My flock has roundworms!

[natyvidal]

So I went on a week long trip leaving my daughter in charge. According to her description she saw roundworms. I've read about them and individual treatment. Is there anything I can use in their water? And treat again in 7-10 days? If so, for how long should I put it in the water? And is there egg retrieval? Prefer to use a medicine without it. For long periods!
Thank you for your help.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would use Safeguard (Fenbendazole) or Valbazen (Albendazole) to deworm.

For Roundworms Only, Safeguard dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

Valbazen dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

Withdrawal period for either one if 14 days after the last dose. Some people observe a withdrawal period, especially if they have sensitivity to the above medications or if they sell their eggs.

 

[natyvidal]

Thank you for your help! I have more than 75 chickens in my flock. Hard to treat them individually. Is the anything I can put in their water that I can treat all at the same time? I am 71 and no one to help me with them.

 

[Eggcessive]

One problem with worming in the water is that you never know if the chickens are drinking enough of it to get the correct dosage. This pidgeon/bird product below is being used by some people for 2 consecutive days in the water, and contains 2 of the same ingredients for use in Worm Out Gel, at a better price:
https://jedds.com/products/wormer-deluxe-powder-jedds

I have used the Worm Out Gel before, but it is expensive and a little hard to mix.

 

[dawg53]

Thank you for your help! I have more than 75 chickens in my flock. Hard to treat them individually. Is the anything I can put in their water that I can treat all at the same time? I am 71 and no one to help me with them.

You dont have to individually worm all your birds in one day.
You can worm them orally by breed, for example; RIR's and BR's the first day, BO's and EE's the second day, Sex Links and mixes the third day, or however you see fit.
Just remember the order in which they were wormed when you worm them for the second time. For that many birds, I recommend Valbazen in the 500ml container. Dosage is 1/2ml given orally to each chicken, repeat again in 10 days to kill worms hatched from eggs since the first dosing.

You can worm them by coops, if you have that many coops; one or two a day until all your birds have been wormed.

If they are all same breed; pen one third of your flock the first day. After you worm each bird, use a black magic marker and mark the comb, mark it so it can be easily seen by you. That way you know they were wormed.

The second day, pen one third of the unmarked birds and worm them, then mark them with the magic marker.

The third day, repeat the procedure, then you're done worming.

If you still want to put a wormer in water for them to drink, use Levamisole. There is a 17 day egg withdrawal period.
As mentioned by Eggcessive, you wont know if they drank the treated water, or drank enough of it to be effective. Sick wormy birds wont drink at all. Chickens drink less in cooler/cold temps.

Perhaps your daughter can hold a chicken for you while dose the her with the syringe without a needle.

 

[Eggcessive]

The wormer deluxe powder above in post 4 has 3 different wormers, Oxfendazole, praziquantel and levamisole. But it must be used for 2 days.

I like Valbazen the best, and one treatment and again in 10 days. Dawg53 is one of the best experts on BYC about worms. If you should see any more worms in your droppings, post a picture here. They (roundworms) are very long, off white, and skinny.

 

[FunClucks]

I have had to worm 17 chickens at once, and had to get a second person to help. We took them off the roost first thing in the morning before it got really light outside. Took 1.5-2 hours total the first time we did it. Morning before sunup works best, because they have an empty crop and the medicine works better. You can use a red head lamp so they don't wake up. My helper picks up a chicken, I wrap it in a towel and have my helper hold it, I pull down on the wattles and administer the medicine in a syringe. Pre-load your syringes and lay them flat in a container before you go in the coop. Have enough for each bird if possible - it's a pain to go inside, wash all the syringes, and reload them again in the middle of worming the coop, also you don't want to contaminate your main container of medicine. Put the wormed chicken elsewhere (not back on the roost).

I've tried to worm chickens later in the day, and it was an absolute PITA and took longer cause we had to chase the chickens.

There's a great Article in the Articles section of this site about how to administer medicine to a chicken using a syringe - technique is very important or you could kill them by accident, but once I knew what to do, I found it easy to do it correctly.

They really don't like bath towels anymore. It's always a sign something unpleasant is about to happen to them.

 

[dawg53]

I have had to worm 17 chickens at once, and had to get a second person to help. We took them off the roost first thing in the morning before it got really light outside. Took 1.5-2 hours total the first time we did it. Morning before sunup works best, because they have an empty crop and the medicine works better. You can use a red head lamp so they don't wake up. My helper picks up a chicken, I wrap it in a towel and have my helper hold it, I pull down on the wattles and administer the medicine in a syringe. Pre-load your syringes and lay them flat in a container before you go in the coop. Have enough for each bird if possible - it's a pain to go inside, wash all the syringes, and reload them again in the middle of worming the coop, also you don't want to contaminate your main container of medicine. Put the wormed chicken elsewhere (not back on the roost).

I've tried to worm chickens later in the day, and it was an absolute PITA and took longer cause we had to chase the chickens.

There's a great Article in the Articles section of this site about how to administer medicine to a chicken using a syringe - technique is very important or you could kill them by accident, but once I knew what to do, I found it easy to do it correctly.

They really don't like bath towels anymore. It's always a sign something unpleasant is about to happen to them.

Thank you. I couldnt have said it any better!

The advantage when worming them early in the morning is that the chickens havnt eaten and are starving. So are the worms, and they will be at their weakest. The wormer will be more effective eliminating the worms.

After worming, it's best to withhold feeding chickens for at least one hour. This gives time for the wormer to get into the bloodstream and do its job.
Then go ahead and feed your chickens small rations building up to full rations as time goes by in the morning. That way, they wont gorge feed possibly causing impacted crop or gizzard.

 

[FunClucks]

Thank you. I couldnt have said it any better!

The advantage when worming them early in the morning is that the chickens havnt eaten and are starving. So are the worms, and they will be at their weakest. The wormer will be more effective eliminating the worms.

After worming, it's best to withhold feeding chickens for at least one hour. This gives time for the wormer to get into the bloodstream and do its job.
Then go ahead and feed your chickens small rations building up to full rations as time goes by in the morning. That way, they wont gorge feed possibly causing impacted crop or gizzard.

In my case, I wasn't able to withhold food for long or to feed small portions as time goes by in the morning because I had to go off to work. So to compensate I wormed them earlier in the morning, and put blocks under the feeders so no one could eat until I said so. By the time the sun fully came up and they could see enough to eat, the chickens had had the wormer in their system for at least an hour. And they started eating not too far off from their normal morning breakfast time. I watched, but didn't see any evidence they were gorging themselves, so I think it worked out okay in my case.

 

[dawg53]

In my case, I wasn't able to withhold food for long or to feed small portions as time goes by in the morning because I had to go off to work. So to compensate I wormed them earlier in the morning, and put blocks under the feeders so no one could eat until I said so. By the time the sun fully came up and they could see enough to eat, the chickens had had the wormer in their system for at least an hour. And they started eating not too far off from their normal morning breakfast time. I watched, but didn't see any evidence they were gorging themselves, so I think it worked out okay in my case.

Great job!