Worming?

[redhen009]

I am very new to chickens and flock raising. I have been told that I need to worm my flock every month with applecider vinegar. Is this true? If so, how much do I give them? And is the vinegar just what I buy at a grocery store? What are other ways to worm the flock? Any feedback is helpful.

 

[n8ivetxn]

I don't use ACV for worming. I'm not convinced it works, and when I actually saw my 6 month old roo poop a pile of worms

I was too grossed out to try it. - ACV is not easy to find and it's expensive. It works for keeping down some bacteria and slime in water containers, but I'm not convinced of anything else, yes, I'll admit it - I need a University study to back it up....

I go to the feed store or tractor supply and buy the Ivermectin pour on for cattle. The dosage on the bottle is 1ml (same as a cc) per 22lbs of body weight. So divide that by say, a 4lb bird and you get 1/4cc per bird. Basically, I just put a small drop at the base of the neck. - And, it kills external parasites too.

I rotate wormers to prevent them from developing immunity. So, every other time, I use Valbazen (ordered it online, first state vet supply) and the directions are on the bottle.

After I wormed the first time, my birds gained nicely. I worm 2x a year, mid fall (Valbazen) and mid spring (Ivermectin, to kill winter lice/mites)....

And likely, everyone on BYC will do it just a little different

 

[Firefly1v]

We use ACV for a week, once a month. If the chickens look down I will use it for a pick up. We buy it in a gallon at the grocery store or Walmart. It runs about $3 dollars here in FL.

Use four teaspoons of apple cider vinegar for each gallon of water. CAUTION: Never add ACV to a galvanized metal waterer as it will poison your chickens. Always use plastic!

We also put a few fresh cloves of garlic in it. The garlic helps to keep the parasites away. I leave it in till it starts to grow. Two weeks to a month.

This is a great website to get more info about it from:

http://www.scratchandpeck.com/the-values-of-raw-apple-cider-vinegar

They suggest raw unpasteurized ACV but the stuff from the store has worked fine for us.

***
I also use Ivomec Injectable.

DO NOT GET POUR ON. Pour on is oil based and will not mix with the water. GET INJECTABLE. Ivomec controls most intestinal parasites. It also controls lice and mites. I try to worm at the beginning of each season, 4 x a year.
- Cattle/Swine IVOMEC® Injectable , 50 ml

*DIRECTIONS
Ivomec is a brand name of ivermectin and yes, it is a cattle de-wormer in that form.You may be able to find generic ivermectin at your local feed store. I use 1% injectable cattle ivermectin mixed in water. You can purchases a syringe at
the feed store to measure with.

For waterers:

1cc per quart of water/ 4cc per gallon.


NOTE-
If your syringe has measurements in ml instead of cc, they are the same thing

The mixture is the only water the birds get for 2 days. Mix small batches (a gallon) to retain freshness as more of the solution is needed. I did give the meds for 3 days, but decided the birds were doing ok with only 2 days.

If you want to treat a single bird the dose is:

1/4 cc for a bantam and 1/2 to 3/4 cc for large fowl. In the mouth.


I don't toss the eggs. However, once in a while there will be someone with a rare sensitivity to the drug. So what you do with the eggs is up to you. Do not eat any treated birds for at least 30 days.
Mites: If you are treating with Ivomec for lice/mites, you will need to re-treat in 14 days to break the mite/lice life cycle.


Hope this helps and this is just how I have done it for 15+ years.

 

[dawg53]

Ivermectin injectable is useless as a wormer in chickens, ok for treating mites. The ivermectin pour on placed on bare skin on the back of the neck is effective against some types of worms:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0450.1989.tb00635.x/abstract
ACV has alot of benefits, but it's not a worm preventative nor a treatment unless you give them the whole bottle to drink at once, which will kill the chicken while burning its insides. In chickens, ACV mainly helps lower gut PH with bacterial issues and it helps in calcium absorption. Garlic is a known preventative against worms and requires large doses, but useless against infestations.
Here's a link regarding another member using these products regularly and an official necropsy revealed capillary worm infestation in one of her birds which brought on a multitude of other problems caused by the worms:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=576036

 

[n8ivetxn]

Thanks Dawg, I appreciate the insights and links.... good stuff, although a little disturbing