She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[rossfam06]

I just toss the whole cuke in the run.  Over ripe is good, they love the seeds.  It may take them a few days to decide to eat it.  With a lot of cucurbits they seem to prefer to eat them when they're somewhat rotted/fermented and mushy.

IMO, if it ain't broke, I'm not going to try to fix it.  It's normal for an animal (including human, sounds gross, but true) to have a light parasite load.  When it gets out of balance, that's when it's time to cull or treat.  Weak animals are more prone to heavy parasite loads.  Not to mention, you have the egg withdrawal time, as well as the issue of the parasites perhaps building resistance to the med.

Mine love cucumbers!!!! They eat everything but citrus.

 

[WalnutHill]

I just toss the whole cuke in the run. Over ripe is good, they love the seeds. It may take them a few days to decide to eat it. With a lot of cucurbits they seem to prefer to eat them when they're somewhat rotted/fermented and mushy.

IMO, if it ain't broke, I'm not going to try to fix it. It's normal for an animal (including human, sounds gross, but true) to have a light parasite load. When it gets out of balance, that's when it's time to cull or treat. Weak animals are more prone to heavy parasite loads. Not to mention, you have the egg withdrawal time, as well as the issue of the parasites perhaps building resistance to the med.

I'm with you, LG, and it's not out of lack of care or concern. Mine run on dirt with exposure to wild birds and earthworms, I sell eggs commercially, and dosing and withdrawing from 150+ birds is simply impractical. I couldn't even feed the eggs back to the birds as the drug residues would continue to persist.

That said, I routinely process my birds for my own use and haven't come across any with heavy parasite loads, nor do I see worms in the droppings.

 

[ronott1]

I'm with you, LG, and it's not out of lack of care or concern. Mine run on dirt with exposure to wild birds and earthworms, I sell eggs commercially, and dosing and withdrawing from 150+ birds is simply impractical. I couldn't even feed the eggs back to the birds as the drug residues would continue to persist.

That said, I routinely process my birds for my own use and haven't come across any with heavy parasite loads, nor do I see worms in the droppings.

All right!

Production discussion.

For production, pullets should be wormed at 16 to 18 weeks old(before they start laying eggs). Worms at that age can cause lower egg production because the worms can mess up the reproductive system.

After that, fecal float tests to determine if they have worms. Purchase a microscope and do this yourself. You will be looking for eggs not worms in the fecal sample. It is very rare to see worms and if you do, you likely will see some death in the flock.

There are some worm medicines that are approved for poultry--they do not require egg withdrawl.

 

[RubyNala97]

Ruby, you can check this out for an idea of other treats to give your girls (and guys) https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...jor0wSc0NJuyerZuA&sig2=OYYPhvAki5thgFK2HFfTag

Great! Thank you!

She is an amazing resource for those of us who either can't afford or don't have the option to consult a vet... she always recommends vet consult when possible, but she is better than many of those in my opinion, lol... and she admits when she makes a mistake and is quick to rectify it...

She's the one who corrected the dosage of Corid by breaking down the % of meds per mg... found that it wasn't working properly for many cuz it was being underdosed...

She is also great with peafowl! She helped me tremendously when I hatched them!

lol, I can't never remember it all either... that's why I just subscribe to this thread and look when I need it... or ask Kathy directly...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-and-wormer-misinformations-graphic-pictures

Oh, I can't remember if she put it in that thread or a different one, but yeah, the dose % per lb didn't come out right for chickens when broke down from horse dosing... and I think she was talking directly to a vet when she figured it...

Btw, I'm not saying what you figured wouldn't work, just that some worms will only be cleared out if the full dose is given... I think it depends on which type of worms...

Ohhh, I'm going to read & subscribe too!

I read alot on that thread and from what everyone was saying there, the best wormer (broad spectrum wormer anyway) is falbendazole. So like Valbazen or Safeguard (liquid for goats or paste for cattle or horses) would be best if you want to worm for several different worms. My question now is do y'all think I should worm for all kinds of worms or just roundworms? I dont really have any reason to believe any of mine have any worms, I'm just doing it cause it hasn't been done since I've had them and I know my Welsummers have never been wormed cause the woman I got them from didn't believe in worming or medicating for any reason (she was in to holistic medicines, which is very intriguing to me), and the silkies were still too young to have been wormed when I got them (the white 1's anyway, not sure about the 2 blacks). Basically I'm just doing it as a maintenance type thing. From what I read on there (I didn't finish the whole forum, I'll read the rest tomorrow) ivermectin is only effective against roundworms. I'm not sure but I think I heard that Zimecterin Gold would work for a couple different worms. What do y'all think? I may PM Kathy tomorrow morning and get it straight from the horses mouth so to speak, lol, but I thought I'd also ask y'alls opinion since y'all have never let me down before.

I bought the valbazen. And plan on doing it as precaution also, as mine free range at least once a day and the previous tenants also had chickens roaming this yard.

IMO, if it ain't broke, I'm not going to try to fix it.  It's normal for an animal (including human, sounds gross, but true) to have a light parasite load.  When it gets out of balance, that's when it's time to cull or treat.  Weak animals are more prone to heavy parasite loads.  Not to mention, you have the egg withdrawal time, as well as the issue of the parasites perhaps building resistance to the med.

Interesting.

I'm with you, LG, and it's not out of lack of care or concern.  Mine run on dirt with exposure to wild birds and earthworms, I sell eggs commercially, and dosing and withdrawing from 150+ birds is simply impractical.  I couldn't even feed the eggs back to the birds as the drug residues would continue to persist.

That said, I routinely process my birds for my own use and haven't come across any with heavy parasite loads, nor do I see worms in the droppings.

Question, would you if you had a small flock and didn't need/have eggs and did not process?

All right!

Production discussion.

For production, pullets should be wormed at 16 to 18 weeks old(before they start laying eggs). Worms at that age can cause lower egg production because the worms can mess up the reproductive system.

After that, fecal float tests to determine if they have worms. Purchase a microscope and do this yourself. You will be looking for eggs not worms in the fecal sample. It is very rare to see worms and if you do, you likely will see some death in the flock.

There are some worm medicines that are approved for poultry--they do not require egg withdrawl.

Good info!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Amy, I don't think she was around for your accidents.
Yup, that's the one! I was over there yesterday and there was the nicest broody that made a nest in with the pig of all places. But she let me lift her up and look at her eggs and one was pipped! It was so cool!! (I've never had a broody yet).
Lazy, my chicks are staying outside tonight for the first time with their mph. I'm such a nervous wreck!
I give them to mine, so I hope so!

No, she wasn't...lol Sad thing is, my son is sitting here today with a washcloth on his eye because the little one (who is an awful eye pecker) got him yesterday evening. (Must run in the family.)He was ok last night before bed, but it's back to bothering him this orning so we may be going to get it checked out.


Had wv quoted but it dissapeared. Kathy is a sweetheart.

I read alot on that thread and from what everyone was saying there, the best wormer (broad spectrum wormer anyway) is falbendazole. So like Valbazen or Safeguard (liquid for goats or paste for cattle or horses) would be best if you want to worm for several different worms. My question now is do y'all think I should worm for all kinds of worms or just roundworms? I dont really have any reason to believe any of mine have any worms, I'm just doing it cause it hasn't been done since I've had them and I know my Welsummers have never been wormed cause the woman I got them from didn't believe in worming or medicating for any reason (she was in to holistic medicines, which is very intriguing to me), and the silkies were still too young to have been wormed when I got them (the white 1's anyway, not sure about the 2 blacks). Basically I'm just doing it as a maintenance type thing. From what I read on there (I didn't finish the whole forum, I'll read the rest tomorrow) ivermectin is only effective against roundworms. I'm not sure but I think I heard that Zimecterin Gold would work for a couple different worms. What do y'all think? I may PM Kathy tomorrow morning and get it straight from the horses mouth so to speak, lol, but I thought I'd also ask y'alls opinion since y'all have never let me down before.

Pumpkin is a natural dewormer.

I just toss the whole cuke in the run. Over ripe is good, they love the seeds. It may take them a few days to decide to eat it. With a lot of cucurbits they seem to prefer to eat them when they're somewhat rotted/fermented and mushy.

IMO, if it ain't broke, I'm not going to try to fix it. It's normal for an animal (including human, sounds gross, but true) to have a light parasite load. When it gets out of balance, that's when it's time to cull or treat. Weak animals are more prone to heavy parasite loads. Not to mention, you have the egg withdrawal time, as well as the issue of the parasites perhaps building resistance to the med.

I'm an enabler. I cut up everything in small pieces for them.....lol I try to make it so they don't have to "fight" over things.

 

[lazy gardener]

Pecking order rules in my flock. It goes in whole, Top bird... or fastest runner gets it. There's usually plenty to go around, so that when top birds have had their fill, the "lesser" members can move in and get their share. If it's little treats, and not very much, I break it up, and toss the whole bunch all at once so that every one gets at least a little bit. Interestingly enough, it's the youngsters who's crops are so full at the end of the day that they can barely waddle into the coop!

 

[WalnutHill]

Question, would you if you had a small flock and didn't need/have eggs and did not process?

I have no medical or personal objections to medical treatment. If my birds were high value, I'd protect my investment. I wouldn't medicate for no reason, though, there has to be a condition before I will treat for it. If the birds are healthy and happy, I don't medicate.

 

[Pyxis]

What a couple of days over here. Today Pepper, my oldest hen, given to me by Bakingintherain ( a user and friend here on BYC) years ago when she already two, somehow managed to hang herself up over my fence by her leg. She was tangled in a piece of string that I don't know where she picked up. She could have been hanging there for hours. She's now hobbling around. I don't know if she just sprained it pretty good, cut blood flow off to it, or dislocated it but she can move her toes so I don't think it's dislocation. So now I have to watch that to see if she heals up.

 

[WalnutHill]

Best of luck to Pepper.

 

[meganhundley]

No, she wasn't...lol  Sad thing is, my son is sitting here today with a washcloth on his eye because the little one (who is an awful eye pecker) got him yesterday evening. (Must run in the family.)He was ok last night before bed, but it's back to bothering him this orning so we may be going to get it checked out.


Had wv quoted but it dissapeared. Kathy is a sweetheart.

Pumpkin  is a natural dewormer.

I'm an enabler. I cut up everything in small pieces for them.....lol  I try  to make it so they don't have to "fight" over things.

I got pink eye from ground black pepper getting in my eye once. It scratched it and after that like 3 days later it was just goopy and nasty yucky and bright pink. It was horrible.

I don't know if this is true but I've heard dandelion greens in conjunction with something else is also a natural dewormer, I can't remember what it was that uou had to pair it with though. I think I've heard it's the pumpkin seeds that are the dewormer, I may be wrong about that though. I read all that on the Chicken Chicks website.

ETA: I hand feed mine everything except there regular feed. Although I've sometimes done that too, lol. Mine go absolutely NUTS over those little tiny wild strawberries. I'll throw them in the run with them cause when I try to hand feed them those they end up tearing my fingers up cause they peck at them like mad!