Pumpkins Kill ALL Worms???

[erijn5]

I read somewhere on here that pumpkins kills ALL worms in chickens. Is this true? And how long do you feed the pumpkins for to make sure they are good and cleaned out?


Thanks for any input!

 

[speckledhen]

Not true, no. It is more of a preventative to keep roundworms from becoming an overload in their systems, but curcurbit in the seeds won't kill tapeworms or gapeworm.

It's not a cure-all, certainly, but it does paralyze worms long enough for them to expel them if you give a molasses flush just afterward, especially.

 

[erijn5]

Not true, no. It is more of a preventative to keep roundworms from becoming an overload in their systems, but curcurbit in the seeds won't kill tapeworms or gapeworm.

It's not a cure-all, certainly, but it does paralyze worms long enough for them to expel them if you give a molasses flush just afterward, especially.

TY!

 

[Kacey's Krazee's]

What is a molasses flush? How do you mix it, and how do you administer it?

I too thought that pumpkin was an organic wormer. Thanks for the clarification! Just need to be educated on the hows of the flush.

Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

The pumpkin seed does not kill all the roundworms. It paralyzes some of them so they lose their grip on the intestinal walls so they can be expelled from the chickens system. This does not eliminate all the roundworms from their system, it just reduces the worm load. Like many other things, a few worms is not going to be a problem. It's when the worm numbers get large that it drains them. Though I agree that no worms is better than even a few worms.

It is the seeds that contain the chemical compound that paralyzes the roundworms. The seeds of pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, and gourds all contain some of this substance in differing amounts. I think pumpkins are the best but the others have it too.

The pumpkin pulp does not contain this substance, but the pulp can also help loosen their bowels. So feeding both seeds and the pumpkin pulp together helps. I don't do the molasses flush so I'll leave that to SpeckledHen.

The seeds are considered an organic wormer. As with many things "organic" it does not totally eliminate the problem, it just helps keep it manageable.