler's arms and sometimes on his clothing. They usually congregate about the bird's vent and give the feathers a soiled appearance. Their voracious bloodsucking habits may irritate the skin severely. Heavy infestations may develop in a short time.

Another mite that lives continuously on chickens and other birds is the scaly-leg mite (Knemidokoptes mutans). It attacks the unfeathered parts of the legs, burrows into the skin, and causes a condition like mange of livestock. It is generally found on older birds in the flock. It is less prevalent than the chicken mite and the northern fowl mite.

Scaly-leg mites usually are first noticed between the toes. As they multiply they work their way up the leg. They cause the scales to separate from the skin and the feet and legs to swell and become deformed. Occasionally they may spread to the comb and wattles. Scaly-leg mites are too small to be seen with the naked eye, but the symptoms they produce are detected easily.

The practice of culling old birds has eliminated the scaly-leg mite to a large degree, and it is now rarely seen except in small farm flocks.

Closely related to the scaly-leg mite is the depluming (or body-mange) mite of chickens and other birds (Knemidokoptes laevis var. gallinae). It also passes its entire life on the bird. It burrows into the skin at the base of the feathers. It is found only on the feathered areas of the body, usually over the back and sides. The mites cause intense irritation, so that the fowl may pluck out or break off their feathers. You can see this tiny mite only with a lens or microscope.

Most of the mites parasitic on chickens also can live on turkeys and other fowl, but they do not trouble turkeys quite so much as they do chickens. Apparently the management practices used for turkeys are not conducive to the propagation of mites. The most common mite affecting turkeys is the chicken mite. The northern fowl mite occasionally is troublesome. Both may be controlled with the same measures used against mites on chickens.

Severe infestations of mites do more damage than lice do. Mites that burrow into the skin produce intense skin irritation and heavy formation of scabs. Such injury retards the birds and spoils their appearance when dressed. Some species cause the loss of feathers, thereby interfering with the regulation of body heat. The nests of laying hens sometimes have so many chicken mites that the birds cannot remain in them.

Anemia, caused by the loss of blood, is common. Heavily parasitized fowl become thin, weak, and restless. Egg production falls. Young and laying birds may die. The injury due to mites that live in the internal organs has not been calculated, but may be sizable.

An indirect loss due to bloodsucking mites results from their ability to transmit disease, such as fowl cholera and Newcastle disease, among flocks.

For each of the four kinds of mites commonly found on chickens, a different method of attack is required. It is therefore essential to determine what species is present. If two or more species are present simultaneously, separate treatments will be necessary.

To CONTROL infestations of the chicken mite, an insecticide should be applied to the poultry house. It is not necessary to treat the birds.

The first step is to clean the building, nesting boxes, floor, and dropping pits thoroughly; burn the litter; and dispose of manure. Dried manure should be scraped from roosts and perches.

This cleaning should be followed by a liberal application of 0.5-percent Lindane or 2.5-percent DDT spray to the entire interior. Lindane or malathion applied to the roosts as a 1-percent paint is also satisfactory against the chicken mite. Lindane and malathion have a further advantage in that if the birds are returned to the buildings at the close of the day, all their lice will be destroyed.

With any of these insecticides, a second application may be required in 10 to 14 days, particularly in heavy infestations. It is not easy to eradicate chicken mites entirely.

Because the northern fowl mite remains on the birds most of the time, insecticidal dusts and dips applied directly to the birds are effective control measures.

Sulfur has been used for many years. The treatment of individual birds with powdered sulfur is satisfactory if liberal amounts of dust are used and if application is thorough. Dipping the birds in sulfur baths is laborious, but the results are gratifying. Dips may be prepared by mixing 2 ounces of finely ground sulfur (325 mesh) and 1 ounce of powdered soap or detergent to a gallon of lukewarm water. The feathers should be wet to the skin, and the head ducked. It is always advisable to dip fowl on warm, sunny days or in heated buildings. Treatment with either sulfur dusts or dips should be repeated as required.

An effective and quick treatment to eliminate northern fowl mites consists of applying to the roosts or litter a chemical, the vapors of which will destroy the mites on the birds. Undiluted nicotine sulfate (40 percent) may be applied with a brush to the roosts, perches, and other roosting surfaces, at the rate of 1 to 1.5 ounces for each 30 feet of roost. As nicotine sulfate volatilizes rapidly, it should be used shortly before roosting time. About three applications a week apart are required to end infestations. The buildings should be ventilated after nicotine sulfate is used.

Another easy and less hazardous way is to treat the litter with malathion. A 4-percent malathion dust applied to the litter only, 1 pound to 50 square feet of floor space, will control the northern fowl mite. The dust should be applied uniformly with a plunger or rotary hand duster or a shaker can or jar.

An old, simple, and effective treatment for the scaly-leg mite consists in dipping the feet and legs of infested birds in crude petroleum. Usually one treatment is enough, but a second treatment about a month later may be required in heavy infestations.

A mixture of 1 part of kerosene to 2 parts of raw linseed oil also may be used as a dip for the feet and legs. Repeated treatments every 2 to 4 weeks, until healing takes place, may be required with this mixture.

For controlling the depluming mite, old, established remedies continue to be effective. The birds may be dipped in a bath containing 2 ounces of wettable sulfur per gallon of water. If spot treatment on a few birds is all that seems necessary, a sulfur ointment can be rubbed into the affected areas of the skin. The ointment can be prepared by mixing 1 tablespoonful of flowers of sulfur in one-half cup of lard or vaseline.
 
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I would have a vet do a stool check and find out what kind, if any worms they have, and treat following his instructions. If they don't have worms it would be a added burden on them in their weakened state. You will lose more birds until you find out why. Your neighborhood chicken could be passing some disease or infecting yours through her droppings, etc.
 

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