PLEASE HELP!! Ticks AND Worms!

[Joplus]

I'm so grossed out to have to even explain this awful situation. I have 6 laying hens about 2 years old. I have known I have poultry ticks for a long time. I live in AZ and use lights in the winter so the ticks never freeze. They have a coop but free range. Once I month we clean the coop, throw away bedding, drench it in orange guard and DE. This just keeps the infestation in check. Then a hen lays down and we know she's having a hard time fighting them. We soak her in orange guard and DE and let her recooperate inside. Buffy survived 3 laying down incidents last summer. Now Pearl laid down. We treated her, she's inside laying down and I see a WORM in her vent!! Ahhh! Okay so up late researching everything here. I'm thinking Ivermec sheep drench for the ticks, and I read on Amazon its for worms. Then want to use valbazen for the worms? Or can I use Ivermec? The plan today is to tear apart the coop, rebuild, caulk and soak in Orange Guard. I don't care about being chemical free or the eggs right now I just want parasite free hens. I also recently hatched 28 chicks and I am scared to put them out in the rabbit hutch out there. And I can't get the worms out of the ground and I can't keep the wild birds away. So just treat my flock for ticks and worms a couple times a year? And last question, likely Pearl will die? Should I have DH take care of her now? Thanks a million

 

[Joplus]

OH. MY. GOD. We are dissembling the coop. The infestation is soooooo much worse than I could have ever imagined. I had to bow out on this mission and leave it to DH. I need help please. Once we build a new coop what do we do with the hens? And what about the guinea pigs and rabbits are they in danger from the poultry ticks too. Any ideas if I need to treat them too. My stomach hurts and my skin is crawling. I will post a pic so you know how dire my situation. This is a board we exposed (and I just about died)

 

[luvmigrls]

I don't have the answers but would absolutely keep the babies in a place that is for sure free of any thing nasty!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Joplus, I returned your PM but after seeing this post and understanding the extent of the infestation I think it's time to hit them with everything. I would also use permethrin and sevin in addition to the Orange Guard. I might also be inclined to try Ivermectin.

 

[Joplus]

Ok thank you. Amongst all this is scorpions, now I am crying. Cactus feeds is closed today but they don't carry a lot. I might try Higley feed. Any other ideas where I can buy these products? What's crazy is 5 of my hens are healthy and laying amidst this mayhem, its really shocking. Just Pearl is not well. I am so fortunate my new chicks haven't been exposed before I caught this. And that all my baby bunnies, etc are ok. Thank you again so much.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I don't know Gilbert so I can't point you in the right direction, but we have a lot of people from Gilbert on the Arizona thread, it might be worth asking there.

 

[seminolewind]

I don't understand. Laying down incidents? Like when they are sick? Maybe after stripping the coop and worming and killing all the ticks, you should make a new plan of care on how to keep your chickens healthy rather than wait until someone's sick.

I agree with Gallo, permithrin and sevin. But I think someone was talking about how ivermectin doesn't work? Correct me if I'm wrong. But the best things right now are valbazen and safeguard.

 

[dawg53]

Ivermectin will take care of the ticks, but not worms. Dont use ivermectin in conjunction with permethrin or sevin. You can use permethrin or sevin on the ticks and valbazen or safeguard on the worms as Seminolewind stated.

 

[Joplus]

Ivermectin will take care of the ticks, but not worms. Dont use ivermectin in conjunction with permethrin or sevin. You can use permethrin or sevin on the ticks and valbazen or safeguard on the worms as Seminolewind stated.

Well we rebuilt the coops. They are caulked and painted with white roofing paint. I treated the hens with ivermec pour on for the ticks and valbazen orally and they were fine. I'm ready to follow up treatment. I still have ticks. They go onto the ceiling where they can be easily seen and squished now with the new tick proof coops. So far I've used orange guard, DE and ivermec and nothing works. I think I'd like to try Sevin dust. Why can't I use Sevin and Ivomec at the same time? Thanks