worms

[trudyg]

I have fountain waterers out for my chicks and saw a worm in the water. I don't know if it came from the ground the waterer was sitting on or if it came off the birds who were drinking the water. Anyway, it was maybe 2" long, really thin, white (almost transparent). I thought it was a thread from my clothing but it moved when I touched it. So, I put wazine in the nipple waterers that the big chickens use since I was afraid to dose the babies (10 days old) and the bucket is up on a milk crate and the babies couldn't reach it. Well, they can now, at 19 days old they are jumping up onto the milk crate and drinking from the nipples. It is now coming up to the 10 day period after the wazine and time for next dose, how do I proceed?

I have ivermectin pour on and safeguard paste (not much in the tube) but would rather put something in the water if possible. I feel I've used the ivermectin too much over the years and would like to switch it up, possibly get some valbazen. I just don't do well dosing individual birds, to be honest. If I get safeguard drench and put it in the drinking water, is this safe for chicks? I could put some into some yogurt and hold the bowl, keeping the babies out. Do the babies need worming, too? If I have to dose individually, should I use the safeguard paste on bread, use the ivermectin, or get valbazin? I actually have panacur crystals (some guy used it for his cancer, so my DH got some for himself, took 2 doses and decided it bothered his stomach, so I have 7 - 1 mg packets of crystals. It would be great to be able to sprinkle it yogurt or something and be done, but getting a precise dose is hard that way. My birds are mostly Red rangers and it's hard to tell who you dosed and who still needs it. Maybe I should use a shot of blukote on the done ones? Thanks for any advice.

 

[cleoandtheflock]

Could you get a picture of it?

Are your chicks inside or outside?

 

[azygous]

It sounds like you have a very large flock. How many?

The best way to dose for worms is individually by body weight, especially for the chicks. And yes, they have been exposed to the worms and are likely carrying some now, too.

The best case against continuing Ivermectin is that the worms may be getting resistant to it by now, or will be before too much longer. That white worm you found in the water fountain is likely a round worm, although earth worms often crawl into water containers seeking moisture, but they aren't white.

There will likely be some other pros along to help you with selecting a worming med and to calculate the dosage. @Eggcessive @casportpony @dawg53 may be able to offer some hekpful advice.

 

[casportpony]

How many birds are you wanting to treat?

 

[Eggcessive]

The two wormers I would recommend, Valbazen and SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer are not water soluble, and will settle out. Thus, you need to dose each chicken separately. They treat other worms such as cecal worms, gapeworms, and capillary worms, while Wazine only kills roundworms. SafeGuard dosage for just roundworms is 1/4 ml per pound once orally and repeated in 10-14 days. It can be given for 5 straight days to treat capillary and gape worms. Since you gave Wazine already, it just needs to be given once.

Valbazen dosage is 1/2 ml (or 0.09 ml per pound) given once orally and again in 10-14 days. For both SafeGuard and Valbazen, (and Wazine) toss the eggs for 14 days after the last dose.

Is there any way to separate the chicks for the one day to use the Wazine in the water?

 

[trudyg]

I guess I could hang the waterer from a line high enough that the babies couldn't reach it, right now I have it on a milk crate and they hop up on it. They weren't jumping up there when I treated on May16th. Saturday is day 10, time for retreat. I'm leaning toward the valbazen, even if I have to dose separately. Can I put it on bread and then put one bird in a cage until it's gone, then do the next? I usually put them under milk crates (I have enough for half of the birds) and then can easily take one out to treat, then let it loose. I'll get the valbazen and give it a shot this weekend. Do I also treat the babies? They didn't get any wazine water.

 

[dawg53]

19 day old chicks dont need to be wormed. Birds at 5-6+ months old can be wormed depending on your soil conditions.

 

[trudyg]

Thanks dawg

 

[Lizzy733]

Could be white worms - they're common feeders for the aquarium\reptile\amphibian enthusiasts, or another similar worm so you might not be dealing with a parasite in this case. Especially if it's just found in the environment and your flock are not showing symptoms of internal parasitism. Large internal worms can be visible it their feces and you can perform a fecal float test at home with a basic microscope or request one from your local vet to confirm the presence of smaller internal parasites or their eggs. - it's good practice to do an annual test with one 'representative' of the flock and worm as necessary when you get a fail or if symptoms appear and there's a failed float test.

 

[trudyg]

My local vet is worthless. He'll do a fecal for $15 and tell you, yep you have worms, but no detail. I'm in the middle of nowhere, not many vets near. Several of my hens have messy butts and I've seen some squirts. The poop board shows splashy poops, not all of them but enough. I've put 2" of sand down under the coop and may put some down in the chicken yard itself. I have 1 roo, 8 hens and 3 chicks in a 900 sq ft enclosure, the coop is 8 X 12 and raised off the ground by 2 cement blocks. Plenty of space for the # of birds. I keep the grass fairly short, but there are wild birds there. I spent last night covering the entire run with bird netting, haven't finished yet, got maybe 1/3. but there are gaps that wild birds can get in, no way I can make it better than that with the current setup.