Quickie Deworming question

[ladybrasa]

I’m sure the answer is somewhere on here ...

Just saw a roundworm in some chicken poo! Not surprising - I suspect the soul around here is littered with dormant eggs. Last fall I treated with Levamisole when I saw roundworms under the roost, in water. This was before the majority of pullets were laying eggs, so I didn’t loose too many with the week withdrawals. Also I know someone who has a pet pig and Levamisole IS a pig dewormer ...

Anyway, all chickens are pretty much laying now and I should use a different dewormer anyway. Is there another dewormer for rounds (on or off label) with little to no egg withdrawal time? Thank you!!

 

[Eggcessive]

How many chickens do you have to worm? All good proven wormers require a 2 week egg withdrawal, although some people ignore this and still eat the eggs. Valbazen (albendazole) is used in chickens, sheep and cows, but the drug is also used in humans. SafeGuard liquid goat wormer or Panacur equine paste are good as well. Those are safer than levamisole, but need to be given orally to each chicken once and again in 10 days. @casportpony has a thread somewhere that gives a dosage for SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer that can be mixed in mushy chicken feed and given over 5 days, and that requires no egg withdrawal. There also is a very expensive SafeGuard Aquasol in a large jug for cattle that does not require an egg withdrawal. Most people with chickens seldom buy such an expensive product, but it is available online. People who worm often and live in hot and humid climates, tend to rotate different wormers to make sure that the worms do not become resistant. Let me know if you need dosages for any of the above.

 

[ladybrasa]

I’ve got 28 adults. I’ve also got chicks, but am not worried about them at this time as their exposure is extremely low. It will be very difficult for me to individually medicate the chickens, even at night, as a few a super flighty (older ones are not socialized) and I won’t have assistance. It would be tremendously helpful for something to add to the water or maybe food. Yes, I did read about the Aquasol ... yeah too pricey!! However, what about it makes that fenbendazole formulation have no withdrawal but not others? Is it simply because they did the studies on that particular product, and this hadn’t been done on others?

I do have access to these forms of fenbendazole
https://www.chewy.com/panacur-suspe..._g8TW22UJVBU9Yd4by40kFfzJtbazVLcaAvW7EALw_wcB

https://entirelypetspharmacy.com/pa...JWnHQbKZB_RwEzyfFFCcOIqL61a6mDAYaAkHfEALw_wcB

Thank you!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a more economical version of SafeGuard and it is the 10% version, abailable at TSC and other feed stores:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...MIgJnazIaI8AIVwjY4Ch27Gw5HEAsYASABEgLg_PD_BwE

They sell it in larger amounts as well. I will look for the dosage for the 5 day in the food dosage.
https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail...MIk9beoYeI8AIV-m1vBB33UwVsEAQYBCABEgJZKPD_BwE

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is the dosage for. 5 days in the food in post 1:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/safeguard-mash-zero-day-egg-withdrawal.1254653/

If giving it it each bird orally in the usual dosage, give 0.23 ml per pound for 5 days. That dosage requires a 14 day egg epwithdrawal time. If it is given once and again in 10 days, that will only treat roundworms.

 

[ladybrasa]

The Aquasol dosing is “ 1 mg fenbendazole/kg bw/day,” from this European review for no egg withdrawal. Study is pretty tiny, but apparently good enough for government agencies:

https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/docume...-x-03-epar-assessment-report-extension_en.pdf

Says well tolerated in all species, including human BUT not a lot of studies in humans out there...

 

[ladybrasa]

Oh that’s helpful. I am able to get the forms of fenbendazole mentioned above at a greatly reduced cost and in quantities less than a whole jug. I’ll have to compare concentrations. Gonna have to think on this. Or maybe I’ll have to make sure the chooks would even eat a mash, cuz I feed pelleted foods.

 

[Eggcessive]

The dosage for the mash is in post 5. Pelleted feed is easily made into a mash by adding water and mixing it in a few minutes.

 

[ladybrasa]

I suppose I’m going to focus on just the roundworm dose for now, since I know that’s what they have, and am concerned about egg waste (or one very happy pigpig). I do have 4 broody hens, that I think I could, and probably should give them orally. I wouldn’t think it’s a problem, but fenbendazole should be safe for broodies, right?

And dumb question - assuming a moist mash would not work well in a gravity feeder but best dispensed in a bowl or something of that sort?

Also I do not have a scale for weights - any rough idea on weights? I could probably look up at averages as many are from hatcheries. They usually list average weights, I think. I have various, mostly medium/large birds like Marans, Orpingtons, Cochins, Brahmas, various Easter/Olive Eggers, Wyandotte, and other mainly dual purpose. I do have a Mosaic roo and hen that are supposed to be standard, but are so small!