Topic of the Week - Deworming chickens

[chicken4prez]

We use DE and Cayenne Pepper in our chickens feed and for the water we use Apple Cider Vinegar

 

[CluckerCottage]

in my experience, pumpkin seeds do not work as a wormer.
Valbazen is my choice

I have heard of using pumpkin seeds as a dewormer. Has this worked for anyone?

not for my flock.

 

[sumi]

We use DE and Cayenne Pepper in our chickens feed and for the water we use Apple Cider Vinegar

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-not-coryza-or-crd-parasites-are-rampant/0_30

Excerpt from the first post:

…. and it turns out they are grossly infected with parasites. I am sort of swing toward "natural" treatments and I just wanted to add that they had been on DE, garlic, kelp and cayenne daily since I got them. It didn't really help.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have never wormed a chicken and never will. I believe a healthy chicken should be able to support a reasonable worm load without it causing troubles. Using wormer on a regular basis usually ends up with resistant worms and eventually nothing works. I have seen it happen in goats over the years. From my experience worms only become a problem when there's some other underlying problem with the bird. It is interesting to see how common worming chickens has become over the last 10 years.

Edited to add that, I view my chickens as livestock and manage them as livestock(ex farmer). I think if you view them as pets than it might be different, but I still would do a fecal first like I do in my dogs if I did it.

 

[casportpony]

From 1989:

Quote:

Ivermectin as a bird anthelmintic--trials with naturally infected domestic fowl.

Oksanen A, Nikander S.

Abstract

To evaluate the use of ivermectin as a bird anthelmintic, 29 White Leghorn hens naturally infected with Ascaridia spp., Heterakis spp. and Capillaria spp. were treated with 0.2, 2 or 6 mg/kg intramuscularly or 0.2 or 0.8 mg/kg orally. Faecal samples were collected before treatment and at autopsy, 2, 6, or 16 days after treatment, when the intestines were also examined for helminths. None of the treatments gave satisfactory anthelmintic results.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2816174

-Kathy

 

[wondergirlk]

Three of our four chickens have tapeworm. I treated with Valbazen, and we are on our tenth day of egg withdrawal. I am still seeing live tapeworm segments in the poop. Should I treat one more time to be on the safe side? There are quite a few segments coming out in the poop, and they are still alive. I would assume this is coming from wild birds and flies. We are trying to control this as much as possible, but it's a pretty impossible task. If I worm again, at what point do I just give up and let them have tapeworm? I can't keep them on Valbazen forever.

 

[magdelaine]

Ugh, great thread. I have been kicking myself about taking the time to worm my hens as they are overdue for regular treatment, and their egg production has been rather poor for months. Perhaps now is the time. I use Ivermectin for aggressive lice/mite infestations and Valbazen for worms. It's just SO much work.

By the way, my understanding is that Valbazen does not require egg withdrawal as it's not systemic like Ivermectin?

~Elaine

 

[chickB26]

Hmmm...our girls free range most days, and are locked in coop at night. They have laying Crumbles and water with ACV in the coop and have access to it all the time. Our four dogs are constantly cleaning up the chicken poop around the yard and in the coop. Are worms in chickens a given? And do the dogs now have worms? Is it a bad idea to let the girls free range VS keeping them cooped? Thanks.

 

[casportpony]

Three of our four chickens have tapeworm. I treated with Valbazen, and we are on our tenth day of egg withdrawal. I am still seeing live tapeworm segments in the poop. Should I treat one more time to be on the safe side? There are quite a few segments coming out in the poop, and they are still alive. I would assume this is coming from wild birds and flies. We are trying to control this as much as possible, but it's a pretty impossible task. If I worm again, at what point do I just give up and let them have tapeworm? I can't keep them on Valbazen forever.

Welcome to BYC!

Tapes can be very hard to treat. Perhaps you could try something with praziquantel in it, like Equimax horse paste? Most effective dose is ~0.03 ml per pound, or ~0.16 ml per five pounds.

Dose is 10 mg/kg and math is this:
1 pound - 1 / 2.2 x 10 /140.3 = 0.032 ml
5 pounds - 5 / 2.2 x 10 /140.3 = 0.162 ml
Above dose is for Equimax only!

Equimax is 1.87% ivermectin (18.7 mg/ml) and 14.03% praziquantel (140.3 mg/ml). Bonus with Equimax is that it will also treat lice f they have any.



-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Hmmm...our girls free range most days, and are locked in coop at night. They have laying Crumbles and water with ACV in the coop and have access to it all the time. Our four dogs are constantly cleaning up the chicken poop around the yard and in the coop. Are worms in chickens a given? And do the dogs now have worms? Is it a bad idea to let the girls free range VS keeping them cooped? Thanks.

Dogs get dog worms, chickens get chicken worms.

-Kathy