Worming??? help!

[77horses]

Our Splash Cochin roo, Foghorn, is about 4 months old. We bought him from someone on BYC.
For some reason, we've noticed how light he is. He seems healthy, and he's eating, but he seems so light-weighted and skinny. I'm worried that he has worms. So, I have several Qs:
1. Is this a sign of worms? Are there any other signs?
2. Can you tell if a chicken has worms by looking at their droppings?
3. How do we worm him?
4. Where do we get the worming medicines?
5. How much does it cost about and where can we get it?
6. How much do we give to him?
7. Is it fatal to not worm him? What will happen?
Thanks!

 

[mypicklebird]

1) Skinny is a non specific sign of not getting enough calories. Many reasons to be skinny, parasites is just one of them.
2) No, unless you see the worms (if you see worms, there are probably lots of them) tapeworms are easy to see on the outside of the feces- they look like cous cous. Round worms stay inside. Some think foamy dropping are a sign of worms. Not sure on that.
3) Many ways- topicals, solubles in the water, directly in the mouth. As many ways are there are drugs. and some drugs can be given many ways like ivermectin (topical , oral, injectable). question is too vague. Things like piperazine and pyrantel are oral, often mixed in the water.
4) Feed stores, on line, chicken buddies who share
5) Cost varies, see 4)
6) Depends on what you buy
7) Heavy worm burdens can be debilitating, not generally fatal. Usually just contributes to being ill. The more ill you are, the more the parasites take over. It is a downward spiral. A young healthy bird can tolerate some parasites. An old bird or a bird with something else wrong, may get pushed over the edge by a heavy worm burden.

If you want to know if your birds have GI parasites, have a fecal float done. If you free range your birds, they probably have GI parasites. Then you can decide if you want to deworm. If you want to deworm as precaution, or if you know you have parasites- keep in mind that there are no labeled dewormers for laying hens (pyrantel, fenbendazole/albendazole, ivermectin class, piperazine ect). Lots of people use them, but egg withdrawal times are not published. Use at your own risk, and do not sell the eggs.

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