Worming chickens

[Folly's place]

In the USA, only fenbendazole is an approved product, with zero egg withdrawal times. The approved form in the expensive water soluble 'Aquasol', found online. It's meant to be added to drinking water, and the manufacturer spent the $$$ to get the testing done for the approval process. I would use fenbendazole, given individually by mouth, because it's very effective. Different parasites require different dosing plans, and it matters.
Piperazine is an old drug that is moderately effective in killing some roundworms; not really worth it, IMO.
Mary

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Wazine (Piperazine) only treated roundworms.
Depends on the type of worms you are wanting to treat.
Valbazen (Albendazole) and Safeguard (Fenbendazole) are commonly used to treat most worms in chickens (roundworms, capillary worms, cecal worms, gapeworms). Number of days of treatment is also dependent on the type of worms you are treating.

For Tapeworms you would want to use Praziquantel.

In the USA, only fenbendazole is an approved product, with zero egg withdrawal times. The approved form in the expensive water soluble 'Aquasol', found online. It's meant to be added to drinking water, and the manufacturer spent the $$$ to get the testing done for the approval process. I would use fenbendazole, given individually by mouth, because it's very effective. Different parasites require different dosing plans, and it matters.
Piperazine is an old drug that is moderately effective in killing some roundworms; not really worth it, IMO.
Mary

Thank you both! I've never wormed my chickens or had the need to yet but it has definitely crossed my mind as it seems to be a very common issue and I live in the perfect climate for parasites to become problematic. There seem to be so many different products available with fenbendazole, has anyone tried the Fish Bendazole? I know that the Fish Mox works well as an antibiotic for chickens, does the same apply to the fenbendazole? Or if Safeguard is preferred, which one? The paste? And if I'm just doing it as a precaution would the dosage be different? ...I think I need to hunt down a thread or article on this so I don't hijack the thread. lol

 

[Folly's place]

It's the mgs per pound or kgm body weight that matters, and each product will differ in strength. I'd use the liquid fenbendazole as easiest to give by mouth, and dosages also vary depending on what parasites you are targeting. My references are four years old; there might be newer information.
Mary

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you both! I've never wormed my chickens or had the need to yet but it has definitely crossed my mind as it seems to be a very common issue and I live in the perfect climate for parasites to become problematic. There seem to be so many different products available with fenbendazole, has anyone tried the Fish Bendazole? I know that the Fish Mox works well as an antibiotic for chickens, does the same apply to the fenbendazole? Or if Safeguard is preferred, which one? The paste? And if I'm just doing it as a precaution would the dosage be different? ...I think I need to hunt down a thread or article on this so I don't hijack the thread. lol
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The Fish Bendazole could be used, but you would need to figure out the dosage LOL If you really want to know @casportpony could probably figure it out for you - the powder would need to likely be dissolved and made into a suspension(?) So....using the prepared Safeguard Liquid Goat Wormer (suspension) would be much easier to work with - besides, we already know the dosage for that For Safeguard liquid goat wormer dosage for chickens is 0.23ml per pound of weight. To treat roundworms - give once, then repeat in 10 days. For all the other types of worms Safeguard treats, give for 5 days in a row.

You mention worming as a precaution - it's always best to get a fecal float to check for worms if that's possible. A lot of times there are no vets willing to do this. I'm not sure why, but I even called around here (and there is no vet shortage in my area at all!) and not 1 was willing to do a fecal float on chicken poop - I even got hung up on a few times. Another option is your State Lab or Mail In Testing. Testing is not perfect - the sample you send in and the small dot the tester tests would actually have to have a worm egg(s) in it, but it will give you a starting point.

 

[casportpony]

It could be used, but I would not use it unless that was all I had. Each packet of that contains 250 mg.

Compare that to Safeguard liquid for goats which comes in a 125 ml bottle
125 x 100 mg per ml = 12,500 mg of fenbendazole in one bottle.
2.5 ml of Safeguard liquid = 250 mg

So one packet of the fish powder = 2.5 ml of the goat liquid.

My advice is to forget about the powder and get the goat liquid.

 

[casportpony]

Or if Safeguard is preferred, which one? The paste?

As I said above, the goat stuff is 125 ml and 12,500 mg of fenbendazole. Compare that to paste.

One tube of paste = 2500 mg of fenbendazole
Five tubes of paste = one bottle of the goat stuff.

The least expensive way to de-worm chickens is to use the liquid.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

The Fish Bendazole could be used, but you would need to figure out the dosage LOL If you really want to know @casportpony could probably figure it out for you - the powder would need to likely be dissolved and made into a suspension(?) So....using the prepared Safeguard Liquid Goat Wormer (suspension) would be much easier to work with - besides, we already know the dosage for that For Safeguard liquid goat wormer dosage for chickens is 0.23ml per pound of weight. To treat roundworms - give once, then repeat in 10 days. For all the other types of worms Safeguard treats, give for 5 days in a row.

You mention worming as a precaution - it's always best to get a fecal float to check for worms if that's possible. A lot of times there are no vets willing to do this. I'm not sure why, but I even called around here (and there is no vet shortage in my area at all!) and not 1 was willing to do a fecal float on chicken poop - I even got hung up on a few times. Another option is your State Lab or Mail In Testing. Testing is not perfect - the sample you send in and the small dot the tester tests would actually have to have a worm egg(s) in it, but it will give you a starting point.

It could be used, but I would not use it unless that was all I had. Each packet of that contains 250 mg.

Compare that to Safeguard liquid for goats which come in a 125 ml bottle
125 x 100 = 12,500 mg of fenbendazole
2.5 ml of Safeguard liquid = 250 mg

So one packet of the fish powder = 2.5 ml of the goat liquid.

My advice is to forget about the powder and get the goat liquid.

Oh great and wise @Wyorp Rock and @casportpony, lol. Thank you both so very much for sharing your expertise!

- and yes as a precaution. As I mentioned, I've never wormed my flock nor felt I saw any need to but I do see a couple dirty butts right now. Its the usual culprits, my extra fluffy butt breeds but I'm accustomed to giving them a little fluff trim after they molt but this time even after her visiting the butt barbers (my daughter & I) she's still making a mess. It might not be worms, I actually hope it's not, but I figured it would be better to treat as a precaution than allow her to get sick and inundated with internal parasites. I mean, she seems perfectly healthy otherwise, could it be something else?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Oh great and wise @Wyorp Rock and @casportpony, lol. Thank you both so very much for sharing your expertise!

- and yes as a precaution. As I mentioned, I've never wormed my flock nor felt I saw any need to but I do see a couple dirty butts right now. Its the usual culprits, my extra fluffy butt breeds but I'm accustomed to giving them a little fluff trim after they molt but this time even after her visiting the butt barbers (my daughter & I) she's still making a mess. It might not be worms, I actually hope it's not, but I figured it would be better to treat as a precaution than allow her to get sick and inundated with internal parasites. I mean, she seems perfectly healthy otherwise, could it be something else?

A dirty bum is not always a good indicator of worms. Any way you can get a fecal float?

 

[CluckNDoodle]

A dirty bum is not always a good indicator of worms. Any way you can get a fecal float?

Probably...I just didn't want to, lol. I'll give them a call and check, thanks again!