Stupid question--Do I have to worm all the chickens at the same time?

[shelleyd2008]

I have a lot, and I mean A LOT, of chickens. Everyone of them free ranges. We have 2 chicken houses and a few chicken tractors, but there is no way we could lock up all the chickens to worm them at the same time.

I have tried worming them with wazine, but I don't know if they are getting enough? Being that they are free rangers, they can get water from any place...i.e.--dog water bowl, the pond, a puddle, upright bucket after it rains...you name it.

There are some that are obviously sick from having worms--lethargic, runny poop on their butts, etc. We have lost a few to it as well. We have seen actual worms in some of the droppings, and from pictures I have seen, they are most certainly roundworms or whip worms (can chickens get whip worms?)

So anyway, what I'm wondering is if I can pen up some of them at a time, probably the ones that are most obviously sick, then let them back out after treatment and pen up some different ones?

I know they would need a broad-spectrum wormer as well, what is the timeline for this? 2 weeks after wazine? A month?

Should I keep the ones penned until after they have received both wormings, or just worm one set with wazine, turn them out, then worm another with wazine?

I'm thinking the ivermectin (sp?) is probably best for their broad-spectrum as I also know that some of them have mites and/or lice. I've seen several different types of ivermectin, which is the correct one?

Also, is it safe to use the ivermectin on quail? Ducks? Guineas? The guineas and quail are in the same barn as where the chickens roost, so I know they have been exposed. I doubt the quail have worms, but I'm sure they probably have mites at least.

The ducks only come up from the pond to eat, so they might not need it.

Any help is greatly appreciated! We are also planning on making some large hoop tractors, but we need to get some more wire first

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
You can actually make a wet mash that they can eat to worm with with fenbendazole using the 10% liquid fenbendazole which is sold as 10% fenbendazole in solution for goats. Do you think that you could get the birds to eat some - would they be tempted by a wet mash like that? The ones that are harder to catch up?

The best option, of course, would be wazine them all in whatever stages you can within a week - then in 4 weeks reworm with your broad spectrum. I'd be very shy to work first with a broad spectrum with worms being shed, especially more than one type possible. But it's possible you can worm the first time and reworm in 6 weeks again with fenbendazole.

Or follow up with ivermectin in the 6 weeks.

Which option sounds best for you?

Best case scenario would also be to do a flush for the birds with molasses - in their water - the day after the worming, and do a big probiotics treatment for them all in some sort of food. That would clear out paralyzed/dying worms and any undigested food from the inflammation in their digestive tracts, replacing good bacteria with the live bacteria of the probiotic.

I'll wait til you say what you think about this before clarifying any worming.

 

[shelleyd2008]

The problem isn't catching them, it's having enough room to keep them all together without them killing each other in the process

They all have their own little 'cliques' that they hang out with during the day, but most all of them go into the barn to roost at night. So catching them isn't the problem. The ones that don't go into the barn go into the tractors, I don't have any tree-roosters. (not even the guineas)

I know I have at least 100 chickens. Last count was about 150, but I've lost some to predators, some of these are chicks still in the brooder, and some have been sold. But a good estimate is at least 100 chickens.

One chicken coop is about 8'x8'? With an 8'x25' or so run on it. The other chicken coop has no run, but is approximately 8' or 9' x 15' or so feet. Then I have 3- 3'x8' chicken tractors. I also have 3 empty rabbit hutches that are approximately 3'x2 1/2 feet, and a cage that is 2'x4'.

I'm sure they would eat a wet mash, they act like they are starved to death in the mornings when I go to feed. Though I don't know if they would each get enough of it, some of them seem to give up and go forage after getting pushed away too many times.

But then I would have to worry about the ducks, since they come up from the pond and basically bulldoze their way into anything the chickens are eating. Is the fenbendazole okay for the ducks to eat?

I've already given wazine in their water, but as I stated in the op, I don't know that all of them are getting it. There are some waterers and 'buckets' of water placed throughout the yard, but there are several other water sources available to them. That's why I was thinking of locking them up. But then I'm right back to the problem of not having enough room to lock all of them up at the same time.

I'm thinking I might be able to lock them up for a day to worm them, or maybe lock half of them up for the wazine wormer, then do the molasses and probiotics. After that I could catch up the other half (or whatever) and treat them the same way. Then I'd just have to redo it later on.

The fenbendazole has to be done 6 weeks after the wazine? If I do pen them up, how soon can I re-worm them with the wazine? If they did get the first batch (less than a week ago) and I redo it, will that hurt them?

How do I do the molasses flush? What ratio would I use for that?

I'm thinking, no matter which way I do it, I'll have to lock them up to make sure they get all the treatments. Basically I just need to know if it's okay to do part of them at a time, and if I should do the wazine/peperazine and the ivermectin (or whatever) before turning them out, or do it in stages by worming each group with wazine, then re-cooping them and doing the broad-spectrum.

I hope I'm not being confusing, my fingers don't move as fast as my brain does!

 

[threehorses]

Ohhh OK, I understand now. Well if you wanted to worm them in stages in the various coops, you could definitely do that. I'll link you the MSU formula for a SafeGuard mash below. You might also be able to drop ivermectin drops on them at night if you can catch them. We don't always even move them off the roost, then again we teach our girls to let us handle them at night for these things (and because we just like it).

We just are really quiet, go to one, move the feathers back off of her neck, and put the drops on her lower neck on the skin. Sometimes my boyfriend will pick them up. That's for using the 5% ivermectin pour-on cattle wormer.

On the wet mash, you'd just have to pick up the 'piggies' as I call ours and put them aside so that the lower pecking order birds could get their share. And I'd have to check safety for ducks.

And yes - it's better to lock them up to make sure they only get one source of water. But in your case in stages.

Since the molasses and the probiotics aren't necessary (just handy) you could just do the molasses in their normal water or a wet mash in a very light dose. Say a 1/2 cup of molasses, 1 big tub of yogurt, 1 bucket of feed, 2 cups of applesauce, and enough water to make that a damp mash.

The fenbendazole can be done as soon as 2 weeks after the wazine, no later than 6 weeks however. You can reworm with wazine as early as 2 weeks (though they recommend something like 4-6).

And to once again answer your question and make sure we're both on the same page - yes, it's ok to worm them in two or more groups as long as they're wormed pretty close together.

It would be a "not so good" to worm one batch this week, and worm another batch a month from now. However, the way you're doing it they'll all be on approximately the same schedule.