Worming question

[Chick named Lola]

I just wormed my girls for the first time...how often do you all worm?

 

[PepsNick]

Worm twice in a lifetime. Once when you first do it, and then 10 days later do it again. Throw out the eggs for 2 weeks after each worming.

 

[gritsar]

I worm once a year in October or November, when my egg count is down anyhow. Less eggs to toss.

 

[SeattleChickenHead]

I put food grade diatomaceous earth in thier grains so no need to worm ever! Never have to throw away any eggs.

 

[dawg53]

Diatomeceous earth isnt a wormer. I worm my chickens once every 4 months due to warm and moist soil conditions.

 

[briteday]

Once per year, or if there is a suspicious something seen, I order a fecal float at the vet's. If the result is positive they will usually be able to tell you what parasite is present so you can treat appropriately. Otherwise I do not de-worm on a routine basis. That being said, I live in an extremely dry area of the country (no mosquitoes or even fleas survive long here!) so we are not prone to parasites in any of our animals as a general rule. So do what you need to do for your circumstances. If your egg counts are down and/or your birds are looking poorly, then I would consider taking a fecal specimen to the vet and see if they can identify any parasites. If all is well with your flock and you observe the droppings on a regular basis and all seems normal, then I would not de-worm.

 

[Chick named Lola]

Wow, what a wide variety of answers! More cornfused than ever!

 

[math ace]

Worming is something that has to be evaluated by the individual . . .

Were there chickens on the property before ? ?

Are there wild birds with access to your flock - - fly over head and leave deposits in run ? ?

Are your birds on the ground or in cages with no access to ground ? ?

Do your birds free range and eat things like grasshoppers, worms, etc.


All of these effect the likelihood of worms in the chickens.
I do not live too far from dawg53 and I worm my birds 2 times a year.

There have never been birds on my property before.
My birds free range during the day time and are in a covered run and coop at night.
In the south, we have a humid, wet, bug infested growing climate almost year around. We see very few freezes.

Commercial chicken houses do not worm their birds because they never touch the ground, have access to bugs, worms, grasshoppers, or have wild bird visitors. So, the probability that a commercial chicken will get worms is slim. . . .

 

[cobrien]

Join the club, I'm confused too! You can get a lot of opinions on BYC so have to judge for yourself. I can tell you that have taken a few of my spoiled pet chickens to a leading avian vet. For anyone in Northern California interested in the best avian vet IMO, see Dr. Speer in Oakley CA. He is a world renowned avian vet and keeps chickens himself. From what he told me and what I've read on BYC, there has never been a scientific study on the effectiveness of diatomaceous earth (DE) or pumpkin / pumpkin seeds on killing intestinal worms. Most vets don't charge much to check a fecal sample that you drop off. I bring in a sample from 2 of my birds - the ones who are the best foragers - every year. We haven't had a positive result for worms yet so we haven't wormed. Taking your climate into account is a good idea, so you might want to check in with locals in their area, especially those who test their birds occasionally. I do use DE in my run and coop to control flies and sprinkle some in their food, and give pumpkin and pumpkin seeds on occasion, as it won't do any harm and who knows maybe it does help reduce the amount of intestinal parasites. But most agree that if the bird has an infestation, these are not remedies and you should use a wormer. There are many wormers that are not approved for use in chickens and therefore they do not come with instructions on how long you should toss the eggs. But you will often get advice on BYC for using these wormers because they have been used with good results. I'd prefer to use one with a known withdrawal period. Again you have to make the call yourself. And if you learn something new let me / us know!

 

[SeattleChickenHead]

i met a guy once who said he smokes a cigarette and then jams the butt down thier throat once a month, Im not suggesting it but interesting, he also swore by "black leaf 40" nicotine pesticide, (he would paint it on thier perch) although nicotine is natural and organic it is very dangerous....i wonder though if his chickens started craving thier de-worming...lol....he was an older-timer and said lots of ppl do this....

to cobrian:: if you use DE in your feed and youve NEVER had worms that IS scientific proof that either your very lucky, or the DE works! Im currently running my own living DE experiment too... I refuse to give any medicine or chemicals other than organic and non-poisonous, but we eat our birds and eggs....If you got show birds the priorities are different Im sure.