Worming Dilemma

[dawg53]

That would be great to live closer, Jim. I did worm them all by myself several times when I had 70 birds. Then I tried the wormout gel, and now that I am down to 20 birds, it is much easier to dose with Valbazen. Now I just have to wait until dark when I go into their coop, and take them off the roost. You would love to see me with my red lamp on grabbing chickens, LOL.

The new fenbendazole product, SafeGuard Aquasol for use in the water would be easy to use, if it were not so darn expensive. Here is a link:
https://www.qcsupply.com/safeguard-aquasol-poultry.html

I've looked at Aquasol and it's too expensive but more importantly it doesnt mention that it treats capillary worms. Capillary worms are more prevalent and dangerous than cecal worms.
I see you like "reverse chicken math" like me! Hahaha. Even 25 birds was really too many for me. I was comfortable with 10 to 18 birds. I have 10 now and that's it.

 

[dawg53]

Dawg53- Thank you for your reply.

I DO practice biosecurity strictly. However we do have wild birds and things that I have no control of. I am certain that is where the respiratory infection came from, as I have no other exposure to any other birds.

I was forced to treat with the water/food mixed treatments as at the time this happened I was only a few days post op from shoulder surgery. With no one to help me get the birds individually, I had no choice but to treat them with a batch mix product. Given that the water based medication was for 5 days and the flock ate 10 pounds of the medicated feed, I assumed everyone had sufficiently medicated themselves.

I do have valbazen, and can figure out some process of treating all of my birds on my own. Is the dosage the same for the younger chicks as it is the adults?

What is the egg withdrawal for valbazen? And do I need to follow it up in a few days with another wormer?

Thank you all!

I hope you recover quickly from your shoulder surgery.
Dont bother dosing your birds with valbazen. You are dealing with tapeworms. Those are tapeworm segments you're seeing in feces. Valbazen will treat them, but it's a long drawn out procedure.
Since you have about 40 birds, you'll need to purchase a couple of tubes of Equimax horse paste wormer in the equine section at your feed store. Give a large pea size dose of the horse paste orally to each chicken. Repeat again in 10 days. You can put it on a small piece of bread for each chicken to eat. Try to give the treated piece of bread individually to each chicken and be careful that other chickens dont steal it. If you can, have someone help you. Good luck.

 

[Eggcessive]

Dawg53 since it looks like her photos show tapeworm, should she increase the dosage? Some sites recommend 10mg per kg (2.2 pounds) for most worms, but 20 mg per pound for tapes. That would be 1.8 to 2 ml per pound, rounding it up.

Edited to say, you posted as I asked the question. Equimax is what most recommend for tapes.

 

[dawg53]

Dawg53 since it looks like her photos show tapeworm, should she increase the dosage? Some sites recommend 10mg per kg (2.2 pounds) for most worms, but 20 mg per pound for tapes. That would be 1.8 to 2 ml per pound, rounding it up.

Edited to say, you posted as I asked the question. Equimax is what most recommend for tapes.

Kim, I never weighed my birds when dealing with tapes, or for any other worms. I just gave them a pea sized amount and it was bye bye tapes.
If you recommend weighing birds for the average weight of the flock and recommend whatever amount to dose each bird, please let Ngennetta know. Thanks.

 

[CSAchook]

Dawg53 since it looks like her photos show tapeworm, should she increase the dosage? Some sites recommend 10mg per kg (2.2 pounds) for most worms, but 20 mg per pound for tapes. That would be 1.8 to 2 ml per pound, rounding it up.

Edited to say, you posted as I asked the question. Equimax is what most recommend for tapes.

My understanding is that the dosage depends on the concentration of praziquantel in the product you use. For example Equimax has a higher concentration of active ingredients than Zimecterin Gold, so you need less product. @casportpony has dosage guidelines for several products listed here
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treating-tapeworms-under-construction.1220309/
And here
https://www.chickenforum.com/threads/using-equimax-to-treat-tapeworms.10533/

(Many thanks to @Lady of McCamley for educating me on tapeworm treatment earlier this week. My flock is looking better already!)

 

[dawg53]

My understanding is that the dosage depends on the concentration of praziquantel in the product you use. For example Equimax has a higher concentration of active ingredients than Zimecterin Gold, so you need less product. @casportpony has dosage guidelines for several products listed here
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treating-tapeworms-under-construction.1220309/
And here
https://www.chickenforum.com/threads/using-equimax-to-treat-tapeworms.10533/

(Many thanks to @Lady of McCamley for educating me on tapeworm treatment earlier this week. My flock is looking better already!)

Thanks. I understand all that dosing to weight ratio etc.
I'm old school when it comes to worming, I dont weigh birds. I've used alot of wormers including z-gold and equimax. I've been doing it like this for a long time and it works.
Tapes are my specialty, I've dealt with them enough and know a few tricks to get rid of them lol.

 

[casportpony]

If one wants to use Equimax here are the doses:

20 mg/kg
0.065 ml per pound of body weight
or
0.32 ml per five pounds of body weight. This amount is about the size of a pea. There are 19 doses in one tube if you use this amount.

10 mg/kg
0.03 ml per pound of body weight
0.16 ml per five pounds of body weight
There are 38 doses in one tube if you use this amount.

 

[casportpony]

Thanks. I understand all that dosing to weight ratio etc.
I'm old school when it comes to worming, I dont weigh birds. I've used alot of wormers including z-gold and equimax. I've been doing it like this for a long time and it works.
Tapes are my specialty, I've dealt with them enough and know a few tricks to get rid of them lol.

I don't weigh all of mine except when I'm using a drug that could be harmful or ineffective if the wrong amount is given.

 

[dawg53]

My understanding is that the dosage depends on the concentration of praziquantel in the product you use. For example Equimax has a higher concentration of active ingredients than Zimecterin Gold, so you need less product. @casportpony has dosage guidelines for several products listed here
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treating-tapeworms-under-construction.1220309/
And here
https://www.chickenforum.com/threads/using-equimax-to-treat-tapeworms.10533/

(Many thanks to @Lady of McCamley for educating me on tapeworm treatment earlier this week. My flock is looking better already!)

Check out the tapeworms indirect lifecycle and you'll understand more about them and why it's difficult to get rid of them.
Each segment you see in feces carries hundreds of eggs. The segments work their way into and onto the soil where the eggs are released. Insects feast on the eggs. Then your birds feast on insects. I recommend that you keep equimax on hand. I do.

We've been having alot of rain and my BR's have been eating small snails in shells. I'm worried about them picking up trematodes aka flukes. I have valbazen and equimax to treat them. I worm monthly.

 

[Tesumph]

Check out the tapeworms indirect lifecycle and you'll understand more about them and why it's difficult to get rid of them.
Each segment you see in feces carries hundreds of eggs. The segments work their way into and onto the soil where the eggs are released. Insects feast on the eggs. Then your birds feast on insects. I recommend that you keep equimax on hand. I do.

We've been having alot of rain and my BR's have been eating small snails in shells. I'm worried about them picking up trematodes aka flukes. I have valbazen and equimax to treat them. I worm monthly.

Is there a downside to worming them monthly?
It has been very rainy here too. Cleaning up the new run has unearthed cockroach and snail heaven.