What do I need to know about deworming?

[Quackattack717]

So I read somewhere recently in my internet research about deworming. I had no idea chickens/ducks needed dewormed. We deworm our dogs but had no idea this was something we needed to think about with our backyard flock! Sooo...
All of our flock are young. Under 6 months of age. When and how do we need to start deworming? Do both the chickens & ducks need dewormed? Are there any other things we need to be doing in preventative care for our flock? I am new to all of this, but I have been trying to research to know the right things that we should be doing to keep our babies healthy hence why I joined BYC!

Thanks in advance!

 

[pibb]

I am not familiar with ducks but chickens peck and eat all kinds of things. Pecking at the ground and eating insects can result in ingestion of worms or worm eggs and at some point they will get worms unless you confine them to a place that doesn't have dirt or bugs. There's not much you can do except educate yourself on what to do when it happens.

Some people recommend a fecal test to see if the chicken actually has worms before worming because you can't actually see the worm eggs or certain kinds of worms. On other occasions you may wake up to find little worms that you can actually see in the chickens poo which usually means they are overloaded.

There are different kinds of wormers and some work better on certain worms than others. I always keep an eye on my chickens poop as I clean it every morning.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have kept a flock here for 20 years and have never wormed a single chicken. It was mostly unheard of until the backyard chicken craze. I say only do it if you see worms or you have a fecal done. Overuse of wormers leads to resistance to those wormers. Than all you have is worms that can't be killed. A healthy chicken can have a reasonable worm load, and be fine.

 

[Folly's place]

It depends on your environment, so there's no one right answer. Some flocks never have issues, and others might need worming every year.
Parasites and parasite loads vary, and giving a product 'just because' isn't wise or useful. Having fecals run at the veterinarian's, and/ or seeing parasites out there, would be a reason to use an appropriate product.
Right now in the USA there's only one approved wormer, fenbendazole, and using it unnecessarily is a bad plan.
Mary