Quick and Easy Questions (Really).

[JLeigh]

My 10 week old guineas are on dirt floors in the pen and coop with heavy straw. Should I be worming them? If so, with what? I hear horror stories about people worming chickens (with Wazine) and their flocks of youngsters keeling over dead. I've put some diatomaceous earth scratched into the dirt down - - is that enough?

Also, will play sand in a "bath box" suffice as grit?

I should already know these things but I don't. Thanks!

 

[PeepsCA]

I don't de-worm my youngsters for the first time until in the late Winter/early Spring before they will start laying. Wazine only kills round worms, so I use Safeguard for goats in their water for 3 days (easiest), then repeat in another 10 days. The next time I de-worm them I'll rotate to Valbazen or Ivermectin (given orally..and requires catching each bird, not easy or fun), and then repeat the fiasco in 10 days. I've never lost a bird to any de-wormings.

DE doesn't do much for worms, but it will help control mites and lice.

 

[JLeigh]

Peeps, I'm a little confused. Do you mean I can worm them starting anytime between now and late winter/early spring, and to do so on your recommended schedule? I'm just squeamish because of the horror stories I heard about worming healthy sub-adult chickens when it wasn't necessary. I'll use what you recommend FOR SURE.

They're on the ground, and that worries me. I actually got to cop a feel of one's keel bone (it was dusk in the coop), and it was meaty enough, so I have no visible reason to think they currently have worms, but who wants to wait for that?

Sorry if I'm being dense.

Edit: I was being dense. I re-read your post and it makes sense now. It was me, not you. .

And thanks.

 

[karensc]

PeepsCA, do you know the dosage for the Safeguard for goats. I want to use this with my birdies and I am going to be extra cautious because I think Timmi may have had gapeworms, so I want a wormer that kills everything and when should this be done? Spring? Teddy has been wormed several times in the past month because of Timmi--he was right be her side when she died, and there was no seperating them. He would not have it.

Karen

 

[PeepsCA]

Peeps, I'm a little confused. Do you mean I can worm them starting anytime between now and late winter/early spring, and to do so on your recommended schedule? I'm just squeamish because of the horror stories I heard about worming healthy sub-adult chickens when it wasn't necessary. I'll use what you recommend FOR SURE.

They're on the ground, and that worries me. I actually got to cop a feel of one's keel bone (it was dusk in the coop), and it was meaty enough, so I have no visible reason to think they currently have worms, but who wants to wait for that?

Sorry if I'm being dense.

Edit: I was being dense. I re-read your post and it makes sense now. It was me, not you. .

And thanks.

LOL sorry L, actually that was my fault, I typoed quite a few times and didn't read what I had typed before I hit Submit.. so what I posted didn't exactly make a whole lotta sense

whoops.

I try not to de-worm my birds too frequently because... 1) it's hard on the birds, 2) using de-wormers too often helps the residual worms build up a resistance, 4) there is usually a withdrawal time for meat and egg consumption, (plus I have read that it can mess with egg fertility/viability but have not experienced, I just don't set eggs until at least 14 days after I have de-wormed), 5) it's pain in the rear, 6) it's a pain in the rear and... 7) it's a pain in the rear... lol.

I'm all about my flocks producing eggs for me and not feeding any more of them to my dogs than I have to, lol... so the timing of when I de-worm my flocks is somewhat crucial for me, and since a full cycle of de-worming takes 26 days minimum (or longer depending on which wormer I use) that would be a lotta eggs for my dogs in the early Spring if my pullets start laying earlier than I anticipated). So I have it worked out to fit my routine; I de-worm before they start to lay and then again after they all stop laying, no eggs wasted. I'm not saying that's when you should de-worm your birds, that's just when it works best for my flocks. Some people only de-worm once a year or only when they see worms in the birds' poop, some people de-worm their birds once a month... some people never de-worm, ever lol.

I personally have never had to de-worm youngsters of any age, have never seen worms in any of my birds' poops, or had any worm issues with any of my birds in between my 2 de-wormings... but my climate here in CA is a lot different than yours in GA, and I know climate plays a huge part in parasite problems and how susceptible birds are to developing heavy worm loads etc. You could always take a combined stool sample from your flock to a vet and have them do a fecal on it to get a better idea of how much of a worm load your birds have (and the kind of worms they have) so you know what you are dealing with and what you will need to treat them with.

Hope I made sense this time

 

[JLeigh]

LOL. Your first post made enough sense - I just was in a fog. NOT unusual for me. But the second post gave me a lot of good information, too, so I'm ready to worm!

My guineas can't free-range, so I think worms are more of a threat. I like the idea of worming twice a year as a preventative. Once a month seems really excessive. Not ready to take stool samples to a vet - I'll save that fun for a rainy day, when I think there's a real problem. .

Do they need grit if there is a dust box with sand in it in the pen? I don't want to load 'em up with too much grit. .

 

[PeepsCA]

Are there small stones/pebbles in the soil dirt of the coop/pen floor? If so they probably have found plenty already on their own, but you could test the waters and put out a container of it then watch to see if they gorge on it. I've never had an issue with my keets gorging on it... my Silkie chicks however are another story

 

[JLeigh]

I'll do that, thanks Peeps. It can't hurt - but I don't have many if any pebbles, small rocks in the pen. It's almost dust now. I do have the sand/dusting box, but wasn't sure if that was enough. My chickens free-range so I'm not worried about them needing grit - just the guineas. .

 

[karensc]

do you know the dosage for the Safeguard (panacur) that TSC sells for goats? I know some people use this same de-wormer for their guineas and I am going to wait until Spring which is around March to de-worm my 2 birds, but I need the correct dosage to put into the water. Catching the birds is not an easy task for me. They will come up to me but run when I put my hand out.

 

[PeepsCA]

Safeguard is used off label for poultry, and I really don't like to offer any dosage info on it because of that... sorry Karen, just one of quite a few areas I can't help with.

You can do a search here on BYC and it will most likely give you a page of threads talking about the dosages that everyone uses for their poultry, and different ways to give it. Then you can decide what works for you and your birds. Make sure you read several threads, not just one. Not all are correct.