PSA for deworming your chickens *pictures

[RumneyRoost]

So I don’t like to indiscriminately deworm my animals so as not to contribute to resistance.
I was able to get fecals done on my horses, only one of three had any significant work load.
Because of COVID protocols the clinic that I use for my dog and chickens has been hesitant to do fecals without reason, and the turnaround time is over a month.

Anyway, my girls were all laying regularly so I wasn’t too concerned.
Over the last month two of my younger girls stopped laying, but no indication that they were starting to molt.
Two of my older ladies had also started having loose stools which seemed odd since it hasn’t been that hot out.
Other than that they’ve been acting normal, no obvious weight loss.

Well I opted to deworm with Eqvalan Gold (Ivermectin & praziquantel) since I had a tube at home. Gave it last night, and this morning I found two poops with dead roundworms!

 

[bhp]

I’ve dewormed cattle, but never chickens, so I’m curious how you administered this. Do you mix the tube of dewormer with their feed?

 

[Chicalina]

well done on identifying a potential problem and treating them quickly for it

 

[RumneyRoost]

I’ve dewormed cattle, but never chickens, so I’m curious how you administered this. Do you mix the tube of dewormer with their feed?

It depends on the type of dewormer.
I've used piperazine (Wazine) in the past, it can be added to the water with no egg withdrawal. It's only effective against large roundworms though, not tapeworms, etc.


I'm in Canada so it's difficult to get anything for poultry OTC. So typically have to use something off label.
Eqvalan Gold/Zimectrin Gold (Ivermectin & praziquantel) is a paste dewormer for horses, Safeguard (fenbendazole) is another paste dewormer for horses. These treat a broader range of worm/parasite infestations. Since I don't sell my eggs I'm not too concerned about withdrawal periods, two of the six hens aren't laying now anyway.

For the paste I was able to trick each of them last night by putting it on some egg. I definitely lost their trust a little doing that They might still be skeptical in 10 days, so I think I'll just have to syringe it in to make sure everyone gets a full dose.

 

[RumneyRoost]

Just an update.
My 1.5yo EE who hadn’t laid in a couple weeks laid a perfect green egg yesterday. Could be a coincidence, but I suspect it has something to do with the worms.