Worming the Flock ~ Please help with dosages!

[Cotton Hill Chick]

Hi All,

I've had 3 chickens die in the last month, apparently from parasites which were confirmed in the most recently deceased hen, and the local avian vet says its time to deworm the flock.

I have Ivermectin Sheep Drench .08% solution and Safe-guard (fenbendazole) suspension 10% on hand here, as we have sheep and goats in residence.

I've seen posts in BYC about using these products to deworm the flock MIXED IN WATER or MASH. (I have 30 chickens, and would rather dose the flock in this way as many of the chickens are not very handleable).

Can you all please help clarify the exact dosage per GALLON of water for drinking, OR to make up water to make mash?

I've searched through threads until my eyes have glazed over and can't find what I need! I'd like to cut to the chase, as is said. Can anyone help????

Thank you!

 

[casportpony]

Do you know what worms they had? Ivermectin is not a good poultry de-wormer, but Safeguard is. Neither are water soluble, so you need to give it in a mash or orally.

If you have large roundworms or cecal worms in your flock and you want to eat the eggs, there is a zero day withdrawal using Safeguard at 1 mg per kg of bodyweight for 5 days. For more detailed instructions, read this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/safeguard-mash-zero-day-egg-withdrawal.1254653/

If you have capillary worms you will need to use a much larger dose (50 mg/kg) for 5 days and the standard withdrawal is about two weeks.

Another option would be to buy Wormout Gel, it's water soluble, but it is expensive! Dose is 47 ml per gallon two days in a row, then repeat in 10 days. This product is not labeled for use in poultry, so a withdrawal of at least two weeks is advisable.
https://www.jedds.com/shop/wormout-gel-vetafarm/

 

[Cotton Hill Chick]

Hi, it was capillarid eggs found in the poop sample. So I imagine I need a larger dose as you say above? And now I'm back to "square one" not knowing how much to put in the mash.

Egads it seems so difficult to find ONE product to treat chickens with, that has clear directions!!!

 

[casportpony]

Hi, it was capillarid eggs found in the poop sample. So I imagine I need a larger dose as you say above? And now I'm back to "square one" not knowing how much to put in the mash.

Egads it seems so difficult to find ONE product to treat chickens with, that has clear directions!!!

Shoot, capillary worms are hard to treat! The fenbendazole dose I was told to use is 50 mg/kg for five days. Let me know what your flock weighs and I will help you come up with an economical plan of attack.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Valbazen is the wormer I use but it does need to be given individually to each bird. Dose is .08 ml per pound. Most people use .25 ml for a bantam and .5 ml for a standard bird.
If they are not easily handled you can try to put a dose on bread and give a treat at night while they settle to roost.

 

[Cotton Hill Chick]

Thanks for the offer to help! I've just seen in another post, NOT to give fenbendazole during molt season as it can damage growing feathers?! Holy cow. And, I have a mixed flock of 30 chickens, all different sizes so I'm not quite sure how to get a weight on them beyond catching and weighing each bird which if I did that I could just put dewormer on them directly... just went through catching each one and dusting for mites 5 days ago! It was no picnic, happy to do it to keep them healthy of course.

Sorry to be so blah blah blah complaining, I guess I was just hoping to be able to put something in the water or mash and be done with it. Like Corid is so easy!

Is it possible to estimate flock weight? Cochins = approximately x. Standard hens approximately x. Bantams approximately x. And so on?

 

[Cotton Hill Chick]

Valbazen is the wormer I use but it does need to be given individually to each bird. Dose is .08 ml per pound. Most people use .25 ml for a bantam and .5 ml for a standard bird.
If they are not easily handled you can try to put a dose on bread and give a treat at night while they settle to roost.

Okay, this system is starting to look like something I could manage with the estimates for weight and getting a piece of bread into each bird... though even that will be a bit tricky, as the hens barge in to eat the food of smaller ones and some will run from me and not take treats from my hand...

Thanks for posting I will see if I can wrap my brain around how to get this done. I'd still like to find a dose of SOMETHING for water though!

 

[casportpony]

Is it possible to estimate flock weight? Cochins = approximately x. Standard hens approximately x. Bantams approximately x. And so on?

Yes, that's what I do, I look up the weight of each breed on Wiki and use those weights.

 

[casportpony]

@KsKingBee , how much Valbazen per gallon do you use?

 

[Cotton Hill Chick]

Valbazen is the wormer I use but it does need to be given individually to each bird. Dose is .08 ml per pound. Most people use .25 ml for a bantam and .5 ml for a standard bird.
If they are not easily handled you can try to put a dose on bread and give a treat at night while they settle to roost.

Okay... so... I've shopped for Valbazen, made a list of bantams and standard birds so I can check of who eats their bread cube! I will probably try to do this tonight... wish me luck!!!