Should I deworm my hens if I don't see worms?

[Egghead_Jr]

Production RIRs aren't stocky, but much more like Leghorns in body type. Racy. By the time you actually see intestinal parasites in the poo, there's a lot of them! You can have fecals checked at your veterinarians to know what's going on. Some flocks will have lots of intestinal parasite issues, and some nearly never. It depends on what's present at your place. Mary

The truth of this is why there is a complete divide in management. Some use medicated starter then de-worm every year. Others like myself don't do either. Each climate, soil and parasite density is different. Stationary pens used for years will get "poultry sick" soil too. Meaning you'd want to use medicated starter and de-worm flock every year.

I'm in the frozen north and only use a stationary pen in winter. Knock on wood- with use of pot ash in dust bath areas I may never need to treat the birds.

 

[aart]

Quote: Good points....some folks down south really have to stay on top of worming and pasture/pen rotation.

 

[LI chickie]

I have 5 RIRs & 1 Golden Wydotte about 22 weeks old now. I look at poop all the time I haven't wormed and hope I don't have to now that they are laying. One RIR is skinny compared to the others but acts 100% normal.

 

[ldamants]

Thanks everyone for replies. Yes, they were feed medicated chick starter. I don't think it was for a full 6 weeks. Oyster shell are now out of their feed. The reason I put it in their feed is because one of my hens was lay a soft shell egg once or twice toward the evening. And yes, it was same hen, cause I watched her do it a couple of times. I'm not sure what was going on with her because she would sometimes give me a reg egg in the morning then a soft one at night. She's gotten more regular now. I'm trying to get them to eat the pellets now and they don't seem too happy. Just for my peace of mind I'm going to give them a dose of Valbazen.

 

[enola]

I have only owned hatchery RIR. I can say they are egg laying machines and the only time in their lives that they were any where near 'plump' was when they were not laying.

I have never had good luck with Dumor feeds. If I am forced to use Dumor feeds, because the feed store is out of what I usually buy, feed consumption goes down immediately, so does egg production. . .

I would suggest you change your feed brand......