Worming confusion.

Kuntry Klucker

Crowing
12 Years
Jun 9, 2010
1,623
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Tennesee Smoky Mts.
Hi All,
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I have been researching worming and I am afraid to say that I am more confused than
anything. Quite possibly worming is the most confusing thing to me in regards to chicken care.
Here are my questions, if someone out there could help me that would be great.

Background on my flock: I have 14 hens and 1 roo. they are about 6 months old. They are just now
starting to lay. Do I need to worm them? If so when?

Here are a few of my questions about wazine and worming in general...

1. I have read that worms can be passed into the eggs that we eat from the chickens.
What would they look like if I cracked one open and would the heat of cooking be enough to
kill the parasite if not visible in the egg?

2. About wazine 17: How do I administer it? Do I put in the water for one day or do I use
it for several days to worm chickens?

3. Why do we need to throw out the eggs? How long does it take the wormer to kill
the worms in the chickens.?

If anyone can answer these questions so I can better understand worming that would be great.

Thanks for your time.
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Quote:
Here's what a roundworm would look like inside an egg:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/1/egg-quality-handbook/35/roundworms-in-eggs

I've never used wazine, but I know that it gives instructions on the bottle. Wazine only targets roundworms. Yes, there is what is called an egg withdrawel period, i.e., the amount of time you have to discard the eggs. You have to discard them because the wormer wouldn't be safe for you to ingest should trace amounts make it to the egg.

Some folks never worm their chickens. Others worm them using only all natural products (I personally am not convinced that those all natural products all work, but that's just me). Some folks only worm after a positive fecal float (worm check) from their vet.

Here's what I do. I start worming (or de-worming) my chickens around 8 to 9 months old. Before that I don't feel it's necessary unless I was to actually see worms in their droppings. Chickens, like most animals, can handle a small wormload easily and I don't believe it's possible under normal circumstances for a chicken to develop a heavy wormload from hatch to that time.

I use a broad spectrum wormer, valbazen (albendazole). Valbazen targets every common worm that a chickens can contract, including gapeworms and liver flukes. I worm them that first time around 8 months or so and then yearly after that. I worm in November, when my hens are usually slacking off on egglaying anyhow. This rmeans less eggs to discard. Valbazen has a two week egg withdrawel period. Valbazen has a high safety margin. It is a drug of choice for treating humans with worms.

I dose them individually, orally. This way no worrying about if each chicken got the right dose or drank enough water to get the correct dose (like with wazine).
I mark it down in my chicken book and then don't worry about it again until November rolls around again.
 
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=584635
Here
is my thread on the subject of invisible worms/eggs in eggs and cooking.

Here is a thread on someone finding a worm in the egg (today's thread):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=585097

The wazine instructions are on the bottle- I'd follow them for sure. Throwing out the eggs is so you don't eat wazine. They will continue to pass worms in the poo for days after the wazine. My flock just got wormed with it and that's what happened to me.

Try to get them to not eat off the ground (I made this mistake).

Also, you will need to be aware that those worm eggs are all over the ground and they will get worms again once they have worms.

If you have not wormed yet and have no worms, then I personally would wait until you see a problem (hens losing weight/diarrhea or seeing worms in the poo).
 
Quote:
How do you get a chicken NOT to eat off the ground?

I mean place the feed in a pan instead of throwing it all over. This is what one vet recommended on a website to prevent reinfection with worms. I used to offer treats by throwing grain all over...now I'm putting it in their feed pan.

They will always be on the lookout for things on the ground and eat grass, etc. (unfortunately). This perpetuates the need to worm again.

Edited to add: free ranging, however, is the best in that it gets them away from the poopiest areas.
 
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Wow!! thanks for all the great info.

Gritsar:
Where can I get Valbezan? About how much is it? All I have is wazine.

How do you worm them orally? I have never done this before and do not want to
accidentally choke them.

So In November I probably should worm them for the first time. Right?

Thanks again everyone.
 
Personally I would never wait until I see hens with diarrhea or weight loss or see worms in the poop. By the time you are seeing those signs there is a heavy worm load and a lot of internal damage from the parasites as well as a much weakend bird. You also have to be more careful in deworming a heavily infested bird.

Your better bet is to either deworm on a regular schedule like gritsar does or, if your not comfortable with that, then do a fecal check a couple times a year and worm as needed.

I deworm twice a year, in the fall and again in late spring/early summer. I don't bother with Wazine since it is so limited in what it removes.

To deworm orally just use a syringe, no needle of course, to drop the liquid in their mouth. Dose for Valbazen is 1/2 cc for standard and 1/4 cc for bantams, repeat in 10 days.
 
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Quote:
Most feed stores that cater to cattle or sheep farmers should have valbazen since it is technically a cattle and sheep dewormer.

It's not cheap, I paid $35 for the last bottle I bought so you should check the expiration date to make sure you can continue to use the same bottle for a long time. The bottle I had recently expired with barely a 1/4 of it used. I briefly considered checking to see if anyone on the forum wanted it (before it expired), but with USPS restrictions on sending liquids through the mail I decided to discard it instead.

If you decide to go the valbazen route, just buy the smallest bottle you can find and check the expiration date.

I've also been told, but have never seen proof, that free range chickens will instinctively seek out plants to eat that have anti-parasitic properties.
 

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