Worm prevention question.

[Nicole01]

What type of worms does food grade DE, cayenne pepper, pumpkin seeds and apple cider vinegar prevent?

Do these products prevent all types of worms? Thank you.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'll discuss the pumpkin seeds only. Pumpkin seeds, squash seeds, and such contain a substance that paralyzes tapeworms and roundworms to the point they can lose their grip on the intestinal walls and by flushed from the system. The pumpkin or squash pulp can actually loosen the bowels a bit, if you get my drift, and help flush them out.

This does not kill the worms. It does not remove all the worms from the chicken's system. It reduces the worm load so that the worms are not draining the chicken's energy as much. Chickens can normally handle a few worms OK. It is when the numbers get high that they cause a serious problem.

 

[Nicole01]

Thank you very much!

 

[chicken grandma]

Once a year, I deliver a ziplock bag with a little bit of fresh chicken poop in it to my vet. He checks it for worms. It costs me $13-20.

If we have worms, it has been tapeworms (from cats pooping in our yard) or round worms ( from wild birds). If you free range your chickens, there is no escaping some exposure to worms, once in a while.

So if we have worms in our hens - and in 10 years, we had them 3 times. Then I ask the vet to give me the correct wormer for the hens and to recommend dosing based on their weight. My standard hens usually weighed 4-5 lbs and my bantam hens weigh 1.5 - 2lbs. Then I dose each bird and clean the coop pine shavings out.

That is it. No mess, no fuss, no poisoning my birds or my eggs with something from the tractor supply store.

Sometimes it is just easier to work with modern medicine!

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
DE and apple cider vinegar wont prevent worms, nor treat. Cayenne pepper and pumpkin seeds may prevent, but wont treat an infestation. Here's what will treat what worms with what wormers:
http://healthybirds.umd.edu/Disease/Deworming Birds.pdf

 

[Nicole01]

Thank you everyone for the valuable information!