Worming chickens.

[Ksane]

You need to do a little research to find out which wormer kills what. Ivomec IMO is worthless except for mites. Piperazine is almost as worthless as Ivomec, it ONLY kills roundworms, nothing else. People are giving you good advice here, please re-read what they've written. All that trouble you just went throught with the Ivomec was for nothing (unless they have mites), sorry.
You said you could get Valbazen, that's the best you can use and takes care of all worms. I know it's a "hassle" to worm each chicken individually but what choice do you have? That's the way it has to be done. Then 10 days later it'll have to be done again. Then to be on the safe side (according to Dawg) it'll have to be done 10 days later a 3rd time.
Dawg, I've read numerous times that Safeguard kills gapes in just the standard 2 wormings. Do you know if that's accurate?

 

[quesad00dle]

Not sure if I can get Valbazen...I will have to speak with my vet as you cant buy much at over the counter here that really works. So if the medication isnt on the Government of Canada resstricted drugs list the vet can prescribe it without seeing the birds. He doesnt make house calls so I would have to take the birds to the office. Not practical for me as I am over 1/2 hour away. I have been trying to get flea treatments for my dogs ( advantage or revolution ) and I cant even order it online from Jeffers as they cant export it into Canada If I can get the Valbazen
I will be using it. It sounds like a much more effective medication. Just checked earlier post and Dawg53 says to use Piperazine.

 

[Covey Rise Plantation]

Quote:
You should be able to get levamisole in Canada, I'ts more effective than Valbazen on Gapes and will take care of most of the worms your birds will encounter, And i'ts water soluble also.
Also, not much actual experience with gapeworms, maybe 50 or so birds(pheasants) through the years, Im not understanding the 10 days apart, when infact it should be 3 times in ten days..Gapeworms will sence the chemical in the blood, stop feeding for a day or two till the blood levels decrease-hence the 3 times in ten days..That is if a bird already showing symptoms of Gapes will even last ten more days..Gapeworms are hard to treat with any wormer, You have to hit them hard and quick, Often times culling is the better option

 

[Covey Rise Plantation]

Quote:
Probably where ever you read this Gapes were misdiagnosed, as it is 99% of the time, Chicken yawns or coughs for whatever reason and automaticaly has gapes, Chicken is givin whatever and cured, Levamisole.Albendazole.Fenbendazole and Ivermectin will control gapes if caught in time. Levamisole is in the bloodstream quicker than the others, With either of these four it has to be in the bloodstream long and high enough to be effective..See post above

 

[Ksane]

Quote:
Probably where ever you read this Gapes were misdiagnosed, as it is 99% of the time, Chicken yawns or coughs for whatever reason and automaticaly has gapes, Chicken is givin whatever and cured, Levamisole.Albendazole.Fenbendazole and Ivermectin will control gapes if caught in time. Levamisole is in the bloodstream quicker than the others, With either of these four it has to be in the bloodstream long and high enough to be effective

You're so right about that 1st sentence that you're still going to be right into next week lol! One of my pet peeves is things like that.
It's like people saying, "MY chickens don't have mites because I add DE to their dirt." You ask how they know there's no mites....did they look? They say, "Well, no, I don't *have* to look. I told you-I sprinkle their dirt with DE."

As far as the "re-dose in 10 days" I would assume that's because it takes 7-10 days for most worm eggs to hatch inside the body so you want to re-dose to catch the new hatchers. My vet did say repeat 10 days later but I didn't ask *why because like I said I assumed he meant to catch the newly hatched eggs. I know more about dogs than chickens.
(Edit for typo)

 

[William Bjornson]

I've got a few Rhodies which have been relatively healthy (serious mites which after dusting disappeared) for the last ten years. Recently, a couple of them have developed bare feather shafts around the vent area (2-3 inch diameter area) and some collected scat. I see no inflammation of the skin or vent lips. It's fall and they have almost completed their molt but I have not seen this condition previously, either during molt or other times. I dust them now routinely in the Spring and have had no reappearance of the red, completely bare areas (particluarly the neck) I had seen previously from (presumably) the mites. We have a new (here ~4 weeks) Husky pup who we discovered today has a mature round worm infestation (vet gave us 'Strongid T') although I think it is unlikely the pup got the worms from the chickens. The feather issue predates the pup. I just want to be complete. The chickens get cracked corn mixed with 'poultry crumbles' every morning, ad lib, free range through the day, and, recently since this condition presented, a can of catfood shared every couple of days which they seem to like. They also have a little of the spinach (Costco, fresh) that I put out for the ducks every couple of days although not so interested. My question is: Has anyone seen this condition and knows what it is? With the mites, the shafts and all were affected down to stubs. Here the shafts are intact but bare. I'm thinking it might be some sort of worm. I have dewormed them before (last Spring) but neither they nor I like sticking that tube down their throats (to prevent aspiration), so unless I'm more certain than I am now that it is worms, I'd like to hold off the deworming. It's almost certainly not picking nor rodents (which I've had but never saw effects on the chickens but definitely effects on the rodents who got too close). Old John, the rooster, is almost blind from cataracts (he still has a little clear area in his left eye) so I have to roost him in a separate cage each night so he knows where his food and water bowl are. Otherwise he has difficulty eating. Anyway, any informationwould be more than I have now.

I had John's father (Big John) into a somewhat haughty 'parrot' vet (after insisting) a few years ago and she looked at him like she didn't know what he was. The vet we go to for our Huskies was willing to see one of the ducks who was somewhat listless last year but I really had no more confidence there having to demonstrate how to towel wrap the bird to keep it comfortably quiet and also KA-CHING, big time, for very little enlightenment.

Help!

Bill Bjornson
Aloha, Oregon

P.S. I have been using the internet since ca. 1994 but rarely use message boards and can't seem to discover the way here to start a new topic. My apologies if I am off-topic here but I was at least able to post.

 

[desertmarcy]

Is Valbazen by prescription only, or can you buy it at an animal supply type place?

Quote:

 

[quesad00dle]

Not sure if it is by prescription only from the vet Dawg...but if it is then it may not be an option as I would have the take the birds in to the vet. Our local vet is not a bird vet his area of expertise is Equine and he was involved in an Equine accident earlier this year and has now retired from making farm calls, so I have to go to the office and they told me that prescriptions will only be "cut" for those animals who have previously had an office visit.

 

[dan buss]

yes gape worm's are hard to get ridd of ive been useing a product from australia called worm-enda-plus this will kill gape worms but they get reinfected with in a week you should reworm them.but sometimes you think you have not gotten ridd of the worms when the bird shows no recovery. one of my chuckars died just a day ago it had worms but being infected she got a lung infection and died still makeing me think that she still had worms. so i had used a pipe cleaning tool it's for cleaning out a smokeing pipe i put it down her breathing hole turning it to see if i could pull out a worm or so and got a bit of blood but no worm seconds after she died i put that pipe cleaning deal back down her lungs and got out mucus so it looks like she died from a lung infection caused by the worms. so it's like a no win if the worms do not kill her infection will as they seem to go hand in hand.

 

[KELDEANE]

I am treating a 3 mo old hen for gapeworm. She started showing the symptoms a few days ago. No other sign of illness such as nasal discharge or runny eyes.

I am treating with Ivermectin Cattle Pour on. I was told to give orally & put a couple drops under her wings.

My question is...there are so many different suggested doses. She is small, so I don't want to overdose her.

Also, how often should I repeat? I ready your post which says 3xs in 10 days?

When should I see improvement?