Topic of the Week - Deworming chickens

[jheasley]

Updated!

I confirmed the below information with the appropriate people at Purdue University within the last hour.

Out of Bluffton Indiana you have a company called veterinarian poultry supply that will open the program up to let poultry owners know the products they carry and there is a farmer 3 miles east of converse Indiana by the name of John Boyer that's doing some real interesting things with non-GMO grains for livestock feed.

Poultry Seminar & Bio Security Lecture 5PM December 6th at Eastbrook high school-east of Marion Indiana

Dr. Wakenell headed of the ADDL at Purdue university, Dr Alexandria Holloway, DVM Purdue university resident: ADDL at Purdue and Dr Jeff Lossie ADDL at Purdue will becoming to Eastbrook high school east of Marion, several veterinarian interns & animal science majors from Purdue University will be accompanying her. Topics covered will be internal & external parasite identification in poultry, treatments and medications to use and there's a chance there will be a live demo and individual tutorial sessions instructing how to properly identify parasites under a microscope by observing fresh stool samples from chickens.

If your considering attending, please contact me with numbers in your party, this way we can ensure area seminar is held in is big enough to handle our crowd.

James Heasley
765-661-4597

 

[casportpony]

Poultry Seminar & Bio Security Lecture 6PM December 6th at Eastbrook high school-east of Marion Indiana


Dr Alexandria Holloway, DVM Purdue university resident: Avian Medicine and Pathology Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory will becoming to Eastbrook high school east of Marion, several veterinarian interns & animal science majors from Purdue University will be accompanying her. Topics covered will be internal & external parasite identification in poultry, treatments and medications to use and there's a chance there will be a live demo and individual tutorial sessions instructing how to properly identify parasites under a microscope by observing fresh stool samples from chickens.

If your considering attending, please contact me with numbers in your party, this way we can ensure area seminar is held in is big enough to handle our crowd.

Sounds like fun! Tale lots of pictures and notes if you can.

-Kathy

 

[Isay Willow]

I am several Hundred miles away and rarely go out of my zip code. However if you attend would like to get your notes if possible. thanks for notice. I live in SE Georgia near Savannah

 

[Isay Willow]

Thanks for info

 

[Kay Kew]

Sounds like fun! Tale lots of pictures and notes if you can.

-Kathy

I am several Hundred miles away and rarely go out of my zip code. However if you attend would like to get your notes if possible. thanks for notice. I live in SE Georgia near Savannah

...and I don't think my budget would stretch to a trip across the Atlantic just at the moment, so I would also be interested to hear about any useful information you gather at the seminar. Thanks.

 

[Isay Willow]

Thank You

 

[Teila]

Poultry Seminar & Bio Security Lecture 6PM December 6th at Eastbrook high school-east of Marion Indiana


Dr Alexandria Holloway, DVM Purdue university resident: Avian Medicine and Pathology Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory will becoming to Eastbrook high school east of Marion, several veterinarian interns & animal science majors from Purdue University will be accompanying her. Topics covered will be internal & external parasite identification in poultry, treatments and medications to use and there's a chance there will be a live demo and individual tutorial sessions instructing how to properly identify parasites under a microscope by observing fresh stool samples from chickens.

If your considering attending, please contact me with numbers in your party, this way we can ensure area seminar is held in is big enough to handle our crowd.

Howdy jheasley

Living in Aus, while it would be nice, I definitely will not be able to attend

However, as others have suggested and if it is not too much trouble, I would definitely be interested in some notes or key points please?

 

[jheasley]

I know this is a "hot topic". If anyone has specific questions they would like answered at the seminar, please make them know to me.

 

[Ravynscroft]

I know this is a "hot topic". If anyone has specific questions they would like answered at the seminar, please make them know to me.

I'd love to attend, unfortunately I have a prior obligation at that timeframe...

I'm interested in the identification, effective treatments and meds... no real specific question though... any chance of being able to do an audio recording of the seminar?

 

[Beekissed]

Any chickens exposed to the outdoors, whether free ranging or penned, are at risk of at some point picking up intestinal worms. Many of us deworm the flock as a preventative, while others prefer to wait with the drugs until there is evidence of an infestation. I would like to hear you all's thoughts and practices when it comes to worms and deworming, specifically:

- Should you deworm regularly as a preventative, or wait until there is evidence of an infestation? Which do you prefer and...
- What signs are there to indicate a possible worm infestation?
- What is the best dewormer to use for chickens?
- Do natural/organic dewormers and remedies work?
- Can the eggs be eaten during the withdrawal period and are they safe to eat?
- Did anyone incubate eggs laid during the withdrawal period and what was the results?

Have never dewormed a chicken~and butcher each year, examining bowels closely...no signs of worms there~ and there are other options not mentioned here.

One is the preventative measure of judicious culling to target animals that would be more prone to carrying heavy parasite loads~nonlayers, for whatever reason, be it age or just naturally poor fertility/reproductive health, the elderly be it hen or rooster, any bird in poor condition when other birds on the same diet/same age/same breed are looking fit and healthy, poor and slow molt recovery, any signs of illness or recurrent laying problems, failure to thrive or grow at a normal rate as a chick.

This is one very powerful tool in flock management that's rarely mentioned on BYC but it's age old and very effective. It's said that 95% of a flock or herd's parasite load is often only carried by 5% of the herd/flock population...if one can target that 5%(old, nonlaying, prone to parasites both internal and external, animals in poor condition, low fertility, problems with reproduction/birth/hatching, etc.)they can keep worm loads to a minimum. And that's the ultimate goal here...not to have nonexistent worm loads, as that would be an ongoing struggle against impossible odds...every organism has their parasites, even you...if you aren't deworming yourself regularly, then it's kind of foolish to do it to your animals.

Worms loads that the animal~and you~can carry without it effecting health and productivity is the goal. That's an animal or organism that is naturally resistant to parasites and that, IMO, is the only kind to have...that's a survivor. If all you are doing is deworming animals that can't survive without those chemicals, you are just breeding very healthy worms and very weak animals. If the goal is healthy flocks, this is not the route to go. You wouldn't call someone on maintenance drugs for a heart condition a healthy person..that's a person who is taking drugs to stay alive because they are not healthy and any stress to their system will reveal that fact, drugs or not. The same goes for flocks that have to depend on drugs to stay alive...not healthy, just maintained~precariously so.

Another has already been mentioned and is also an effective preventative...free ranging and low stocking rates, which insures a bird isn't eating over ground with high concentrations of fecal matter each day. That holds true for any livestock or animal...the less chance of completing the parasite cycle, the less chance of carrying high loads of parasites.

Not only is the free ranging important for cleaner soils but the chance to encounter their own natural dewormers in their foraging efforts, such as saw grasses...which act like folks HOPE that DE will act, but are much more effective...it's why dogs, cats and wild animals will consume this tough, low nutrition grass~the blade edges act like razors and that effect does not go away until the ceca breaks down that plant fiber enough to render it ineffective...but before that, it cuts its way through the digestive tract like a sawblade.

Don't know if this one has been mentioned, but another good preventative is maintaining proper gut health...providing chances of consuming dietary acid, pre and probiotics, etc. Feeding fermented foods is a good way to provide this....chickens can and will naturally encounter fermented foods in their diet by eating rotten fruits, grains and other fermented foods~even meat~ while out on range but one can augment that by feeding fermented grains and also fermented pumpkins, squash, gourds. A digestive tract that is acidic is less hospitable to parasites. The fermented feeds also increase villi length and absorption ability so that more nutrients can be absorbed by the bird....more surface for absorption means that even if carrying mild worm loads, they have more chance of still maintaining good conditioning. FF also changes the nature of the grain so that it can be better absorbed and be used on a cellular level more quickly. All of that adds up to a huge benefit in many ways not covered here.

Yes, pumpkin seeds have a natural deworming effect, contrary to the chemical crowd's assertations....so feel free to feed pumpkin seeds on occasion...can't hurt and can only help. Ginger root is even more effective, so feel free to feed that on occasion. And I do mean on occasion....feeding it daily will often render anthelmintics ineffective over the long term.

The pumpkin Cucurbita moschata is an annual dicotyledonous vegetable, belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family. It is used as a medicinal plant for prostate and bladder problems, and as an anthelmintic, galactogogue, and anti-emetic. Pumpkin seed is used as a vermifuge in several countries, and C. moschata seed contains a wide range of bioactive compounds, some of which could possess anthelmintic properties, prompting experimental studies. This chapter reviews the experimental data on the anthelmintic evaluation of C. moschata seed.

This chapter outlines the pharmacological actions and potential uses of pumpkin and its extracts. Pumpkin seed oil contains 9.5-13% palmitic, 6-7.93% stearic, 0.04% arachidic, 37-39% oleic, and 44% linoleic acid. The seed also contains a wide range of bioactive compounds. The aqueous extract of the seeds of C. moschata showed efficacy as an anthelmintic in humans. The use of aqueous extracts of pumpkin seeds in the treatment of puppies experimentally infected with heterophyasis gave promising results, with even better results when combining extracts of areca nut and pumpkin seeds than when giving either extract alone. The secondary metabolites suspected to be responsible for anthelmintic activity in C. moschata seed are a triterpenic compound named cucurbitacin B, a non-proteic amino acid named cucurbitin, saponins, and sterols. The non-proteic amino acid cucurbitin, which is only present in the seeds, has been focused on as the active principle responsible for anthelmintic, notably taenicidal and schistosomicidal, activity. Cucurbitin is also used as an anti-allergen for the preparation of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, particularly dermatological, products. Despite the focus on cucurbitin as the active principle, other secondary metabolites present in the seeds of C. moschata might also be considered as anthelmintics. The non-proteic amino acid cucurbitin (3-amino-pyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acid) is suspected to be the active principle. Cucurbitin was mostly reported to have no side effects, and only a weak level of toxicity was described in dogs and humans.

Quote:

From the study, it is observed that Z. zerumbet has shown better activity than C. maxima at a higher concentration (100 mg/ml) compared to standard Albendazole (100 mg/ml). The comparison of death time for both the plants in different concentrations with respect to standard (Albendazole).


The problem with most people and natural anthelmintics is that they go overboard, just like the folks doing scheduled deworming....in fact, they go WAY overboard because they feel like it's all natural, that if a little helps, more will help better and that if they aren't as powerful as chemicals, we should just feed them daily. All that does, as with scheduled chemical dewormers, is breed worms that are naturally resistant to whatever you may be using. In the bird's natural diet, it's not encountering or even choosing natural dewormers on a daily basis, so why should we give them that?

That's often why natural dewormers fail but the biggest reason is that people think that ANY dewormer is going to be effective as long as you use it often enough, but without the preventative measures of culling, breeding for resistance, and clean soils with low stocking rates all that stuff is just a crutch....not true management, just a crutch to keep your animals alive and producing a little longer, but not much good for long term management and ongoing healthy flocks.

There are many effective natural dewormers that, when combined with judicious culling and breeding for resistance, can keep a flock free of heavy loads of parasites and one can utilize those best when a bird's system is the most vulnerable to disease and parasite transmission~the onset of winter(Nov/Dec) and/or early spring/late winter(Feb/Mar) when they are gearing up for laying and breeding once again...both are times when the chickens are going through changes in climate and energy needs, are living more confined by snows and weather so are more exposed to each other and high fecal loads, and do not have access to things found naturally in their environment that would help them shed excess worm loads.

I know that none of that answers much of the questions originally posed but it's how I keep healthy flocks down through the years that do not need to be dewormed to stay healthy, nor any other medicine, for that matter. It's also how to have flocks that are resistant to disease transmission by outside vectors such as wild birds and the introduction of new chickens to the flock.

In a package, it's called peace of mind. It's priceless.