Thin white worms in chicken’s old water - is this a concern?

[coach723]

There is really no reason to give the birds a bath. Giving them the wormer twice at 10 day intervals should take care of any roundworms (for some other types of worms you would dose 5 days in a row). The correct dosing for Safeguard is .23ml per pound of bird weight. Weigh each bird (an inexpensive digital kitchen scale works well) then draw up the correct dose into an oral syringe (tractor supply stores carry them or you can ask any pharmacist for oral syringes). Give the dose to the bird orally (in the beak) and let it swallow. Give .5ml at a time and let the bird swallow it. Here is why "pea sized" is not a good dosing method:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-sized-blob-of-horse-paste-de-wormer.1141545/
This is a good article on giving medications safely orally:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[backyardaustralorps]

There is really no reason to give the birds a bath. Giving them the wormer twice at 10 day intervals should take care of any roundworms (for some other types of worms you would dose 5 days in a row). The correct dosing for Safeguard is .23ml per pound of bird weight. Weigh each bird (an inexpensive digital kitchen scale works well) then draw up the correct dose into an oral syringe (tractor supply stores carry them or you can ask any pharmacist for oral syringes). Give the dose to the bird orally (in the beak) and let it swallow. Give .5ml at a time and let the bird swallow it. Here is why "pea sized" is not a good dosing method:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-sized-blob-of-horse-paste-de-wormer.1141545/
This is a good article on giving medications safely orally:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

Thank you for the reply!
When you say to give Safeguard at 0.23ml/lb of bird weight, is that for either a paste or liquid dewormer?

I have this paste dewormer:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HHSAU...abc_4BRVWH59FWW4EHNRA920?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1


I also found this liquid dewormer but would need to order it as it’s not at the store:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B5NO5BU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_WKZQP7R5XDP4VBR16E08

 

[coach723]

That dosing is correct for both of those wormers (they are both 100mg/ml), so you can use either one.

 

[addctd2plnts]

I was curious about the general signs and symptoms to look for in chickens and found this: https://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/roundworms

Many articles talk about totally emptying the coop on a regular basis and removing several inches of soil in outside run 2 times a year. There were a few articles that said certain outside coop bases are better at not harboring worms. For dogs we do a regular deworming and it's important to change the types of dewormer you use, so the worms don't become resistant. I'd do the total cleanout after deworming them twice the first time, and weekly inside the coop, then again in 6 mos for outside. JMHO If you clean everything remove soil or base and add in several inches of clean base (not soil), it should help to break the cycle. Makes me wonder if putting down a heavy landscape fabric layer, then covering it with wood chips, then removing them regularly, would help?

Chickens can get worms by eating earthworms, slugs, or snails because they carry the eggs from parasites. Eggs are also deposited in the lawn from cats, dogs, deer, and other animals infected. They are very common. The natural enemy of worm eggs or larva is sunlight, so keeping grass short and keeping chickens out of areas frequented by other animals helps.

 

[jher77]

That is a massive amount of roundworms. A chicken or more must have pooped in the waterer. Deworming the whole flock is a must IMO.

You don't have to throw away your waterer, lol. Just give it a real good cleaning.

I would say from now on that roundworms will be a reoccuring problem for you. Pea sized dose is wrong. You need to weigh the chicken and dose accordingly.

 

[Blue Raptor]

Thank you for attaching the pictures, it’s very helpful.

You had said I only need to feed them the dewormer once, which is great to know. I had 2 follow up questions:

1) Is deworming something that must be done regularly (and if so, how does one know when to do it)?

2) Is there anything, apart from keeping a clean coop, that I can do to prevent it from happening again?

Thanks to you all I was able to catch the problem this time, but I am concerned in case it happens again as I would not have known there were worm problems had it not been for the old waterer I left out.

1) No, you only need to do it once per bird, and that’s it.
2) Just try to keep the coop clean, and the waterers cleaner. We wash the out almost every time we refill them, so they don’t get sick.

 

[Eggcessive]

Valbazen is also a very good wormer safe for chickens. It will get most all chicken worms with only 2 doses 10 days apart. Dosage is 0.08 ml per pound, or 0.5 ml for a 6 pound chicken, given once orally, and again in 10 days. It is always available online, and a fee feed stores sell it.