San Diego Chicken meetup and Chat thread

[tigerrrrrrrlilly]

I buy "liquid B complex" GNC brand. I get mine at walmart, it's in a grey bottle. You can also try mixing water and the powder from B12 capsules. Is he newly hatched? He may have come out too early and not have the strength to get up and straighten out yet. Did you help him out? If he is underdeveloped he may not make it, but might if he just got out too early. Keep him extra warm around 99-100.
I would also use a bird multivitamin. You can use one meant for any kind of small bird. I use 8 in 1 all-bird multidrops from walmart. You can also use baby vitamins if you have to, but make sure there is no iron in it and use smaller amounts of course. Careful when you are forcing any liquid or food, it can go down the wrong way and into the lungs and it can drown/suffocate him. Try to put it on the tip of his beak first to see if he will take it, otherwise use a dropper and carefully squirt tiny amounts into the mouth - be careful not to squirt towards the throat.

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

Thanks Tammy, I found the B complex vitamins at the health food store tonight. Good idea about the other bird multivitamin, I'll look for those at the pet store tomorrow morning. I can't find the baby ones that I've seen recommended here on BYC. Maybe the first one was underdeveloped? He's the one with the most problems. The others hatched 1-2 days later. I don't know exactly when the teacher put the eggs in the incubator, it was kept at school, so I can't really count back the days. I'm just trying everything I can do to help these little guys. The first one is the worst off, but he has such determination in his eyes. I don't want to throw in the towel before he does. Its a longshot..... but if you don't try, I guess you'll never know, huh?I just hope that if he's terminal, the inevitable won't take too long. Its hard. My eternal optimism keeps searching for improvements.

 

[crazy huhn]

Quote:
Sunny California: Baby vitamins recommended are usually the "Polyvisol" without the iron in it. I love those for my chickens and use it whenever one is "under the weather"..... You can find those at WalMart, Toys 'r Us. Other drug stores have similar ones (their own generic brands, compared to the ingredients in Polyvisol), just make sure "without iron

Good luck!!!

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

I found cecal worms in my coop today.

I just dewormed but guess I need round two. Just ordered Valzaben as per Dawg53. It's pricey, but I had already dewormed with Wazine and it didn't work. Anybody else have problems with worms? Not happy 'cause they only just started laying again. I keep my coop very clean and don't free range my birds so I have no idea how they get these things!!

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Worms come from the ground and wild animals.


Wazine will only kill the adult worms so in 7-10 days you need to worm again to get rid of any eggs that hatched.


Valzaben or Ivomectin are both really good dewormers...



Oh, THIS is how they get worms...

 

[crazy huhn]

Quote:
The Wazine is only effective against roundworms (it will not kill their eggs or larvae!) and you do need to deworm again after 10 to 14 days to get the newly hatched larvae and eggs. When have you dewormed them exactly?
I do like the Valbazen as it pretty much is effective against most kind of worms, their larvae/eggs. I have heard from a vet that the Ivermectin "pour-on" (which is also recommended in many posts on BYC here) is too hard on the birds liver, but I have used that, too, because I do not want any worms develop resistance to any of the products.

It is a good idea to do a fecal egg count test. The vet does not charge much for it ( if I remember it right, less than $ 20). Egg count, not just fecal test - all chickens will show some sort of worm eggs, but you do want to know what you are up against and you do want to know how bad (high worm egg count) it really is. If you see some worms, you can be sure that they all have parasites.

Now to your question on how your chickens get those without free ranging: do wild birds have access to your coop or enclosure? Some beetles, snails, slugs, grubs, redworms may be carriers, so if the chickens eat those, they might get some worms. Once I was so happy to find all different kind of grubs and worms when I turned my compost and so were my chickens, but sure enough they picked up some parasites from them. Since then I do breed my own healthy mealworms.
Of course the girls free range and find some bugs once in a while and I also have wild birds everywhere, but at least it is more controlled.

Now the good news: Yes, you will have to toss the eggs for a while, but usually the chicken droppings will improve dramatically soon after worming and I have noticed that my chickens are laying more eggs after worming. Maybe just quintessence, but I like to believe it.

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

Well, my one little chick didn't make through the night last night.

He put up a good fight, but whatever was wrong with him just wasn't fixable. I'm glad I tried at least.

 

[crazy huhn]

Quote:
I am sorry to hear that. Great that you have tried, but I guess "Mother Nature" took its course.

 

[dfdesigns]

I'm so sorry about your little guy... life is fragile, isn't it?

Dana

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Quote:
The Wazine is only effective against roundworms (it will not kill their eggs or larvae!) and you do need to deworm again after 10 to 14 days to get the newly hatched larvae and eggs. When have you dewormed them exactly?
I do like the Valbazen as it pretty much is effective against most kind of worms, their larvae/eggs. I have heard from a vet that the Ivermectin "pour-on" (which is also recommended in many posts on BYC here) is too hard on the birds liver, but I have used that, too, because I do not want any worms develop resistance to any of the products.

It is a good idea to do a fecal egg count test. The vet does not charge much for it ( if I remember it right, less than $ 20). Egg count, not just fecal test - all chickens will show some sort of worm eggs, but you do want to know what you are up against and you do want to know how bad (high worm egg count) it really is. If you see some worms, you can be sure that they all have parasites.

Now to your question on how your chickens get those without free ranging: do wild birds have access to your coop or enclosure? Some beetles, snails, slugs, grubs, redworms may be carriers, so if the chickens eat those, they might get some worms. Once I was so happy to find all different kind of grubs and worms when I turned my compost and so were my chickens, but sure enough they picked up some parasites from them. Since then I do breed my own healthy mealworms.
Of course the girls free range and find some bugs once in a while and I also have wild birds everywhere, but at least it is more controlled.

Now the good news: Yes, you will have to toss the eggs for a while, but usually the chicken droppings will improve dramatically soon after worming and I have noticed that my chickens are laying more eggs after worming. Maybe just quintessence, but I like to believe it.

Hi Huhn!
I had dewormed them about a month ago as a preventative but never saw any worms expelled. I tried getting info at that time to see if I needed to do a follow up deworming and my post went unanswered so I made an executive decision....apparently the wrong one. I also tried to get a fecal count but the vet wanted to charge an exam fee on one bird and was only willing to check the feces of that one bird. Where do you go to get it done? I prefer not to medicate if it's not necessary.

I've started them on another round of Wazine, ordered the Valzaben to do a follow-up and have learned that there are no short cuts. Thanks for your help.