Roundworms in my chicken. How do I get rid of them?

[Harun]

Chicks are good, but my adult chickens, not so much. All of them are fine except one of my hens. She was acting broody and when not in the egg basket, was walking around all puffed up. She has never acted that broody before, so I knew something was up by I never would've guessed she had worms. Today I took her out of the box because her crop was empty and she hasn't eaten in about 2 days. She suddenly pooped and I realized there were worms in it! I don't know how she got it, but I want to help her out. I heard apple cider vinegar is a good deworming agent so I was planning on using that, but currently I don't have it. I do have Diatomaceous Earth and was wondering if that works too.
Here's a picture of the worms. Let me know what I can so to help her because I want to remove these worms ASAP.

 

[Eggcessive]

What is your location? Those are large roundworms, and there could be other types, but many types and the worm eggs are too small to be seen without a microscope. Valbazen 1/2 ml given orally to a 5-6 pound chicken, and repeated in 10 days is a good treatment. Some also use SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer or Panacur horse paste 1/4 ml per pound of weight given orally for 5 straight days.

ACV nor DE will treat worms.

 

[dawg53]

@TropicalBabies & @Banana01 Misinformation and outdated information are contained in Poultrydmv & VetGRAM & Heritageacresmarket.
For example: Hygromycin B and Piperazine aka Wazine have been pulled off the market here in the U.S. for quite awhile. Albendazole (Valbazen) does kill flukes.
DE, VermX, ACV, pumpkin seeds are worthless as wormers. Garlic may cause anemia in chickens.
Mixing wormers in water is not very effective. You dont know if a bird drank enough of the mixture to be effective, wormy birds are too sick to drink it.
The Safeguard liquid goat wormer doesnt mix well in water and is ineffective; been there, done that. I've havnt used Safeguard AquaSol and never will.

Ivermectin products may or may not be effective as wormers in poultry. Both Ivermectin and Eprinex have been overused to treat mites in poultry for years and years here in the U.S. The primary purpose of these wormers are to treat worms, not just mites. I've read that most poultry mites are resistant to Ivermectin as well. I'm not surprised.
My experience has been that both products are ineffective in treating worms in poultry, not to mention a long withdrawal period after using Ivermectin.

I'm not going to be posting all kinds of links to prove what's been stated. Most folks know I stay up to date on wormers, what works and what doesnt work.
Experience is the best teacher. I worm my birds monthly.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

If you can get your hands on Wazine, that is the best wormer for round worms. Otherwise, Safeguard (fenbendazole) goat wormer will cover a number of worm types. You can get that in the goat section. BYC has dosage.

DE *may* help keep worm loads down BEFORE an infestation, but it won't rid an infestation.

Apple Cider Vinegar does not rid worm loads. It merely helps acidify the gut to keep it healthier, which *may* help prevent some worm build up making the gut less friendly to them.

However once you have this kind of infestation, the commercial wormers are the best choice. And worm all the chickens as it certainly has passed to others.

As to how did this happen? You own chickens that live in our natural world. That's how it happens. Worms get tracked in from wild birds and begin to build up in the soil. Chickens eat the soil with the worm eggs. Poop. Repeat.

By the time you actually see worms in the stool, you've got an overload.

LofMc

 

[Eggcessive]

Many BYC members here have been saying for years that ivermectin has lost effectiveness against treating chicken worms. Valbazen and SafeGuard work, and both are very safe to use. They need to be used by direct dose orally to each chicken. There is a Safeguard dosage given in feed for 5 days that does not require an egg withdrawal time. Most wormers do require a 14 day egg withdrawal time. Levamisole also works well and is used in many countries. I have a hard time with the dosage though.

Where are you finding wormers now a days? My local ag supply has gone "green" and isn't carry the "real" stuff any more.
LofMc

As far as I know, you can still buy them here at TSC and Rural King. Of course, they are available online at the usual places, such as ValleyVetSupply and Jefferspet.com. It may be something that is going on with your state laws changing. In CA it can be hard to get some things.

 

[TropicalBabies]

I am in the tropics also and per @dawg53 advice or influence I now worm my chooks regularly and they have much better all around health for it. I worm b4 the heat- whether I think they need it or not- winter while they are slow in laying and anytime in between that I think they look slow or sluggish, dull or egg quality is down- that is my heads up to at least consider worms may be a problem.

3 mils Safeguard goat liquid into one gallon of water. I then disperse into as many waterers as needed and remove any and all other sources of water. I treat the entire flock (and anything that flies and leaves its poop) fresh every day for 3-5 days, repeat in 10.

 

[Harun]

Maybe he will notice the difference in looks and behavior of the one who is being treated. It is kind of a scary thing to treat your chickens and worry about dosages, cost and vets. Maybe it is just fear. Maybe it is because he wants to be natural. I have a few friends who go the all natural rout- until they get into trouble, then it is whatever works or lose your pet.
Do you think he may be willing to do a fecal float- take a fresh sample of poop to the vet? It is about $25 and they look through a microscope to identify eggs and such. Do YOU have a microscope???!! I know my grandkids do...

Just know that they pick up worm eggs form the ground where they peck and poop and you can understand how easily it gets passed unintentionally- no matter how clean and perfect you keep things.

Update: The hen that had worms is going well, just broody, but this morning he informed me that another hen(he doesn't know which) pooped and dead worms were inside. I warned him, but because of his stubbornness here we are. I follow everything you guys tell me and he still thinks his way is right, even though you Chicken lovers are EXPERTS!!!
I'm going to treat the entire flock now, with or without him. Wish me luck.

 

[TropicalBabies]

I think @dawg recommends direct dose- i'll let him chime in for himself-

 

[Banana01]

Was she sitting on her eggs or is she currently laying eggs? Is that a dropping from a long sitting on the nest?

My hens sit on their eggs a full 24 hours, sometimes 48 hours before jumping up to exercise and eat. Does that explain the lack of eating or is she just lethargic and standing off her nest?

You absolutely have to worm her and your flock. A good time to worm is after she is done laying and sitting on her eggs. A not so good time to worm is during laying because who knows how the eggs are affected.

Just to add a drug to your list, look for oral Ivermectin drops if you can buy that. Unfortunately I don't know if you can buy Ivermectin in the US. Ivermectin is the drug name, not a brand name. It's used in cattle, livestock, dogs , chickens, humans, etc and it kills all kinds of parasites and worms. Three drops for a full grown chicken and it kills these worms pretty much overnight.

Usually with large chickens they can handle worms until you start to see them losing weight. And also you need to do your whole flock like others said, just be weary of your eggs. The photo looks okay if that is a dropping from a long egg sitting session, she obviously passed quite a few of them but you have no idea how long they have been establishing inside or how many are left.

 

[jher77]

3 mils Safeguard goat liquid into one gallon of water. I then disperse into as many waterers as needed and remove any and all other sources of water. I treat the entire flock (and anything that flies and leaves its poop) fresh every day for 3-5 days, repeat in 10.

I didn't think Safeguard disolved in water properly.