Worming help....

[Kalamity]

We feed our chickens like royalty but they are SKINNY.
They do not LOOK skinny, they have lovely feathers (ok, aside from that 1) and seem super healthy. They eat a fermented mash. They are also fed supplemental black oil sunflower seeds and a scratch.
They are not all skinny, but some have that sharp breastbone feeling.


We lost one of our girls last week. It was rough and I don't want to go through that any time soon.

So, just in case, we are going to try worming them but have NO idea where to start. I looked on here for a bit but it seems like people have questions but there are no Worming 101 posts that I can find.

HELP!

For the record, we have 32 hens.

 

[Alexandra Runner]

My girl Kate got worms once; I chopped up garlic and mixed it in mash three times a day to give to my whole flock. Nobirdie else got it, and Kate hasn't had any issues since.

 

[Kalamity]

Just fresh garlic?

 

[aart]

We feed our chickens like royalty but they are SKINNY.
They do not LOOK skinny, they have lovely feathers (ok, aside from that 1) and seem super healthy. They eat a fermented mash. They are also fed supplemental black oil sunflower seeds and a scratch.
They are not all skinny, but some have that sharp breastbone feeling.


We lost one of our girls last week. It was rough and I don't want to go through that any time soon.

So, just in case, we are going to try worming them but have NO idea where to start. I looked on here for a bit but it seems like people have questions but there are no Worming 101 posts that I can find.

HELP!

For the record, we have 32 hens.

What is the mash, protein and calcium percentages?
BOSS has a lot of fat and scratch is low in nutrients.

Not knowing what killed your bird(doing a necropsy and checking intestines for worms), or having a fecal done on the others, worming might not be required/needed and could be detrimental on birds that are already on the edge of good health.
I'd look closely at the diet before worming.

Garlic can be toxic to chickens.

 

[Alexandra Runner]

Just fresh garlic?

Yep!

 

[nuthatched]

Just fresh garlic?

Garlic is more likely to kill your birds than help worms.

 

[Alexandra Runner]

Huh. It's what I read would help, and Kate and the rest are doing fine a year later. I don't know, maybe don't then.

 

[Alexandra Runner]

I hugely respect you, Nuthatched, and I sincerely appreciate every piece of advice you have posted. So I mean it when I ask: would you mind sharing why garlic is bad for chickens? I ask because it seemed to have worked for my birds in the past, but if that was a mistake, I would rather avoid doing it again.

 

[nuthatched]

I hugely respect you, Nuthatched, and I sincerely appreciate every piece of advice you have posted. So I mean it when I ask: would you mind sharing why garlic is bad for chickens? I ask because it seemed to have worked for my birds in the past, but if that was a mistake, I would rather avoid doing it again.

Don't get me wrong, garlic does have anthelmintic properties but it requires very high levels of garlic, all animals tested (goats, horses, cows, birds) started to experience side effects below that threshold needed for effective worming)(about 0.5% of bodyweight for raw is when side effects started to appear, from very mild to very serious). Scientists are working on synthesizing the compounds without the side effects.

 

[Alexandra Runner]

Okay! Thank you so much for explaining!!