Please please help my chickens have worms!!! I don’t know what it is or what I should do!

[Red Star 2019]

I went outside gave my chickens some treats and watched them happily scratch around when my one chicken had a foamy yellow poop I looked closer at it and saw worms in it! I have this stuff is it okay to use?View attachment 3646634

I use diatamaeous earth powder for worming. Put 1 TBSP to a gallon of drinking water, once a day. Do this for 7 days, then again in two months.

 

[Red Star 2019]

Birds (chickens) are a different ball game than mammals.
I used to use Ivermectin years ago in my chickens. It has lost its effectiveness as a wormer in chickens due to its overuse treating mites in poultry when its main purpose is a wormer. I found that out after seeing a couple of large roundworms in feces a couple of weeks after using Ivermectin.
Valbazen and Safeguard are Benzimidazoles. They are safe and very effective wormers in poultry. Valbazen is my go to wormer.

 

[Red Star 2019]

Ivermectin will not get rid of roundworms. Fendbendazole does.

 

[coach723]

I use diatamaeous earth powder for worming. Put 1 TBSP to a gallon of drinking water, once a day. Do this for 7 days, then again in two months.

Diatomacious earth is not effective for treating internal parasites. At all. Waste of time and money. If you know they have worms, use an effective medication.

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Do you have a bathroom scale? Take it outside, weigh yourself, then weigh each bird as you hold them. Subtract your weight, viola!

That is so smart! I don’t have one but I’ll look into getting one!

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Yes, @Farmgirl283420 I agree with @coach723 here. It's good that you have the medicated feed to make this easy, but it's still a really good idea to get used to handling your birds not just to administer medicine but also to check for mites, lice etc, crop checks, and feet for any scabs that could lead to bumblefoot. I think it's really important to check them all over at least once a month so problems like parasites or bumblefoot can be caught before they get too serious.

I have two roosters as well and if I get them at night, they are actually quite docile about being checked.
My senior male Lucio is quite formidable-looking but absolutely loves being preened. Just hold each chicken securely under one arm like a football with the wings tucked in between your body and the crook of your arm. Stroke their cheeks and waddles gently to calm them. My birds are free rangers and very independent, but I still make it a point to handle them so I can help them if they need it.

I can handle my birds they trust me I just don’t usually force them to do something they don’t like. I can pick them all up but usually I just let them climb in my lap. I’m just nervous about my roosters so that’s good to know!

 

[Farmgirl283420]

And I just wanted to confirm this will not hurt them if they don’t have worms right?

 

[tlcmurphy]

That is so smart! I don’t have one but I’ll look into getting one!

The only bad part is then you know what you weigh

 

[Farmgirl283420]

The only bad part is then you know what you weigh

 

[coach723]

It's not going to hurt them.