wondering about worming the chickens

[urbanfred]

My feed and farm store gave me piperazine to worm my free-run chickens, saying that eating earthworms, slugs, etc. can give them intestinal parasites (worms). This medication is used for dogs and cats as well.
My problem is with method of giving them the piperazine and the dosage. Directions state to give 15 drops piperazine per 6 lbs of body weight, and suggets putting it in their water or in food. Fine for dogs, but not so easy for chickens. Three chickens use the waterer, and are all different weights. What is the dilution in this situation? How else can I be sure they get the proper amount and what other ways to administer this are there.
By the way, this is preventative medicine, as I have no reason to belive they are infested. What do you folks do with this issue?

 

[SeaChick]

Not to hijack the thread, but can't adding DE to the feed be a preventative wormer, and more innocuous than a medication as far as egg consumption, etc?

 

[bayouchica]

Hi, I wouldn't treat them till ya know what type of worms your birds have or if they have any.
Call around & find a vet that will check a poop sample.
Food grade DE is good over time to prevent worms, but if they have worms bad you'll need to take other measures.
I don't know anything about Piperazine.I do know if your chickens have roundworms you can use Eprienex (sp?) it's a cattle wormer but will kill all roundworms AND kill any mites/lice on your birds.
Eprienex is a cattle wormer so this is off label use with no withdrawl time so you can eat eggs after they are treated. Just use 1/2 cc. for standards & 1/4 cc for bantams on the back of their neck.
I'm no expert so anyone out there please correct me if I was wrong on anything.

If ya have more questions please let us know.
Miriam

 

[robin416]

Does the bottle you have say Wazine? That's the one most of us have for worming our birds. It gives complete directions on what to mix per gallon of water on the bottle.

The suggestion of doing a fecal sample is a good one. If you do take one to your vet take samples from more than one spot, that way you'll have better coverage if one of your birds are shedding and the others aren't.

 

[dlhunicorn]

DE is good for managing the parasites externally but will do nothing for an active (internal) infestion... I second Robins advice for getting a faecal...

 

[urbanfred]

Thanks for the intelleigent advice, folks.
The message I'm getting is not to prevent worms with this medication, but to wait until they get infested, which can only be determined by veterinary examination. Do you all have samples tested regularly, as a standard process? Seems expensive....

Also, how does one be sure a chicken gets the recommended dose when chickens of different weights are drinking from the same medicated water? One chicken might drink 8 oz. per day, and another 3 oz.
I don't want them to have too much medication or too little. Any other way to accurately deliver a water-soluble medication?

 

[Iamaqte]

I hate to sounds stupid.... But if you find out your birds do have birds.. what should u do? What does grade DE mean? I keep reading the blogs and I just am not comprehending all these different things people are saying to use. Where can u get the stuff to get rid of the worms?

 

[robin416]

Chickens ain't as simple as they seemed are they?

I do not wait, I worm at least twice a year for round worms. But I worm more often for other forms of parasites. See different wormers remove different parasites.

I don't have fecals done routinely now, I know I have capillaria on my place and that my second wormer must deal with them as well as other parasites.

Some people swear that they don't have worms because their birds free range. Well, my birds have a large fenced area (bigger than other people's backyards) that they are in all day and they still end up with worms. Geography plays a big part in what you might have to deal with. Its just good management to have a good worming program. Letting a bird become so infested that you are seeing worms in the droppings tells you that internal damage is being done to the bird.

When I have a fecal done now its if something odd shows up. Really odd looking droppings, an unthrifty bird that is not showing signs of any disease or illness.

The birds will drink what they need. When they do that they are getting the dose they need. That's why I asked what kind of Piperzine you had. Sounds suspiciously like it is not the one for chickens.

Iamagte, I don't use DE. You are referring to food grade DE, there is one for swimming pools that is toxic to birds. If you're talking about wormers you can get them at the feed stores. Wazine for round worms and I use Ivomec Eprinex pour on for most of the other parasites.

 

[Iamaqte]

I have never had to deal with this with my animals before. I brought the turkey in from another home.. and I am just blown away that he has all these problems. We have had chickens for as long as I can remember and never have any of them had this....it just makes me wonder what kind of upkeep the previous owners did for their animals.... It looks like they did nothing if you ask me.. and I am not a happy camper!!

I am heading off to tractor supply tonight! Wish me luck.

I am going to start them on a regular worming regiment so this never happens again!

 

[robin416]

You're probably correct about the no worming program. When an animal or human for that matter has an overload of intestinal parasites they erode the gastrointestinal tract.

I had a friend who bought a beautiful palimino, she had him vetted to make certain he was healthy. Problem is you can't tell if the animal was on a regular worming routine. He died a horrible death within months of her getting him. A necropsy showed that his intestines were a mess from what the worms had done to him before she bought him.

If we are all so careful about worming our dogs, cats, horses, cows, what makes a chicken any different? They are out there exposed to the same parasites as the animals we have on a worming program.