Worming a Broody Hen?? Can I?? Should I??

[Preservation Acres]

I just took her off the nest for her daily 15 minute walk and poop-a-thon. She won't leave the nest unless I take her off to eat and poop.

When she pooped, there was a huge clump of worms in it. I was shocked at first because I always worm my flock, but then I realized that I got her about a week after my last worming.

I REALLY want to get the parasites out of her, but I'm not sure if this is the best time. She's on day nine with 12 days to go until hatch date.

Suggestions?

 

[Preservation Acres]

bump

 

[Preservation Acres]

re-bump

 

[Sunny Side Up]

To me, the worst part about worming laying hens is the wait for the drug to withdraw from their systems and all the eggs that cannot be consumed by or sold to humans. So why not worm this hen while she's brooding & not laying? Especially if she's passing big clumps of worms, you need to remedy this asap for her health & to keep your other birds from getting them.

 

[Preservation Acres]

Sounds good to me. I take great care of my birds, and seeing that clump of worms really bothered me.

The thought of doing nothing for another 12 days doesn't sit well with me.

So, tomorrow will be worming day.

THANKS!!!!!!!!

 

[Neil Grassbaugh]

If you use a anthelmintic in the drinking water she will not consume enough medication while broody to get the job done. Wait.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Hmmm, that's a good point. They don't drink much while on the nest, and it wouldn't be wise to try & force her to drink more than she needs. Still, that load of worms she's carrying isn't doing her any good, and a hen needs her health especially while brooding.

You could try giving her something drinkable like the Wazine and see what comes out when she poops. I think that even if she can get a portion of her parasites to leave it's better than nothing. Then in 10 days (I think) she could be treated with something like the Ivomectin pour-on.

When the chicks are 4 weeks old they all can get Wazine in their water.

I AM NOT AN EXPERT with this, there are many other folks on this board who know so much more about this topic! Do a search on worming & see which names seem to post the most information. You can PM them personally if you have more questions.

Good luck with your broody hen & her clutch!

 

[haTHOR]

what about using eprinex for a broody. i am in the EXACT same situation as the OP. except we are only on day 7 and she was wormed in the fall...it's just time to do my whole flock and i did see worms in her poop just now.

my concern is...will it make her need to poop a lot more? i can only let her out a couple times each day with my work schedule. i don't want her to have an accident on the eggs. she does have some extra space in the broody area she could go if need be but i am worried she might step in it, etc and get the eggs dirty, if worming gives her more frequent poops.

 

[dawg53]

Worm her with valbazen, it is slow acting and wont overload her system with worm toxicity. Dont worm her and she will dead soon with that many worms in her, not to mention the thousands of eggs the worms are producing. Dosage for your hen is 1/2cc given orally... repeat in 10 days. You can order it from Jefferslivestock.com if it's not in your feed store. It is a liquid cattle/sheep wormer. Good luck.

 

[nomoneycanrepla]

To me, the worst part about worming laying hens is the wait for the drug to withdraw from their systems and all the eggs that cannot be consumed by or sold to humans. So why not worm this hen while she's brooding & not laying? Especially if she's passing big clumps of worms, you need to remedy this asap for her health & to keep your other birds from getting them.

Is there a concern for say the drug to not be excreted?