Topic of the Week - Deworming chickens

[casportpony]

If you want to use the UK 1 mg/kg for five days this is the math:

0.5 kg (1/2 kg) x 1 (mg/kg) 100 (mg/ml) = 0.005 ml per 0.5 kg, so impossible to give undiluted.


Probably best to mix 1 ml (100 mg ) Safeguard into 99 ml water. Stir very well. Now you have a solution that's 1 mg/ml.


0.5 kg x 1 (mg/kg) / 1 (mg/ml) = 0.5 ml per 0.5 kg.


Does that help and make sense? Please double check my math!

Oh yes, thank you! There seems to be a very broad range of recommended doses (1-50mg/kg repeat, one study had a dose at 100mg/kg ) , so I'm muddling my way though. Diluting it out is an excellent idea.  

Step one is to figure out what worms you want to treat. That UK dose is for large roundworms and cecal worms, it will not treat capillary worms.

Step two is to figure out what wormer to use.

Step three is to figure out what dose.

Step four is to find withdrawal time for that chemical.

-Kathy

 

[Glenda Heywoodo]

> THIS DOES NOT HAVE A ACTING URL
I have tried and tried to find this article
Glenda Heywood

 

[Teila]

THIS DOES NOT HAVE A ACTING URL
I have tried and tried to find this article
Glenda Heywood

http://www.acreagelife.com/articles/problem-pumpkin-seeds

 

[casportpony]

>
THIS DOES NOT HAVE A ACTING URL


I have tried and tried to find this article

Glenda Heywood

The Problem With Pumpkin Seeds

Published on Tue, 12/29/2015 - 1:09pm
googleplus

When wisdom may be wrong

By Andy Schneider, aka The Chicken Whisperer
Every fall, chicken blogs and forums are flooded with posts about pumpkin seeds being an all-natural dewormer for chickens. You don’t see the posts as much the rest of the year, but because pumpkins are so readily available during the holiday season, the posts become almost viral. The only problem is that there are no studies to support this information.
The issue is not about giving pumpkin flesh or pumpkin seeds to your chickens—they will likely enjoy the seasonal treat—but instead that readers will take this information as proven fact and think they are actually deworming their flock, when in fact, they aren't.
When the treatment doesn't treat

Whenever a chicken keeper posts “How do I deworm my chickens?” or “Should I deworm my chickens?” on a blog or forum, you can almost predict the coming comments from other chicken keepers. Inevitably, someone will post that pumpkin seeds are an all-natural dewormer as if it’s proven scientific fact. When questioned and asked for some kind of proof, nine times out of ten their answer is, “I give pumpkin seeds to my flock and they don’t have worms.”
The usual follow-up question is "Have you ever had your chickens tested to prove it?" That typically places them on the defensive—and the name-calling begins—when all I have requested is some proof to support their statement. Soon after, they rush to Google to search for a study they can find that may prove their point. The giveaway is that the first study they often refer to is a well-known Delaware State University study about goats and other ruminants. It’s apparent that they haven't read the complete study because they would have found that, while the goats did actually expel some worms during the study, they still had worms after treatment. Not to mention—at least the last time I checked—chickens are not goats or ruminants.
Proving a point

At a minimum, In order to prove that pumpkin seeds are in fact an all-natural dewormer, you need to show that you started with chickens that are indeed infested, the types of worm (or worms) infecting the chickens, the variety and amount of pumpkin seeds used, how long they were administered, the method used to ensure that each chicken received the same dose, and, finally, a test demonstrating that the chickens are worm-free.
While there may be a study in the back of a file cabinet in some university somewhere that proves that pumpkin seeds are an effective all-natural dewormer for chickens, these studies first need to see the light of day, and then be replicated by other, independent studies before the information can be accepted as true.
Additional misinformation

Another frequently-found piece of deworming misinformation found online concerns the egg withdrawal period for popular retail dewormer Wazine. The common response is this withdrawal period is two weeks. Unfortunately, this is simply not true. Yes, the withdrawal period for meat consumption after using Wazine is two weeks, but there is no official egg withdrawal time for the consumption of eggs.
For the past decade I have been sharing this information, and even stating that if you actually call the company that manufactures Wazine and ask them what the official egg withdrawal is for their product, they will tell you that there is no official egg withdrawal time, and that you should never again eat eggs from your laying hens that you have treated using Wazine. In fact, I called them again recently to verify this information for this article.
Their main concern is that drug residues that may be found inside eggs from chickens that have been treated with Wazine. If you personally make the decision to still eat the eggs, that’s on you. But you are taking a risk if you give away, barter, or sell your eggs from chickens you have treated with Wazine—especially is someone has a reaction to the drug residues found in the eggs they received from you.
About the author

Andy Schneider, aka The Chicken Whisperer, hosts the popular podcast Backyard Poultry with the Chicken Whisperer and has authored The Chicken Whisperer’s Guide to Keeping Chickens. Andy is also the national spokesperson for the USDA-APHIS Biosecurity for Birds program.​

 

[casportpony]

And when the link stops working, like they usually do, here is a pdf:

 

[ChickChic45]

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?




For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

What are the two BEST ( broad spectrum) products and dosages?

I'm sure that somewhere there is a wonderful list of dewormer products and dosages worked out for off label products like IVERMECTIN.

I'm hoping somebody is online who can pop me dosages for IVERMECTIN. I need to use it in an hour an a half. I have used it before but have forgotten. Seems like I used 1/10th cc topically. Also wondering if my "regular" chickens are maybe 5 pounds?

 

[casportpony]

Quote:

For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

What are the two BEST ( broad spectrum) products and dosages?

I'm sure that somewhere there is a wonderful list of dewormer products and dosages worked out for off label products like IVERMECTIN.

I'm hoping somebody is online who can pop me dosages for IVERMECTIN. I need to use it in an hour an a half. I have used it before but have forgotten. Seems like I used 1/10th cc topically. Also wondering if my "regular" chickens are maybe 5 pounds?
Do you want to use the pour on, the injectable, or the horse paste?

 

[ChickChic45]

Ivermectin Pour on.

5 mg per ml.

10 ml / 220lbs

Help!

I am assuming most of my chickens are around 5 lbs. Do you agree that 5 lbs. is an average weight?

What would the dose be for a 5 lb chicken?

I have tuberculin syringes.

I found a post where someone uses
1 drop for small bantam
3 drops for average bantams
4 drops for large bantams
5 drops for giant hens

Can somebody help me with the math with exact ml?

 

[casportpony]

Ivermectin Pour on.

 5 mg per ml.

10 ml / 220lbs

Help!

I am assuming most of my chickens are around 5 lbs.  Do you agree that 5 lbs. is an average weight?

What would the dose be for a 5 lb chicken?

I have tuberculin syringes.

I found a post where someone uses
1 drop for small bantam
3 drops for average bantams
4 drops for large bantams
5 drops for giant hens

Can somebody help me with the math with exact ml?

Five pounds is pretty close, but might be better to make a list of all your breeds, then look up the weight each one and make a note. Some breeds, like Rhode Island Reds, as Orpingtons, might weigh more.

The drop thing drives me nuts, so I always do the math.
10 ml per 220 pounds works out to 0.5 mg per kg. The math is pretty easy if you use this formula.

Weight of bird in pounds, divide by 2.2 (converts to kg), times 0.5 (mg per kg needed for this drug), divide by 5 (number of mg per ml) = number of ml needed.

1 pound
1 / 2.2 x 0.5 / 5 = 0.045 ml per pound.

5 pounds
5 / 2.2 x 0.5 / 5 = 0.227 ml

10 pounds
10 / 2.2 x 0.5 / 5 = 0.45 ml

And one can verify the above by checking the dose for the 220 pound animal.
220 / 2.2 x 0.5 / 5 = 10 ml

So, now about worming... Ivermectin is not a good poultry wormer. It will probably treat large roundworms, and it might treat cecal worms, but there are some studies that say it will not treat capillary worms or gapeworms. FWIW, peafowl breeders use ivermectin for lice and mites, but we don't use it for worms.

Have you have had a fecal done to check for worms?

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Five pounds is pretty close, but might be better to make a list of all your breeds, then look up the weight each one and make a note. Some breeds, like Rhode Island Reds, as Orpingtons, might weigh more.

The drop thing drives me nuts, so I always do the math.

10 ml per 220 pounds works out to 0.5 mg per kg. The math is pretty easy if you use this formula.

Weight of bird in pounds, divide by 2.2 (converts to kg), times 0.5 (mg per kg needed for this drug), divide by 5 (number of mg per ml) = number of ml needed.

1 pound
1 / 2.2 x 0.5 / 5 = 0.045 ml per pound.

5 pounds
5 / 2.2 x 0.5 / 5 = 0.227 ml

10 pounds
10 / 2.2 x 0.5 / 5 = 0.45 ml

And one can verify the above by checking the dose for the 220 pound animal.
220 / 2.2 x 0.5 / 5 = 10 ml

So, now about worming... Ivermectin is not a good poultry wormer. It will probably treat large roundworms, and it might treat cecal worms, but there are some studies that say it will not treat capillary worms or gapeworms. FWIW, peafowl breeders use ivermectin for lice and mites, but we don't use it for worms.

Have you have had a fecal done to check for worms?

That is how I did it with the Valbazen last week - made a list of all my breeds and their average weights, did the math and wrote how many cc's beside it. The drop thing really isn't accurate. There was a big difference between my Sebright hen and my male bantam Cochin cockerels, for instance. Then I had the list and my bread and as each one at her bread I crossed them off. I had to dose the males orally since if you give them bread they just want to give it to the girls. I have to do it all over again tomorrow. The bread thing can be a bit time consuming, but probably not any less so than trying to do all 22 individually, even if I wait until they are on the roost at night.