New chicken is gonna be dead from worms in a matter of hours! ARGH!

[rivers2011]

I picked up two new cockerels on Saturday hoping that in time, we'd have friendly half-Euskal Oiloa/half-Columbia Rock babies in a year. One of two was extremely timid and stayed in one corner - we figured that he was just shy and needed time to get used to his surroundings. Well, his lethargy was growing, and his comb started to pale. A wonderful vet came by to look at him just a few minutes ago and told us that he's got a bad case of worms and will be dead very shortly. She said that I should prepare a grave immediately. ARGH!!! I had a huge amount of trust in the breeder and so I had mixed the boys with my flock starting on Sunday. Now my beautiful, fat, healthy girls need deworming too and that's the part that frustrates me to no end. At the same time, I don't think they were given to me with any kind of malicious intent. She seems like a very honest person and I'll have to inform her because she may have an epidemic on her hands that she doesn't know about yet. But, I just want to remind everyone: PLEASE WAIT THE 30-45 DAYS BEFORE INTEGRATING NEW BIRDS! No matter what!

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Have you tried worming him ASAP? What types of worms did she tell you they were??

 

[tnchickenut]

I bought some sebright roos from a top breeder who happens to live close enough I could pick up instead of ship... anyways... they pooed in the car and there were worms, so I used Wazine for the first and only time ever and it cleared it up... they were fine after that.

Also pale comb to me sounds a bit like mites in this season. Is the vet a bird vet? Farm vet? Cat and dog vet who was nice enough to look a the chicken? The reason I ask is alot of mites can go un-noticed unless you are a chicken person and can look for them. Ivomec pour on (for cattle) will clear that up too... but mites on one means mites on more of your chickens. Pick them up, flip them upside down, after a second they calm down.... look down to their skin between feathers from their legs back to their vent.... if they have any kind of mites, they will be there. And there are more than one type of mite.

Somewhere on here is the dosage for Ivomec on chickens... it is the best thing for mites... other things may work or may not - meanwhile you are wasting time and money figuring it out.

 

[rivers2011]

Okay, I'll have to try and find some of those meds today at the Feed Store - they don't carry anything for chickens, besides feed, so hopefully it's there.
He just sits down with droopy eyes and doesn't eat or drink or scratch himself or anything. Can mites make a chicken act like that?

 

[rivers2011]

.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Mites can outright kill a chicken. Adams Flea and Tick dip for dogs will immediately kill mites and lice. The spray works as well. Seven 5% dust works well as treatment and prevention. Mites are something I am really picky about...

 

[rivers2011]

and she was a regular vet (my parents' friend) who was nice enough to take a look. However, there are tons of farms around the area, so i'd be surprised if she didn't work with farm animals...though it'd be mostly cows, deer, and some sheep.

 

[Cetawin]

Look for ivermectin, valbazan pour on at the farm store...put 4 - 6 drops on the birds back at the base of the neck. Do not waste time with wazine...it only kills one type of worm. Repeat in 10 days. It is for large livestock ai use drops from an eye dropper.

Feed them some good protein like scrambled eggs it salmon. Keep the bedding changed and area cleaned.

Mites make a bird anemic and will make them weak and lethargic.

 

[rivers2011]

is there a way to treat the yard, by any chance? i'm afraid that bc they've been pooping all over the grass that the worms will stay there and cause repeat infestations for the chickens later on.

 

[rivers2011]

and also, mites makes sense. I've been getting TONS of these red bug bites all over my body the day we got those new chickens. They were put into a cardboard box with holes in the sides and I carried them like that in my lap for the 1.5 hour car-ride home. Later that day I started itching like crazy and discovered 20 new bug bites all over my body.