Worming questions

[jBabychickn]

Since we live with heat and high humidity most of the year, deep litter is a hotbed for worms, particularly capillary worms. I never have, nor never will do deep litter.

Update: @dawg53

We completely got rid of the Deep litter in our coop! — We switched over to Sand along with some Pelletized horse bedding(you add water to it, then it swells up & breaks down into a sawdust-type powder…Smells amazing!)
… and WE LOVE IT !!!

Works SO much better for our humid environment And, It’s super-easy to keep clean/scoop those nightly poos !!!
I can tell that the babies love their coop even more now too…

 

[Gypsi]

I have pondliner on the floors in my coops, I can pick it up, take to the compost pile, shake it off, hose it down, with lysol if warranted, and put it back. I love it. 6 am tomorrow morning I shall be opening chicken mouths and dosing them.

 

[Gypsi]

I dosed them all and there are no worms on the coop floor. I kept them shut in after dosing, and I'm not seeing anything. Not sure if should do the 2nd dose or not. The older hens got an extra dose after the roo got away so I put his in raw egg and he ate a little and let them eat it. I caught him and opened his beak the next evening and he let the wormer dribble out on the floor so I put some more in raw egg and got about 3 bites of that in him. But no body else seems to have roundworms, I've never seen a tapeworm segment. Floor poops will go to the city dump, not my compost, as I use the compost in the garden for growing food

 

[SeaCity]

How often you worm your birds depends on your soil conditions. Warm/wet soil will require frequent wormings. Cool/cold, sandy or rocky type soil will require less frequent wormings.

Our soil where we live is warm and wet most of the time and I worm birds monthly.
I use sand in the coops and pens and remove feces from the coops each morning. I scoop poop several times a day in the pens. Sand dries quickly and doesnt wash away like dirt and it deters parasites. It's also easier to scoop poop and dispose of it.
Chickens kept on the same ground are more susceptible for worm infestation.
When chickens free range, it's best to rotate areas where they forage.

I use Valbazen and dose each chicken orally 1/2ml. Heavy birds I dose 3/4ml. I have one very heavy Light Brahma (Tubby) that gets dosed 1ml.
I start worming birds at 5-6 weeks old, they get dosed 1/4ml. My lightest in weight birds are EE adults, they get 1/2ml.

Valbazen is a safe wormer, tough to overdose with it, just use common sense.

Good to know!

 

[dawg53]

I dosed them all and there are no worms on the coop floor. I kept them shut in after dosing, and I'm not seeing anything. Not sure if should do the 2nd dose or not. The older hens got an extra dose after the roo got away so I put his in raw egg and he ate a little and let them eat it. I caught him and opened his beak the next evening and he let the wormer dribble out on the floor so I put some more in raw egg and got about 3 bites of that in him. But no body else seems to have roundworms, I've never seen a tapeworm segment. Floor poops will go to the city dump, not my compost, as I use the compost in the garden for growing food

It's not likely you'll see worms in feces after worming. Worms are absorbed as protein in the digestive tract.
The reason you redose in 10 days is because there are worm eggs present. Wormers will not treat worm eggs. The worm eggs hatch and will require another dose to eliminate the newly hatched worms.

 

[Gypsi]

It's not likely you'll see worms in feces after worming. Worms are absorbed as protein in the digestive tract.
The reason you redose in 10 days is because there are worm eggs present. Wormers will not treat worm eggs. The worm eggs hatch and will require another dose to eliminate the newly hatched worms.

So I am currently throwing out eggs, Threw out 8 from yesterday, and 6 or 7 the day before. Maybe 3 or 4 days toss eggs, then do 10th day wormer and toss eggs another 3 or 4 days?

 

[dawg53]

So I am currently throwing out eggs, Threw out 8 from yesterday, and 6 or 7 the day before. Maybe 3 or 4 days toss eggs, then do 10th day wormer and toss eggs another 3 or 4 days?

You dont need to toss the eggs unless you believe you might have an adverse reaction to yourself or a family member since you're using Valbazen. Go back to my post #4 in this thread and read the second paragraph for more information.

 

[DawnLee]

How often you worm your birds depends on your soil conditions. Warm/wet soil will require frequent wormings. Cool/cold, sandy or rocky type soil will require less frequent wormings.

Our soil where we live is warm and wet most of the time and I worm birds monthly.
I use sand in the coops and pens and remove feces from the coops each morning. I scoop poop several times a day in the pens. Sand dries quickly and doesnt wash away like dirt and it deters parasites. It's also easier to scoop poop and dispose of it.
Chickens kept on the same ground are more susceptible for worm infestation.
When chickens free range, it's best to rotate areas where they forage.

I use Valbazen and dose each chicken orally 1/2ml. Heavy birds I dose 3/4ml. I have one very heavy Light Brahma (Tubby) that gets dosed 1ml.
I start worming birds at 5-6 weeks old, they get dosed 1/4ml. My lightest in weight birds are EE adults, they get 1/2ml.

Valbazen is a safe wormer, tough to overdose with it, just use common sense.

Why would my vet prescribe it if it wasn't effective? Any egg withdrawal with Valbazen? I read that there is a chance of choking a chicken when trying to administer orally. Any truth? Do you get the 11.36% goat de-wormer? I do have to keep them in a dirt run because there are too many predators.

 

[DawnLee]

How often you worm your birds depends on your soil conditions. Warm/wet soil will require frequent wormings. Cool/cold, sandy or rocky type soil will require less frequent wormings.

Our soil where we live is warm and wet most of the time and I worm birds monthly.
I use sand in the coops and pens and remove feces from the coops each morning. I scoop poop several times a day in the pens. Sand dries quickly and doesnt wash away like dirt and it deters parasites. It's also easier to scoop poop and dispose of it.
Chickens kept on the same ground are more susceptible for worm infestation.
When chickens free range, it's best to rotate areas where they forage.

I use Valbazen and dose each chicken orally 1/2ml. Heavy birds I dose 3/4ml. I have one very heavy Light Brahma (Tubby) that gets dosed 1ml.
I start worming birds at 5-6 weeks old, they get dosed 1/4ml. My lightest in weight birds are EE adults, they get 1/2ml.

Valbazen is a safe wormer, tough to overdose with it, just use common sense.

I just read that there is a 14 day egg withdrawal. How are you getting any eggs if you treat monthly?

 

[dawg53]

I just read that there is a 14 day egg withdrawal. How are you getting any eggs if you treat monthly?

We eat the eggs, still here typing.
Benzimidazoles such as Valbazen and Safeguard are poorly absorbed into the chickens system and mostly excreted.
There is minute residue in the eggs. If you suspect that you or a family member might have a reaction to the residue in the eggs, toss the eggs in the garbage for 14 days after the last dosing. Do not feed them back to your chickens and dont give away nor sell eggs to be eaten.