Wormers - Do or don't?

[briteday]

IMO, this decision depends on your climate. I live where we have hard freezing weather for short periods in the winter and extremely dry summers (high desert nortern NV) . Just the other day I noticed our humidity outdoors is still only 5%. It's difficult for parasites to live where there are temperature extremes and it is dry.

That being said, I also have a daughter who works for a vet and can take in a fecal sample anytime something is suspicious (rarely, maybe twice per year including 3 dogs, 1 cat, 20+ chickens) and do a fecal float to look for parasites under a microscope.

OK, so I only worm IF there is something suspicious and/or the fecal float is positive, REALLY suspicious stools (you actually see worms), ...I can't think of any other reason. However. when we lived in the Midwest and our dogs got worms a couple of times each year and needed to be treated, I wormed the chickens twice per year routinely, and additionally if I found worms in stools.

And when I worm I use a known entity such as fenbendazole.

So you can see that there are varied circumstances and it really boils down to a personal choice.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I agree with this. My chickens share our property with lots of other animals - pets, livestock and wild creatures. I worm once a year.

 

[Akane]

I don't deworm my cats or horses unless need be and my dogs only get heartworm medication. It really does depend on your setup. We don't have a high parasite load here. My horses have plenty of pasture with rotational grazing and are never confined. When I had 3 times as many horses and they had to have hay because otherwise the pastures would get eaten down during the dryest part of summer then I would deworm every other month without fail and an extra time in the fall with a combination dewormer. If I didn't they would start rubbing tails, getting large bellies, or getting underweight. I hate to think what a fecal would have shown then. I haven't given a dewormer in 2 years since the size of the herd was cut to it's current number. We have had no problems with parasites and come about as close as you can to a negative fecal around here. The only negatives the biggest horse vet in the area has seen were horses on daily dewormers. I've dewormed barn cats 4 or 5 times growing up but never my 2 indoor/outdoor cats since I moved to this house. The only dog I've ever had to deworm was a rescue from bad conditions.

Some places will need it. Some places will not. There are a ton of variables and it doesn't just depend on climate although that does contribute.

 

[mom2jedi]

Wow! Thank you all for your responses! Sorry I didn't give more detail as to what my conditions are. I don't have my babies yet but will soon. I live in San Diego and it's been very hot this summer so hoping the climate will discourage parasite growth. I have one dog currently and no other livestock on the property and nearby area.

Does it sound like yearly deworming would be sufficient then? Would they be available at a feed store or would the home remedies be enough?

Thank you so much!

 

[Cockadoodledon't]

A simple and natural way to worm your birds is to put a clove of garlic in a stocking and suspend it in the water for about a week. It is told that the garlic is a natural treatment and actually good for the birds. I have heard of some that put minced garlic in mash to feed the chickens and one man that puts garlic in his ice cubes and then puts the ice cubes in the water container. With some of the chemical dewormers you cant eat the eggs for several days after giving it to the birds.