Worms?

[Dknichelson]

I just walked out and noticed in the run, where the chickens were sctratching, that there are a handful of little clear little worms wriggling in the dirt. Now, I realize that dirt is going to have worms and with the amount of flies we battle, it's possible that it's fly larvae. But, should I be worried about the worms being in the run? I assume chickens eat worms and bugs all the time. I haven't dewormed our flock yet, maybe I should start?

 

[Nike]

I don't know if I would worry too much, but I try to worm my flock twice a year. Our vet recommended it. It's pretty simple, you usually just mix with wormer with their water and feed and it will have the measurements on the bottle. I've been using Wazine, but there are a lot of other brands out there.

 

[cafarmgirl]

I just walked out and noticed in the run, where the chickens were sctratching, that there are a handful of little clear little worms wriggling in the dirt. Now, I realize that dirt is going to have worms and with the amount of flies we battle, it's possible that it's fly larvae. But, should I be worried about the worms being in the run? I assume chickens eat worms and bugs all the time. I haven't dewormed our flock yet, maybe I should start?

I don't know what you saw but yes, it's always a good idea to keep birds on a regular deworming schedule. Were the worms in a pile of chicken poop? How old are your birds? Chickens will get worms just due to their lifestyle and the fact that some of the bugs and worms they naturally eat are hosts for worms. So it is a very good idea to deworm a couple times a year, sometimes more often if you live in a warmer/wetter climate. Intestinal parasites do a lot of damage and you are much better off to control them rather then to wait until birds are so infested that their health starts declining.

Valbazen or liquid Safeguard for goats are very good dewormers for chickens, very safe. Wazine is labled for chickens but it only gets rid of round worms and there's a lot more worms chickens can pick up. It's also best to dose each bird individually rather then giving wormer in the water if at all possible. That way you know each bird got the exact dose it needs. Mixed in water is hit and miss as birds may drink more or less depending on temps.

 

[Dknichelson]

I don't know what you saw but yes, it's always a good idea to keep birds on a regular deworming schedule. Were the worms in a pile of chicken poop? How old are your birds? Chickens will get worms just due to their lifestyle and the fact that some of the bugs and worms they naturally eat are hosts for worms. So it is a very good idea to deworm a couple times a year, sometimes more often if you live in a warmer/wetter climate. Intestinal parasites do a lot of damage and you are much better off to control them rather then to wait until birds are so infested that their health starts declining.

Valbazen or liquid Safeguard for goats are very good dewormers for chickens, very safe. Wazine is labled for chickens but it only gets rid of round worms and there's a lot more worms chickens can pick up. It's also best to dose each bird individually rather then giving wormer in the water if at all possible. That way you know each bird got the exact dose it needs. Mixed in water is hit and miss as birds may drink more or less depending on temps.

No, the worms weren't in the poo, just in the dirt where the chickens has freshly scratched. They were about an inch long and clearish/white.

I'm defintely going to start deworming them. We've only had our flock for about 4 months or so. Only one of our 8 birds is over a year old. Our oldest is 2-3 years old I would guess, then we have a 1 year old, an 8 month old, three 3 month olds and two 1 week olds. That makes sens to want to deworm them individually. Where do you buy your dewormer?

 

[cafarmgirl]

I get the liquid Safeguard for goats at Tractor Supply, Valbazen I order on-line. Last time I got it on Amazon. www.jefferspet.com has it as well as a few others. I usually start deworming birds at 6 months old and twice a year thereafter. You can give 0.5 ml of either of these wormers and do a repeat dose in 10 days. Discard any eggs for 10 days after the last dose. For that reason I do one of my dewormings in the dead of winter when laying is decreased anyway.