Do you worm your chickens and what do you use?

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Penny
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Do you worm your chickens and what do you use?

Post by Penny » Mon Apr 16, 2018 1:38 pm

I worm my horses regularly, so its in me to think that chickens should be similar.

Do you worm? What do you use and why? And where do you get it? (My vet looked at me like I had a 3rd eye when I asked her for poultry wormer!!)
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WLLady
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Re: Do you worm your chickens and what do you use?

Post by WLLady » Tue Apr 17, 2018 7:51 am

I use piperazine that i get at the feed store...it's a powder and you mix in the water. easy. that will do everything except tape worms, although i must say i have never seen a tape worm in my chickens. ever....
you can also use fenbendazole (safeguard) but that one you need to measure out and give to each chicken individually-the horse liquid has to be diluted because it's very strong dose and chickens don't need that much.
you can also use oral or injectable ivermectin. again if you use the horse ivermectin then it's a very very small volume for a chicken. i'd have to do the math again for the amounts.....
soon we'll likely only be able to get things like this from a vet.....
i do deworm my chickens 3 times a year. (horses, cats and dogs are every 3 months just because we live on a farm....). i also do the turkeys, again with piperazine. doing the water soluble is just so much easier that trying to catch every bird....
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Littleponderosa
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Re: Do you worm your chickens and what do you use?

Post by Littleponderosa » Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:13 pm

I use the Quest Gel that you would use for Horses, just a small amount per bird as it is potent, Twice yearly spring and fall. (unless one looks to be loosing weight/Unwell)
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Penny
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Re: Do you worm your chickens and what do you use?

Post by Penny » Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:37 am

I bought some pipurazine. Anybody know measurements for just a few litres....instead of the 325 litres on the package? Lol. I'm sure I can do the math but it's easier if someone else has already done it.
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Colleen Kinzie
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Re: Do you worm your chickens and what do you use?

Post by Colleen Kinzie » Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:45 am

I use 3-1/2 teaspoons to a 3 gallon waterer
It has worked so far
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WLLady
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Re: Do you worm your chickens and what do you use?

Post by WLLady » Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:08 am

1.25 tsp to 1 gallon or 1.25 tsp to 4 liters (the little round red and white waterers are usually 4 liters).
which i think works out the same as colleen's calculation there.
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treerooted
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Re: Do you worm your chickens and what do you use?

Post by treerooted » Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:38 am

I just use squash 'cause it's free and available. I have lots of land to grow them though
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labradors
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Re: Do you worm your chickens and what do you use?

Post by labradors » Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:16 pm

Good point treerooted!

I don't worm my girls, but they get a small homegrown cuke every day (in season) and squash/zucchini seeds too (when they get enormous) :).

Linda
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Farrier1987
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Re: Do you worm your chickens and what do you use?

Post by Farrier1987 » Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:08 am

I have never heard of squash or cukes for worming? Andy scientific basis, or a folk remedy? Anyone know for sure?

I know when I was a kid, the folk tale was that feeding a horse a cigarette would worm them, but that is a crock. At farrier school, we did an experiment. There was a two year old that had joint ill and was going to be put down for anatomy class. For two weeks before, he was fed two cigarettes morning and evening. We also decided to try diatomaceous earth as that is another old remedy, and he was dosed with 1/4 pound two weeks before and a week before.

Now this horse did not look unthrifty, maybe he didn't have worms to begin with? Wrong. When he was put down and opened up, there were masses of strongyles in the gut, and the stomach looked like a honeycomb from botflies. And there were no outward signs.

The science says you could possibly deworm with tobacco, that the nicotine would kill the worms, but to get enough nicotine to worm a horse might also kill the horse or make it very sick.

And the science of DE is great when applied to mites. The microscopic sharp edges of the DE make little tiny cuts on the mite or flea and they dehydrate and die, sort of bleed to death and dry up and desiccate. In the gut, even if the DE makes the tiny cuts on the skin of the fly eggs or the worms( which is debatable), they are in a moist environment and don't dry up and bleed to death.

So in my mind, I am skeptical of some home remedies that have not been actually researched. Neither the tobacco or the DE worked. Feed them all the squash and cukes you want, won't hurt them. But might not get rid of the worms either.

I do believe you should do things as naturally as possible, but also look for verifiable repeatable results. The fact that it is organic and natural does not make it always better. Poison ivy and amanita mushrooms are usually organic, but I don't want much to do with them.
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Farrier1987. South of Chatham on Lake Erie. Chickens, goats, horse, garden, dog, cat. Worked all over the world. Know a little bit about a lot of things. No incubator, broody hens.

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labradors
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Re: Do you worm your chickens and what do you use?

Post by labradors » Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:47 am

Sorry about the poor horse. Too bad they didn't try some Hyaluronic Acid for his joint pain, but maybe it wasn't invented/discovered back then!

I like to be as natural as possible too. I don't worm my animals unless I see signs.

Pumpkin seed is supposed to be a wormer (for dogs too) and there are references to that on the web.

I completely agree with you about the use of DE internally. The insects have to dry out for it to work, so it would probably be better when sprinkled on the bedding.

Linda
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