Roundworm found in droppings - how to worm molting chickens

[Michaels1715]

I read something that says wormers in the same class as Safeguard should not be used during molt because it can cause stress bars. I'll try to find that link.

This is why consulting with a vet is a god idea. A vet might prescribe one drug instead of another if the fecal egg count suggested that a sudden die off would risky.

Your drug options for roundworms while molting are:
Pyrantel Pamoate
Ivermectin
Piperazine (Wazine)
Hygromycin B (Rooster Booster)

If you don't care about how the feather *might* look, you could use Safeguard, Valbazen, etc."

There are many posts that say Valbazen kills worms "slowly", but I asked about this and no one could tell me why, they just said "that's what someone said", so I'm not sure there's any truth to it.

-Kathy

Kathy,
Thanks SO much for all of the great information! I had already read that for pacas, use 4x the goat dose of safeguard - but I hadn't looked into the Valbazen yet, so I really appreciate learning about the Valbazen warnings for pregnant alpacas, especially - since both of mine are (hopefully) pregnant.

Okay, so the possible fret marks from using safeguard during molt - do they just affect the appearance of the feathers, or do they weaken or damage the feathers?

Do you - or anyone else - know how common of an occurance a "worm overload" (killing too many worms at one time and hurting the chicken as a result) is when using safeguard? For example, is it a rare occurrence – I'd just been taking a slight chance? Or is it something that happens quite often when birds are severely infected?

Unfortunately, I don't have a chicken vet in the area. My local vet will treat injuries only – not illnesses or health issues. There is a small animal hospital about an hour away that treats chickens. However, that vet just changed chickens to the category of "exotics" – which as far as I can tell, just made the base fee to be more than quadruple what it used to be - or what it would be for another small animal
I actually don't live that far from the New Bolton center, though (they cared for Barbaro - The Kentucky derby winner that shattered his leg during the Preakness), and I've heard that they treat/diagnose chickens as well as large animals, so maybe I'll try calling them.

Oh my - my phone just went nuts and posted my reply before I was even done typing!

So editing to add:
I really like the idea of ivermectin pour-on, especially because I have had problems with the northern fowl mite here - although the worst time is always in the early spring - when they haven't been able to dust bathe regularly throughout the winter due to frozen ground.
However, in that first link (I think) that I posted someone who seemed pretty knowledgable about worms shared the results of an ivermectin experiment - that said they did not see great control of roundworms from it.... (If
I read it right and am remembering correctly...)
Nothing can be simple, can it?!?

Any suggestions on where to buy Valbazen, even though at this point I think that one is low on my list of choices - mostly because I don't want to take any chances with my alpacas.

Now unfortunately, when I went to check on my chickens last night, I found one of my hens was barely able to walk - she is limping terribly. I can't see anything obviously wrong with her foot – I don't think it's like mites – I don't think it's bumble foot. I soaked her feet in a lukewarm Epsom salt bath for about 10 minutes (and I hope that was OK to do for her!), and decided I'd wait and see how she was doing today before making any decisions on what to do with her.

I'll check in later today or tonight. Have a wonderful day everyone, and thanks again for the info/help/advice!

~Sharon

 

[Michaels1715]

Okay, this is what I did;
2 weeks ago today, I wormed with Wazine. Since I already had already purchased the liquid goat safeguard, I initially decided I would follow up with that after 10 days. However, come day 10, I changed my mind and decided that if I was going to have to catch all of my chickens and make them drink wormer, I might as well use Valbazen.

Since my question of where to buy Valbazen had never been answered, I searched some more until I found a post where someone recommended Jeffers Vet supply. So I ordered the $40+ bottle of Valbazen from them. It arrived today.

Doing another search on how I should worm them, exactly (I've never given my chickens oral medication before - and I'm not looking forward to doing it since I won't have anyone to help me!) I came across the page where Kathy gave this link

Link removed by BYC Support

which is Valbazen for only $14.75! Oh how I wish I had seen this before! However, that doesn't include shipping (the shipping estimator said it would be around $10 to ship) and I can't find out any information as to whether or not wholesalekennel offers free shipping for purchases over a certain amount like Jeffers does. I could sell the big bottle of Valbazen on eBay for more than I paid, actually, but I guess it's not worth it at this point. Plus, I probably shouldn't wait another 5-7 days to get the cheaper bottle.

So my question now is:
If I worm them tomorrow, it will be 15 days since the Wazine (I know I should have done it 10 days after but I didn't). Do I then need to worm them again with Valbazen 10 days later? Or is it still close enough to the first worming that I only need to give them Valbazen once?

My other question is:
Has anyone tried giving the Valbazen with food - like a piece of bread? I like that idea better than trying to force liquid down the throats of all my chickens by myself, but I'm not sure if it'll work or not. It seems like it would take a fairly large amount of bread to absorb all of the medicine. And if it tastes bad, they might not eat it.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Sharon