Round Worms

[chickenloco]

I have had 10 out of 22 chicks die within a 5 month period. All chicks are 5-7 months old. Took #3 in for necropsy and was told he died of gout in his kidneys, it shouldn't affect the rest of my flock. Finally took #9 death in and was told she was full of round worms. A vet told me to treat with Wazine every seven days for a 3 week period. The state extension office called me and told me to, "cull the coop, move my coop to a completely new area and start over in the spring with chicks bought from a store." (I purchase these from a local farmer.) I was told the round worm eggs can live in the soil for 2-3 years and if I leave my chicks in the old area I will never get rid of the problem and can never bring new chicks into that area. I have $$$ galore into this coop. We have cemented the fencing into the ground to keep predators out and have an outdoor run that is about 60 by 60. My husband isn't to keen on starting this project over. How do I clean the soil to prevent re-infestation? Can it every be safe to raise babies there?

 

[tiki244]

I think if you remove so many inches of soil. and replace with new soil. (not sure of the inches)

Is this all that is wrong? Only worms? Definitely when you start over get brand new chicks from a good source>not a farmer who knows what he has.

What a terribley hard lesson. So sorry.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have dealt with large roundworms. I have dealt with eyeworm. I have dealt with smaller worms - I don't know which kind it was.

I have given worming medications and worming medications and worming med.....(!)

It is possible to have to treat several times a year for worms. I treat every 6 months. Depending on your soil, you might have to treat according to a schedule that you come up with. Just be sure to toss those eggs at least 2 weeks and realize that Wazine isn't approved for egglayers and doesn't kill anything but large roundworms. There are other wormers that folks use off-label - you can get your vet to comment on those if needed, like Valbazen, Safeguard, etc. and rotate wormers. It is always a good idea to get a vet to tell you the dosage and administration of medications. There are many threads on this on BYC too.

I don't consider roundworms to be a reason to cull the flock, myself.

I WOULD try to rotate your pasture. I WOULD till the soil under now and plant new grass/clover keeping the chickens off it (keeping them on a small amount of the pasture for now).

Just cross-fence your current enclosure to allow them to change pastures within your large run. When you sense the area getting too poopy and gross then move them to the next zone.

Put your chickens on a worming schedule and voila! I would follow your vet's advice about the Wazine and by all means feed them some scrambled eggs every few days if possible to boost their nutrition and help them, as worming medications are very hard on them.

Oh, so my whole point was that my every 6 month worming schedule is working for our soil, and pasture rotation is what I am going to be working on next. I have to figure out my fencing. I realize the ground is just TIRED.