treating entire flock

Chickenslol

Songster
Sep 26, 2020
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idk man, no clue
wanted to get into doing a yearly deworming for my entire flock as a preventative, does anyone have any tips for dosing a flock of 10 with liquid safe guard goat dewormer?

Thanks!
 
I'm not a fan of scheduled worming due to issues with resistance. Plus Safeguard doesn't kill all worms. I think it's best to dose them when they need it and after a fecal float test is done to determine which worm you're dealing with. Otherwise, you may just end up with a super worm that can't be killed or with birds whose wormloads are out of control because fendendazole doesn't treat all worms.

But dising 10 isn't hard, ime. I go in at night, start at one end of the roost, pick up a chicken, put the paste in their beaks, wait for them to swallow, put it back down, and move on to the next. I have also brought them into my house one at a time and wrote down who I'd dosed to make sure I didn't miss anyone. That's how I did it when my 25 needed worming (after verifying I was dealing with worms and knowing exactly which worm it was).
 
I think it's best to dose them when they need it and after a fecal float test is done to determine which worm you're dealing with.
This is a good theory (and I agree) but since worms can pass intermittently they may never show up on a fecal float... as was the case when I finally had to treat for what I could see the same day my float came back negative..

My (avian) vet recommends treating once per year regardless of fecal float for MY location, soil type, stock density, wildlife load, weather patterns, etc.

I would also note that treating for lice or mites may be AS important.

wanted to get into doing a yearly deworming for my entire flock as a preventative, does anyone have any tips

Worming is not a preventative procedure.. it's a treatment.

Prevent worms best you can by practicing good biosecurity, don't hang wild bird feeders to invite more stuff, feed good quality balanced nutrition not diminished by excess treats, plenty of space, etc.. all to support their immune system, thereby preventing what you can. :fl
 
My (avian) vet recommends treating once per year regardless of fecal float for MY location, soil type, stock density
Oh, interesting! My avian vet advised against it for similar reasons. There'sa resistence problem here. Huh. Well, then, nevermind.

OP - dose for worms yearly, then, after checking if it's recommended for your area.
 
SafeGuard if given 0.25 ml per pound orally for 5 days actually does treat most all chicken worms except for the more rare tapeworms, the segments of which you can usually see in poops. Valbazen 1/2 ml 0.50 ml) orally given once and again in 10 days also treats most chicken worms, including the hard to get ones.
 
I'm not a fan of scheduled worming due to issues with resistance. Plus Safeguard doesn't kill all worms. I think it's best to dose them when they need it and after a fecal float test is done to determine which worm you're dealing with. Otherwise, you may just end up with a super worm that can't be killed or with birds whose wormloads are out of control because fendendazole doesn't treat all worms.

But dising 10 isn't hard, ime. I go in at night, start at one end of the roost, pick up a chicken, put the paste in their beaks, wait for them to swallow, put it back down, and move on to the next. I have also brought them into my house one at a time and wrote down who I'd dosed to make sure I didn't miss anyone. That's how I did it when my 25 needed worming (after verifying I was dealing with worms and knowing exactly which worm it was).
hi there! thanks for the advice! i think i am going to dose them simply because i recently had a chicken die from water belly/heart failure and i’ve noticed a decrease in egg production. last time i had a chicken die in this way i had a fecal float test done (after paying 250) and dosed them for coccidiosis and egg production ramped back up, so i think it’s a good idea to skip a fecal float, and just give them a dose of safe guard because even though it might not treat coccidiosis, corid can be harmful if not dealing with an infection. this is just a long way to say i probably won’t be dosing them yearly, but i am dosing them right now just in case
 
@Chickenslol Just for your information: Corid is not an antibiotic and not harmful. It is a thiamine blocker without a withdrawal period.
Safeguard is an excellent wormer. It kills all known types of roundworms that chickens can get similar to Valbazen.

Your soil conditions dictates how often you should worm. I worm my birds monthly because our soil is warm and moist or wet most of the time. Penned birds kept on the same soil or birds kept in small yard should be wormed frequently.
 
hi there! thanks for the advice! i think i am going to dose them simply because i recently had a chicken die from water belly/heart failure and i’ve noticed a decrease in egg production. last time i had a chicken die in this way i had a fecal float test done (after paying 250) and dosed them for coccidiosis and egg production ramped back up, so i think it’s a good idea to skip a fecal float, and just give them a dose of safe guard because even though it might not treat coccidiosis, corid can be harmful if not dealing with an infection. this is just a long way to say i probably won’t be dosing them yearly, but i am dosing them right now just in case
Gotcha. My vet was pretty adamant about not doing it as a preventative, but it sounds like that's either one vet's opinion or just a thing in my area. You learn something new every day.

And 250 is crazy for a fecal float! My vet does them for 20. And I do my own sometimes because I have goats, too, and I check their stool every few weeks.

But I am having a hard time with deaths in my flock right now, so I understand wanting to try everything to stop the losses.

Good luck, and sorry if I was misinformed. Don't mean to throw out conflicting info.
 

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