Topic of the Week - Deworming chickens

[newhamplover]

I'm kind of glad that I didn't spend the money to put in an outdoor run, because now I can see that the chickens would be MUCH happier to go free outside. An outdoor run would give them about 100 sq ft of extra space and I could dress it up with logs and perches, but it wouldn't have grass and millions of bugs and all the variety of the great outdoors. It would be so cool if the chickens could graze in our orchard and keep the bugs down below the fruit trees we planted this year.

I was thinking that when (or at this point what feels like "if") we get this worm problem cleared up, I would put them outside. Do you think it is worth waiting for that, or will I never have the worms 100% cleared up so I may as well accept that there will be some worm eggs in the environment, and I can go ahead and let them out now?

Another issue is getting my dog trained to leave the chickens alone. A very good thing about this dog is she does care what I think. So she's quite trainable. She is a herding breed, Australian Shepherd, but leaves the horses alone at all times. But I taught her this as a young dog. Does anyone have any tips for how to proceed with dog training for free ranging chickens?

Also I am looking for help with pop-door design. On the other side of the back wall of the chicken pen is a large covered 3-sided run-in shed for the horses. I thought the chicken door could go there, because the shed doesn't fill with snow and the chickens could go out and scratch amongst the horses basically all year round and then choose to venture out from there if they desired. The wall itself is 9" thick including the planks on both sides. The door needs to not stick into the horse area or have anything the horses could fiddle with. So I was thinking of something that operated from the chicken side. I would put a lip of about 6" at the bottom to keep their bedding from spilling out. Other than that I'm not sure what the best approach is. Ideas?

Thanks everyone!
Lori

I think that is a great idea to get your chickens outside quickly. I would address the worm situation after a few months of them getting their bodies regulated. I have an automatic door for my coop which I LOVE. The greatest thing since ice cream. It is electric & we have had no issues with it in over 2 years of use. The unit sits inside the coop & the frame is made of a wood plastic that will not rot. Very easy to install. I bought it from flemingoutdoors.com. After 34 years of horses, dogs, etc. to have to be up at a certain time every morning.....this is one luxury that is worth it. I can look out my bedroom window every morning & see them outside & I can get up when I want too LOL!!! But in the country that is still early. It is nice though to have a cup of coffee FIRST.

 

[newhamplover]

Here is a couple of pics of it. They were made when we were building the coop & before we had the electric ran to it.

 

[Kay Kew]

Is gapeworm a kind of roundworm? The very useful links you gave seem to indicate that roundworms are whitish, while gapeworms are red?? Do you know is Panacur Aquasol a possible alternative to dosing individual hens by mouth using a syringe? If so I would certainly prefer that option to struggling to dose my hens for 5 days in a row whenever they need to be de wormed. The worms I have observed in the poop of at least one of my hens are definitely red rather than whitish. Could you show a photo of gapeworms by any chance?? Thanks!

 

[Kay Kew]

By the way I was directing that message to Casportpony on Page 2 of this thread I think!

 

[cree57i]

Here to report with @RavynFallen 's help, we successfully wormed over 100 chickens with Valbazen TWICE! I can tell a difference is some of them already, others not so much. I probably won't wait 3 years to do it again though.

It took about 2 1/2 hours with both of us catching and worming to accomplish it. We probably did about 125 each time.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Here to report with @RavynFallen
 's help, we successfully wormed over 100 chickens with Valbazen TWICE! I can tell a difference is some of them already, others not so much. I probably won't wait 3 years to do it again though.

It took about 2 1/2 hours with both of us catching and worming to accomplish it. We probably did about 125 each time.

I was glad to help!

It certainly goes much quicker and easier with 2 people that are used to handling birds, lol... and preloading syringes is a lifesaver! We used TB syringes and that made it easy to dose each one and get it down to one side to miss their trachea...

Now to do mine...

 

[casportpony]

Is gapeworm a kind of roundworm? The very useful links you gave seem to indicate that roundworms are whitish, while gapeworms are red?? Do you know is Panacur Aquasol a possible alternative to dosing individual hens by mouth using a syringe? If so I would certainly prefer that option to struggling to dose my hens for 5 days in a row whenever they need to be de wormed. The worms I have observed in the poop of at least one of my hens are definitely red rather than whitish. Could you show a photo of gapeworms by any chance?? Thanks!

(nematodes)

• Acuaria spp ~ Dispharynx ~ Synhimanthus spp. $. Gizzard worms. Gizzard, esophagus and proventriculus. Can be a problem in endemic regions, mainly in birds kept outdoors.
• Ascaridia spp. $$$. Chicken roundworms. Small intestine. A serious problem worldwide, also in confined operations.
• Capillaria spp. $$. Hairworms. Crop, esophagus, small intestine, large intestine.
• Heterakis spp. $$$$. Cecal worms. Cecum. Probably the most threatening worms in all kind of poultry operations worldwide.
• Oxyspirura spp. $. Fowl eyeworms. Eyes. Usually a secondary problem in individual birds kept outdoors.
• Strongyloides spp. $$. Threadworms, pinworms. Small intestine. Can be a serious problem worldwide.
• Subulura spp. $. Cecum and small intestine. A secondary problem in birds kept outdoors worldwide.
• Syngamus trachea. $$. Gapeworms. Trachea, bronchi. A serious problem in birds kept outdoors in endemic regions.
• Tetrameres spp. $. Proventriculus and esophagus. Can be a problem in endemic regions, mainly in outdoor opertaions.

AquaSol could be used to treat worms other than large roundworms and cecal worms, but you would need to use more than what the label says.

-Kathy

 

[Kay Kew]

OK maybe I'll see if I can get some of that from the vet then. It would certainly make things a lot easier I think. Thank you.

 

[casportpony]

OK maybe I'll see if I can get some of that from the vet then. It would certainly make things a lot easier I think.  Thank you.

What about flubenvet?

-kathy

 

[casportpony]

OK maybe I'll see if I can get some of that from the vet then. It would certainly make things a lot easier I think.  Thank you.

Where do you live? For some reason I thought I read Ireland, but now I am confused.

-Kathy