Worming Chickens & Mites

[Chick_a_dee]

I'm still having a huge ordeal with what I think is mites, but now I want to worm my chickens as well. I've heard that Ivermectin make a product that kills external parasites, but I am unsure as to what it is exactly (common shelf name?) and whether it is a controlled product. How you administer it, etc.

I'm also now worried that one of my hens (who appears to be molting) has contracted gapeworm, just today I noticed her yawning a lot, and I checked down her throat but couldn't see anything that stood out.

I need some serious help here guys, and quick.

Would it be a good idea to bleach down my coop, dri-kill it, and then put in new bedding (and ivermectic/worm the hens?)? ... I'm switching to pine pellets BTW.

HELP

 

[Judy]

You could get Epinrex, which is a pour-on form of ivermectin, sold as a cattle wormer. Use .5 ml for large fowl or .25 ml for bantams. Just use a syringe to measure it, and drop it onto the skin on the back of the neck. Will kill worms, including gapeworm, and biting forms of mites/lice. I use Adams' flea and tick spray (permethrin) on the wood of the coop, roosts, etc. Yes, changing the bedding is a good idea. Dri-kill might be just fine as well; I'm not familiar with it.

 

[danielnv]

I had some sort of bug too. I don't know if it was mites, lice, or what, but it was the size of a small ant, but harder. Anyway I finally bought the diatomaceous earth I had been reading about, and spread some around the coop, and all the bugs were gone within a day! I got rid of ants and roaches this way too. They say it also kills internal parasites and worms when mixed in with their feed at about a 2% ratio. That seems a bit tough to me, but I am sure they are getting it since they pick through the bottom of the coop constantly.

I really like this stuff, since it is totally nontoxic to pets and people, and only kills insects by dehydration. Make sure you get the food-grade stuff though! It's called Perma-guard. Here's the site for more info and where to buy: http://www.perma-guard.com/

I don't give my animals or myself poisons for worm control or any other purpose, and I'm SURE not putting poison into something that is providing a food source for me!

 

[patandchickens]

Ivermectin is the "common name" of the chemical; ANY manufacturer's version will work the same, for a given formulation (strength etc).

While it is in the animal's body, it will (for that fairly brief period of time) kill external bloodsucking parasites that are on the animal as well as internal worms. As soon as the body has cleared it, however, its action vs mites/lice is over and done with.

If you use 'search' on some term like 'worming ivermectin' or suchlike you will find a large number of threads with all the info you are looking for.

I am skeptical that bleach will do much good in your coop but if you want to it can't hurt; dri-kill (it's a rotenone product, the only poultry dust readily available in Ontario and possibly the rest of canada either, for those of you in the states who are wondering) will take care of mites and lice so it would not be a bad idea to dust some around (esp in nooks and crannies and where the roost attaches) if you are having a problem.

What is the nature of your mite problem -- are you definitely SEEING mites, and if so which kind, or are you suspecting but not seeing them, in which case could it be something else perhaps?

The yawning hen, is she still doing it? Mine sometimes do that a lot for a short period of time, I think sometimes they get a feather or grass blade or something stuck the wrong way temporarily in their throat or something. If it were gapeworm my understanding is that this would be a regular ongoing feature. Ivermectin should kill gapeworm, I believe?

Good luck,

Pat

 

[Chick_a_dee]

Quote:
I'm going to purchase some Drench tomorrow and give it a whirl. It is not sold under the label of Epinrex here, just under Ivermectin Livestock Drench.

The poor chickens look terrible.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

Thanks so much for the info Pat. I haven't noticed her doing it today so I suppose it could be just something stuck, they were out in the yard for a few hours. That particular hen looks pitiful, she's molting and she's really kind of down in the dumps.

I've bought a thing of the Cattle Drench and I'm going to administer it as soon as the goats are in their house. I'm working all this week, but Wednesday I'm going to Peterborough to do some grocery shopping so we'll stop in somewhere along the way and buy some new bedding and Thursday I'll get them all wormed/de-mited and do the coop. I'm hoping to purchase some stall mats/skins for their coop as it has a very old concrete floor that doesn't exactly keep all the water away! They all seem a bit happier today.

My Ivermec Drench says to use 1ml per 10kg FYI.