Treating roundworms with ivermectin

[gardenchic]

I treated my whole flock last summer with wazine followed by ivermectin after finding roundworms in their poop. I found some more yesterday and am wondering if I should treat again. Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought if you were seeing them in the poop then the bird had them pretty bad. Is this right? Another thing, I was under the impression that once the medicine killed the worms the chicken would expel them and you would see a large amount of dead worms in the poop. I use sand in the coop and I scoop it every morning and after treating with wazine and ivermectin I never saw that and it worried me. I wondered if they were, in fact, dead and if my treatment did anything for them. So, should I treat again and if I do, will I be able to see the dead worms afterward in the poop? Maybe I'm worried about nothing. Thanks in advance!

 

[casportpony]

The study belows suggests that ivermectin is not a good wormer for poultry

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2816174
Ivermectin as a bird anthelmintic--trials with naturally infected domestic fowl.
Oksanen A, Nikander S.
Abstract

To evaluate the use of ivermectin as a bird anthelmintic, 29 White Leghorn hens naturally infected with Ascaridia spp., Heterakis spp. and Capillaria spp. were treated with 0.2, 2 or 6 mg/kg intramuscularly or 0.2 or 0.8 mg/kg orally. Faecal samples were collected before treatment and at autopsy, 2, 6, or 16 days after treatment, when the intestines were also examined for helminths. None of the treatments gave satisfactory anthelmintic results.

If I were you I would use something like fenbendazole 10% (Safeguard or Panacur, liquid or paste) or albendazole (Valbazen). Let me know if you need dosing info on either.

As for whether or not you should see dead worms in their poop, it depends... sometimes you will, but sometimes the worms get digested, so you won't see those, lol.

-Kathy

 

[Dreyadin]

They got reinfected.
You probably don't want to hear this but... roundworm cysts can live for 2 years in soil/substrate- and can survive through winter. So while you treated them- the area they are in still has the eggs.

Make sure you wash your hands well- because people can get them too.

 

[gardenchic]

I think I've seen Safeguard paste at Orschelns or TSC. I'll try to get some of that. Kathy, can you give me the dosage for that? Do you know how often you can treat with this? Since they can live in the ground 2 yrs I will probably need to treat again. :/ Thanks Dreyadin for that tip. Both of you gave been very helpful, thanks for your replies!

 

[casportpony]

Per dose the liquid is cheaper at ~$20 for 125 1ml doses versus the paste which is ~$10 for 25 1ml doses. I weigh all mine or just guess what they weigh and give them .5ml per 2.2 pounds of either the paste or the liquid.

• 1ml = 1cc
• Liquid is 100mg per 1ml
• Paste is 100mg per gram
• 1ml of paste weighs one gram (I weighed it), so 1ml of paste is equal to 1ml of liquid, trust me!
• .5ml per 2.2 pounds = 50mg per 2.2 pounds (50mg/kg)

The labels on the liquid and paste are for goats and horses, but ignore the dosing, chickens get more mg per pound. The dose I recommended is what my avian vet told me to use and I have use that amount many times and have never seen any ill effects.

There is a warning in my vet drug book that says not to use it during molt or breeding season, FYI.

-Kathy