Worms?

[JosieMaeChickens]

Is this what I think it is? A worm? If so treatment recommendations please? We have 3 coops but they all free range together. I know which coop this came from, they were the only ones out to be able to poop on the porch step (it wasn’t there prior). Do I need to treat all 3 coops? Also what are good preventatives for worms?

 

[coach723]

Yes, that is a round worm, very common and very easy to pick up in the environment, the eggs live a long time in the soil. You can use either Safeguard liquid goat wormer, Safeguard horse paste, or Valbazen. Safeguard is usually available locally, Valbazen usually has to be ordered online. Since they all range together on the same area, I would worm them all. Safeguard dose for round worm is .23 ml per pound of body weight, and repeat in 10 days. Valbazen dose is .5 ml for a standard sized bird (actual math is "weight in lbs / 2.2 X 20mg / 113.6), and repeat dose in 10 days. I lock them in the coop at dark and go out before daylight the next morning and take them off the roosts one at a time and dose, turn them out to the run. When the coop is empty you've done them all. Shake the liquid medications well before drawing the dose, use an oral syringe and draw up the correct dose (for the paste you may see dosing that says use a pea sized blob, that is NOT accurate and is incorrect). An inexpensive digital kitchen scale is good for getting weights. Pull down on the wattles to open the beak, gently squeeze (don't squirt with force) the medication into the beak no more than .5 ml at a time and let them swallow. Repeat til the entire dose is given. Depending on how many birds you have in each coop, you might want to do one coop at a time, do another the next day, til you've done them all. For any birds that pitch a fit, you can wrap them in a towel like a burrito to help hold the wings while you dose. Make sure you do the second dose in 10 days. The medications kill the worms but not any unhatched eggs inside, the second dose gets those and breaks the cycle.
Depending on your worm load you may need to worm regularly to keep it controlled, round worm is common for reinfection from the environment. Every bird carrying worms is depositing 1000's of eggs into the soil with every dropping. Some can worm once or twice a year, some need to do it more often, every flock is different. I have to worm every 3 months in my flock.

 

[Kiki]

Yes, roundworm.
I'd treat the entire flock at the same time.
Are you in the US?

 

[JosieMaeChickens]

Yes, that is a round worm, very common and very easy to pick up in the environment, the eggs live a long time in the soil. You can use either Safeguard liquid goat wormer, Safeguard horse paste, or Valbazen. Safeguard is usually available locally, Valbazen usually has to be ordered online. Since they all range together on the same area, I would worm them all. Safeguard dose for round worm is .23 ml per pound of body weight, and repeat in 10 days. Valbazen dose is .5 ml for a standard sized bird (actual math is "weight in lbs / 2.2 X 20mg / 113.6), and repeat dose in 10 days. I lock them in the coop at dark and go out before daylight the next morning and take them off the roosts one at a time and dose, turn them out to the run. When the coop is empty you've done them all. Shake the liquid medications well before drawing the dose, use an oral syringe and draw up the correct dose (for the paste you may see dosing that says use a pea sized blob, that is NOT accurate and is incorrect). An inexpensive digital kitchen scale is good for getting weights. Pull down on the wattles to open the beak, gently squeeze (don't squirt with force) the medication into the beak no more than .5 ml at a time and let them swallow. Repeat til the entire dose is given. Depending on how many birds you have in each coop, you might want to do one coop at a time, do another the next day, til you've done them all. For any birds that pitch a fit, you can wrap them in a towel like a burrito to help hold the wings while you dose. Make sure you do the second dose in 10 days. The medications kill the worms but not any unhatched eggs inside, the second dose gets those and breaks the cycle.
Depending on your worm load you may need to worm regularly to keep it controlled, round worm is common for reinfection from the environment. Every bird carrying worms is depositing 1000's of eggs into the soil with every dropping. Some can worm once or twice a year, some need to do it more often, every flock is different. I have to worm every 3 months in my flock.

Thanks for all this information! I figured I was going to have to do every bird but I had my fingers crossed not to, because we have about 75-85 birds. 25 adult birds and the rest hatched on various days between May 30- June 30. So they range from 1-2 months old. What would the dose be for a smaller bird like them? Do you have to throw away eggs while using the dewormer?

 

[JosieMaeChickens]

Yes, roundworm.
I'd treat the entire flock at the same time.
Are you in the US?

Yes I am

 

[LaFleche]

Just feed the eggs to your chicks, no need to throw them away.

 

[JosieMaeChickens]

Just feed the eggs to your chicks, no need to throw them away.

True. For how long though?

 

[coach723]

Recommended egg withdrawl is 10-14 days. In honesty, many people ignore that and continue to use the eggs. Do what you are comfortable with.
I worm 30 to 35 birds every 3 months, I can do that in a little less than an hour. Gets easier with practice. So it's doable if you divide up the groups. Do it by coop, or by breed. Just get all your supplies ready the night before so it's all ready to go. I carry the wormer, a small dish/bowl (I find it easier to draw doses from that than from the bottle), a couple of oral syringes (in case something happens to one, you have a spare), a large towel for wrapping birds that fight being held, a small towel or rag (for wiping wormer off stuff, like your glasses when someone shakes their head ), and a lantern or two since it will be dark, I use one in the coop and one in the run. And a scale if you need to get weights. After you've done this a few times it gets easier to estimate weights, I usually only have to weigh my adult birds once, and I weigh the young ones til they are full grown.

 

[dawg53]

(for wiping wormer off stuff, like your glasses when someone shakes their head ),

Yeah, I've had it happen a few times. Valbazen doesnt taste too bad neither.

 

[JosieMaeChickens]

Recommended egg withdrawl is 10-14 days. In honesty, many people ignore that and continue to use the eggs. Do what you are comfortable with.
I worm 30 to 35 birds every 3 months, I can do that in a little less than an hour. Gets easier with practice. So it's doable if you divide up the groups. Do it by coop, or by breed. Just get all your supplies ready the night before so it's all ready to go. I carry the wormer, a small dish/bowl (I find it easier to draw doses from that than from the bottle), a couple of oral syringes (in case something happens to one, you have a spare), a large towel for wrapping birds that fight being held, a small towel or rag (for wiping wormer off stuff, like your glasses when someone shakes their head ), and a lantern or two since it will be dark, I use one in the coop and one in the run. And a scale if you need to get weights. After you've done this a few times it gets easier to estimate weights, I usually only have to weigh my adult birds once, and I weigh the young ones til they are full grown.

We have valbazen on hand already for our other animals. However I don’t see where it says it treats roundworms.