Topic of the Week - Deworming chickens

[newhamplover]

I've had chickens live to almost 10 years of age with never being wormed. Nature knows what it is doing. I always speak from my experiences with keeping goats. I have had goats die from worms, worming them did nothing, they still died or needed to be put down. Breeding for resistance is a better option. I keep my own chickens to have clean food, putting chemicals in them doesn't make sense to me.

Glad to hear someone else thinks the same as me about it. And I lied a bit, I get attached to some of my chickens, but I don't handle them a lot. I still really enjoy them and want the best for them and to give them the best life. Mine are 100% free range, so it probably does help with keeping them healthy.

Oldhen I almost always agree with you, we seem to see things a lot the same way. I am very much all natural as much as possible. I personally would never do DE or apple cider in their water. I wouldn't want to drink water with that in it!!!! We have wonderful well water & that is what they drink, the same as I do. I am old school, like my Grandpa taught me, & he always said the closer you keep anything to mother nature the better off it is & I agree.

Oh I hope mine live to be 10 years. I am way too attached to them.

 

[newhamplover]

I am new to chickens and struggling with this very issue.

In late January this year I got my first chickens. I got 5 hens: 2 Wyandottes, 2 Cream Legbars, and 1 Rhodebar. They were 4 to 6 months old when I got them. The first 3 months I had them were fantastic. They began laying almost right away and once they were all laying we were getting about 28 eggs per week which was great. I enjoy their personalities and taking care of them. They are in a 100 sq. ft pen in my horse barn. I use pine shavings for litter and I pick the pen out daily. It only takes a few minutes and I am used to caring for horses so I keep the chickens in a similar way. Except my chickens don't go outside. I was planning on building an outdoor pen but I started having problems so did not go ahead with that yet.

The problems began about 3 months after we got them. One of the Wyandottes slowed down laying then one of the Cream Legbars slowed down too. Their combs became pale. I looked online for info (I don't have a chicken vet) and read about the possibility of worms and the need to deworm. Although my hens don't go outside, the person I got them from free-ranged them so it was possible they were exposed to worms.

With all the disparate information and opinion online it was hard to ascertain what product to use and how to administer it, so I called my friend who has a lot of chickens. She said that she had never dewormed her chickens and they are fine and she did not recommend "dousing them with chemicals". So I did nothing which I now regret. Then the two hens stopped laying altogether and the Cream Legbar became lethargic. At this point I knew I had to do something. I did some more reading online, and read that injectable cattle ivermectin administered orally by syringe .2 cc per bird would work. I drove to the feedstore and picked some up and we did the lethargic Cream Legbar. She was dead the next morning, so either the worms dying off killed her, or she was about to die anyhow. She was very weak by that point. It was on Sunday and I didn't think about sending for necropsy (another regret).

I did then find a vet who would look at fecal samples from my other chickens and the vet's finding was they were full of roundworm eggs. We tried dosing them with ivermectin by syringe but had trouble always getting them to open their beak and sometimes they would shake their head and send the dose splashing and then what, as you couldn't know how much has actually gone in. By then the first Wyandotte was losing about 10 feathers per day, comb still pale, and the second Wyandotte started losing about 100 feathers per day. I bought Gail Damerow's Chicken Health Handbook and it said I could use the injectable ivermectin dissolved in the drinking water at 4 cc per gallon for 2 days. After doing that the second Wyandotte immediately stopped losing feathers, the combs got red, and everyone seemed brighter and way more active. After two weeks I had the fecals rechecked and there were no eggs. But then three weeks after that she is losing feathers again and the comb is pale. The two Wyandottes are not laying and the other two chickens vary from laying well (6 eggs a week) to OK (3 to 4 a week).

After reading this thread I ordered the 60 ml bottle of Valbazen last night from a US kennel supply and am hoping it will ship to me in Canada. Assuming it does and I can treat them successfully by oral syringe, do I need to repeat in two weeks? Then should I strip out the litter from the pen and completely replace it? I'm guessing it could be full of eggs? If the Valbazen doesn't come I'm not sure what my next step should be.

I wish I knew exactly what to do. Chickens seem SO much more complicated to care for than horses!

I think they need to be outside. The sun & light have a lot to do with their laying & the vitamins they get from the sun. I personally am outside all the time. I have to have the outside & I think all animals do too. I would go nuts if inside all the time. It is mother nature.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I think they need to be outside.  The sun & light have a lot to do with their laying & the vitamins they get from the sun.  I personally am outside all the time.  I have to have the outside & I think all animals do too. I would go nuts if inside all the time. It is mother nature.

Free range is always best but unless you have a lot of space to rotate and rest the ground it doesn't take long for the ground to become bereft of the minerals required for optimum health.
Agreed , there is nothing like fresh air , sunshine and clean water, but as this article explains chickens are very adaptable.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I am new to chickens and struggling with this very issue.

In late January this year I got my first chickens. I got 5 hens: 2 Wyandottes, 2 Cream Legbars, and 1 Rhodebar. They were 4 to 6 months old when I got them. The first 3 months I had them were fantastic. They began laying almost right away and once they were all laying we were getting about 28 eggs per week which was great. I enjoy their personalities and taking care of them. They are in a 100 sq. ft pen in my horse barn. I use pine shavings for litter and I pick the pen out daily. It only takes a few minutes and I am used to caring for horses so I keep the chickens in a similar way. Except my chickens don't go outside. I was planning on building an outdoor pen but I started having problems so did not go ahead with that yet.

The problems began about 3 months after we got them. One of the Wyandottes slowed down laying then one of the Cream Legbars slowed down too. Their combs became pale. I looked online for info (I don't have a chicken vet) and read about the possibility of worms and the need to deworm. Although my hens don't go outside, the person I got them from free-ranged them so it was possible they were exposed to worms.

With all the disparate information and opinion online it was hard to ascertain what product to use and how to administer it, so I called my friend who has a lot of chickens. She said that she had never dewormed her chickens and they are fine and she did not recommend "dousing them with chemicals". So I did nothing which I now regret. Then the two hens stopped laying altogether and the Cream Legbar became lethargic. At this point I knew I had to do something. I did some more reading online, and read that injectable cattle ivermectin administered orally by syringe .2 cc per bird would work. I drove to the feedstore and picked some up and we did the lethargic Cream Legbar. She was dead the next morning, so either the worms dying off killed her, or she was about to die anyhow. She was very weak by that point. It was on Sunday and I didn't think about sending for necropsy (another regret).

I did then find a vet who would look at fecal samples from my other chickens and the vet's finding was they were full of roundworm eggs. We tried dosing them with ivermectin by syringe but had trouble always getting them to open their beak and sometimes they would shake their head and send the dose splashing and then what, as you couldn't know how much has actually gone in. By then the first Wyandotte was losing about 10 feathers per day, comb still pale, and the second Wyandotte started losing about 100 feathers per day. I bought Gail Damerow's Chicken Health Handbook and it said I could use the injectable ivermectin dissolved in the drinking water at 4 cc per gallon for 2 days. After doing that the second Wyandotte immediately stopped losing feathers, the combs got red, and everyone seemed brighter and way more active. After two weeks I had the fecals rechecked and there were no eggs. But then three weeks after that she is losing feathers again and the comb is pale. The two Wyandottes are not laying and the other two chickens vary from laying well (6 eggs a week) to OK (3 to 4 a week).

After reading this thread I ordered the 60 ml bottle of Valbazen last night from a US kennel supply and am hoping it will ship to me in Canada. Assuming it does and I can treat them successfully by oral syringe, do I need to repeat in two weeks? Then should I strip out the litter from the pen and completely replace it? I'm guessing it could be full of eggs? If the Valbazen doesn't come I'm not sure what my next step should be.

I wish I knew exactly what to do. Chickens seem SO much more complicated to care for than horses!

Sorry you've had a rough trot. Yes there is definitely more to keeping chickens than one would imagine, but as with your horses, once you get it weighed off it is very rewarding.

It's easy to be overwhelmed by all of the conflicting information but it's the same with horses, everyone's an expert. Hehehe. I try to research scientific studies as apposed to people's private blogs and that helps to narrow down the search.
Ivermectin is great for mites but from the limited studies that are available , it is not an effective anthelmetic. The dose required to make it effective would be lethal to the chicken. Having said that, Casportpony and Dawg53 are well versed on wormers and dosage.

 

[casportpony]

Sorry you've had a rough trot. Yes there is definitely more to keeping chickens than one would imagine, but as with your horses, once you get it weighed off it is very rewarding.

It's easy to be overwhelmed by all of the conflicting information but it's the same with horses, everyone's an expert. Hehehe. I try to research scientific studies as apposed to people's private blogs and that helps to narrow down the search.
Ivermectin is great for mites but from the limited studies that are available , it is not an effective anthelmetic. The dose required to make it effective would be lethal to the chicken. Having said that, Casportpony and Dawg53 are well versed on wormers and dosage.

Huge pet peeve of mine, lol! Who made up all of these doses? A good example is the "pea sized" amount of horse paste? Where in the heck did that come from?

-Kathy

 

[Fancychooklady]

Huge pet peeve of mine, lol! Who made up all of these doses? A good example is the "pea sized" amount of horse paste? Where in the heck did that come from?

-Kathy

Hehe, I can imagine you pulling your hair out. For those of us that are mathematically challenged or just plain old lazy it's nice to have someone like you around to double check dosages.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: Glad you appreciate my anal retentiveness, lol, but tell me, how does someone like Gale Damerow get away with publishing dosing misinformation?

-Kathy

 

[bluebirdlane]

Thank you Kathy for posting the info on oral dosing. We will study up before the Valbazen arrives. The kennel supply says they shipped it yesterday by post so here's hoping there are no glitches at the border.

Should I strip out the litter and start fresh after deworming with Valbazen?

Here are some pics of my chickens housing. They have a south facing window so it is bright and there is good ventilation and a high ceiling in the barn so it's airy. They have a roost at 2 and a half feet and another at 5 feet where they sleep at night.


















Thank you everyone for your help and let me know if you have any other advice for me.

Lori

 

[Folly's place]

Nice coop!!! Mary

 

[newhamplover]

I am new to chickens and struggling with this very issue.

In late January this year I got my first chickens. I got 5 hens: 2 Wyandottes, 2 Cream Legbars, and 1 Rhodebar. They were 4 to 6 months old when I got them. The first 3 months I had them were fantastic. They began laying almost right away and once they were all laying we were getting about 28 eggs per week which was great. I enjoy their personalities and taking care of them. They are in a 100 sq. ft pen in my horse barn. I use pine shavings for litter and I pick the pen out daily. It only takes a few minutes and I am used to caring for horses so I keep the chickens in a similar way. Except my chickens don't go outside. I was planning on building an outdoor pen but I started having problems so did not go ahead with that yet.

The problems began about 3 months after we got them. One of the Wyandottes slowed down laying then one of the Cream Legbars slowed down too. Their combs became pale. I looked online for info (I don't have a chicken vet) and read about the possibility of worms and the need to deworm. Although my hens don't go outside, the person I got them from free-ranged them so it was possible they were exposed to worms.

With all the disparate information and opinion online it was hard to ascertain what product to use and how to administer it, so I called my friend who has a lot of chickens. She said that she had never dewormed her chickens and they are fine and she did not recommend "dousing them with chemicals". So I did nothing which I now regret. Then the two hens stopped laying altogether and the Cream Legbar became lethargic. At this point I knew I had to do something. I did some more reading online, and read that injectable cattle ivermectin administered orally by syringe .2 cc per bird would work. I drove to the feedstore and picked some up and we did the lethargic Cream Legbar. She was dead the next morning, so either the worms dying off killed her, or she was about to die anyhow. She was very weak by that point. It was on Sunday and I didn't think about sending for necropsy (another regret).

I did then find a vet who would look at fecal samples from my other chickens and the vet's finding was they were full of roundworm eggs. We tried dosing them with ivermectin by syringe but had trouble always getting them to open their beak and sometimes they would shake their head and send the dose splashing and then what, as you couldn't know how much has actually gone in. By then the first Wyandotte was losing about 10 feathers per day, comb still pale, and the second Wyandotte started losing about 100 feathers per day. I bought Gail Damerow's Chicken Health Handbook and it said I could use the injectable ivermectin dissolved in the drinking water at 4 cc per gallon for 2 days. After doing that the second Wyandotte immediately stopped losing feathers, the combs got red, and everyone seemed brighter and way more active. After two weeks I had the fecals rechecked and there were no eggs. But then three weeks after that she is losing feathers again and the comb is pale. The two Wyandottes are not laying and the other two chickens vary from laying well (6 eggs a week) to OK (3 to 4 a week).

After reading this thread I ordered the 60 ml bottle of Valbazen last night from a US kennel supply and am hoping it will ship to me in Canada. Assuming it does and I can treat them successfully by oral syringe, do I need to repeat in two weeks? Then should I strip out the litter from the pen and completely replace it? I'm guessing it could be full of eggs? If the Valbazen doesn't come I'm not sure what my next step should be.

I wish I knew exactly what to do. Chickens seem SO much more complicated to care for than horses!

You do have a fantastic barn & a great place for your chickens at night but I think they really need outside during the day. You said your problems started about 3 months after you got them & they had been free ranged. Chickens do not produce eggs year round. They focus on seasons likely to yield the highest reproductive rate. This is usually spring & the lengthening of days. More light because a hen will lay the most with 14 hours of light. When they don't get as much light in winter, when the days are shorter, their laying is less frequent. When they are getting more light it stimulates the brain to produce hormones that begin to produce sperm & eggs. Also vitamin D, which is listed on the feed tag as cholecalciferol, is called the sunshine vitamin. Only in sunlight does cholecalciferal convert to something usable in a chicken's body. Without vitamin D chickens can suffer from rickets. Sunshine plays a huge role in the health of chickens & every living thing. The green grass, dirt baths, & mine love to get a good dirt hole, flop the dirt on themselves & spread their wing out & soak in the sun.