TREAT THEM FOR WORMS NOW -Molting - short days - few or no eggs anyway

[Beekissed]

As a nurse, I can tell you that YES you should but I wouldn't go to your doctor to do so. They don't do good parasite testing....I'd suggest you take your sample to a vet. Tell him it's your dog's or something, but I bet you will get a more accurate test result and it will be WAY cheaper if you go to a vet.

Vets get more training in parasitology than do medical doctors/lab techs.....let the experts do it.

 

[dawg53]

Yes Beekissed, you can get pinworms if you go barefooted. They can go through the pours in the skin and where hair grows through the skin. How is it that you can get worms and you say your chickens have never had worms? I'm not sure you know what they look like if you've never seen them in your chickens poop. I recommend you look through the Merck Vet Manual and familiarize yourself with them. Yes, worms CAN break through skin, you are misinformed about that. On a recent "Monsters Inside Me" show on Animal Planet, there was an episode about an Iraqi War veteran returned home and discovered he'd eaten unclean food with locals while in Iraq and picked up some type of worm. It wasnt diagnosed til a year later when certain areas of his skin showed an unexplainable rash. The rash would disappear, then show up somewhere else. One day the rash was on his forearm and a blister formed and something broke the surface of the skin, then went back under the skin. He went to the emergency room where it was discovered he had a worm and was treated for the parasite. They never said what type of worm or medication was used to eliminate it, only that it took several months of treatment to get rid of it...mustve been something exotic..I dont know. In my case, I was having an internal problem when I returned from overseas while on deployment. I was asked if I had eaten any foreign food by the military doctor,"of course!' I had to submit urine, blood,saliva and fecal samples to be tested. All growth stages of parasites were looked for including eggs, negative results. I also recommend that you watch "Monsters Inside Me" on Animal Planet and you'll see what destruction worms cause in the human body. Contact me anytime if you suspect that your chickens ever get worms, I'll be glad to help you. Also, If you ever get worms, I highly recommend you see a doctor and get help.

 

[joebryant]

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THAT's a good idea, and just out of curiosity I think that I will do it just to assure myself... can't hurt.

 

[Beekissed]

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Dawg, you don't have to go barefoot to get pinworms....if you pet your dog or cat and the pinworm ova are anywhere on their fur or paws, if they track their own fecal matter into your home and it contains ova, if they sit their butts on your carpet and they are currently shedding ova....you can get them.

I didn't say my chickens never get worms...I said I'd never seen any.

I know chickens can host parasites. I choose to have a flock that develops their own resistance to worms without the aid of chemical crutches to boost that ability. The only aid I give is garlic, pumpkin seeds, sometimes an all natural soap....things that worms cannot typically build up a resistance to.

I don't have sick chickens but I'm sure they do have worms....just no infestations so large that they compromise the chicken's health. If I did have a chicken that was sick, I would cull it.

In this manner, I keep the healthy and strong that can thrive despite parasitical and environmental marauders. Flock management involves more than throwing medicines down a bird's throat for an expedient way to remedy worms....one can choose to breed and cull for natural parasite resistant qualities.

This does not mean they don't have parasites....it means they thrive despite their naturally occuring parasites and, due to their living conditions and general health, the parasites do not proliferate or reach infestation levels.

And the TV version of the worms picked up in far away places are not typical of the parasites most common here in the states. Sure, all those tropical parasites can eat a hole right through your body.....but the more common parasites that live in us continually are more likely round worms of various species and tape worms. These typically live nice quiet lives cycling through our systems unless conditions are optimal for increased infestations....poor immune systems, young and vulnerable hosts, repeated exposure to parasites in their environment.

And I never said I deworm myself with chemicals either....I much prefer to use natural methods for my worms also.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

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Yep, my parasitology class was when I was in college to be a vet tech. All you really need is a microscope, a slide, and the solution to smear the stool sample with (can't remember what that was all these years later). I'll be we could find pics of the worm eggs online.

 

[joebryant]

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Dawg, you don't have to go barefoot to get pinworms....if you pet your dog or cat and the pinworm ova are anywhere on their fur or paws, if they track their own fecal matter into your home and it contains ova, if they sit their butts on your carpet and they are currently shedding ova....you can get them.

I didn't say my chickens never get worms...I said I'd never seen any.

I know chickens can host parasites. I choose to have a flock that develops their own resistance to worms without the aid of chemical crutches to boost that ability. The only aid I give is garlic, pumpkin seeds, sometimes an all natural soap....things that worms cannot typically build up a resistance to.

I don't have sick chickens but I'm sure they do have worms....just no infestations so large that they compromise the chicken's health. If I did have a chicken that was sick, I would cull it.

In this manner, I keep the healthy and strong that can thrive despite parasitical and environmental marauders. Flock management involves more than throwing medicines down a bird's throat for an expedient way to remedy worms....one can choose to breed and cull for natural parasite resistant qualities.

This does not mean they don't have parasites....it means they thrive despite their naturally occuring parasites and, due to their living conditions and general health, the parasites do not proliferate or reach infestation levels.

And the TV version of the worms picked up in far away places are not typical of the parasites most common here in the states. Sure, all those tropical parasites can eat a hole right through your body.....but the more common parasites that live in us continually are more likely round worms of various species and tape worms. These typically live nice quiet lives cycling through our systems unless conditions are optimal for increased infestations....poor immune systems, young and vulnerable hosts, repeated exposure to parasites in their environment.

And I never said I deworm myself with chemicals either....I much prefer to use natural methods for my worms also.

Beekissed, I couldn't disagree with you more on that attitude. If my dogs, my chickens, or I have worms I want rid of them immediately, and I sure wouldn't be doing it with something like pumpkin seeds or the like.

 

[Beekissed]

Each to his own, Joe...each to his own. Some folks don't like food that has been tainted with chemicals and some folks feel that livestock are weakened by chemical crutching. I prefer to have strong, healthy animals....and it seems to be working for me all these years.

I haven't had any sick ones that I had to cull nor have I had to medicate or take any to the vet...so the proof, I would say, is in the end result.

 

[Judy]

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Not proof. Your experience, and your method, and it works for you -- OK. My only problem with your approach is when it is proposed as the way to go for everyone.

 

[dawg53]

Your soil is moist I'm sure, cooler or colder as well. The soil here in the deep south is warmer, moister throughout most of the year....worm soup. Breeding for resistance is useless in this climate. The alternative is to use chemicals, no guesswork with natural remedies whether they work or not. Perhaps it's not needed where you live, on a mountaintop, but not everyone lives in your climate and dont have worm problems like you. Everyday there's questions about worming in the Emergency Section in the forum. I recommend my best to help them, or they can forget what I recommend and go an alternative way, their choice. We dont have any dogs. My wife has 2 housecats that have never been outside except in a crate to the vet for their checkups. They are clear and free of worms. As far as "Monsters Inside Me" goes, I did not mean to allude to the fact that all the episodes were exotic in nature or overseas. As a matter of fact, that was the only one I had seen concerning a foreign country. All the other episodes were here in the states with problems with the worms you mentioned. Check it out one time Beekissed, you'll see how a roundworm can take away the eyesight of a toddler. (that was a previous episode, maybe they'll show a repeat)

 

[Beekissed]

Did I say it was the way for everyone to go? Nope! Did I start this thread and state, "Everyone don't worm your chickens because my way is the best!" Nope. Just stating fact for many people.....take it or leave it.

And, it's not just anecdotal for me....many people are using an all natural approach and are attempting to get back to animals that are more self-sustaining and naturally healthy.

If you had a chicken that died of worms, then that chicken was too weak to survive in a natural setting and it is only natural that it died. That is how nature eliminates the weak of any species. I just mimic that paradigm and so do many others.

Why is it that people who choose to do otherwise start getting defensive when someone posts about all natural flock management? Are we twisting your arm in some way when we attest to what works for us? You do the same with your Wazine, Ivermectin, etc., dosing but we don't get in a flurry about it all....we just politely state that we don't use it and why.

If giving meds works for you, well..hurray!! If not giving meds works for me...same thing.

My only problem with your approach is when it is proposed as the way to go for everyone.

If you can, would you please point out the place where I proposed that everyone should go this way?