A Question About Worming

[BigBlueHen53]

So I've had chickens about 8 years, probably none of these are my original hens, and they all seem fit, healthy and happy. But I notice a lot of you mention worming your birds, so now I wonder: how do you know whether your birds need to be wormed, and what do you use to worm them with? I never knew it was needed, so, well, I've never wormed mine. Any advice welcome, thanks!

My flock is isolated from other chickens and domestic birds, if that helps.

Edit: deleted double word. And corrected typo. Not my fault. Child called to wish me Happy Mother's Day. What can you do?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Ps ,- I have no idea how I ended up with a blockquote. That was probably the cat's doing ...

 

[Bantamgirl715]

I don't deworm unless I see signs of trouble (ie worm eggs in droppings), for a couple of reasons: 1. I would have to throw away all eggs laid for a week and that would be a LOT and 2. Worms develop tolerance and immunity to deworming chemicals, so technically, the more you use the less effective it is.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thanks, @Bantamgirl715 ! That helps a lot!

 

[dawg53]

I don't deworm unless I see signs of trouble (ie worm eggs in droppings), for a couple of reasons: 1. I would have to throw away all eggs laid for a week and that would be a LOT and 2. Worms develop tolerance and immunity to deworming chemicals, so technically, the more you use the less effective it is.

You'll never see worm eggs in droppings since they are microscopic, rarely worms neither. Why would a parasite leave its host when it's sitting there fat, dumb and happy stealing nutrients from your hens? The worms' feces is extremely toxic to chickens.
There are a couple of wormers that have little or no egg withdrawal periods. Safeguard in low amounts, Aquasol, and one or two others I cant remember.
There are plenty of wormers on the market for rotational purposes to prevent worm resistance, which usually takes years anyway.

 

[Bantamgirl715]

A float test will reveal worm eggs.

 

[dawg53]

A float test will reveal worm eggs.

Not necessarily.
https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/fecal-flotation

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Okay, so you guys need to help me out here.

@dawg53 , does this mean you worm your flock regularly? If so, how often and when? Spring, summer, whenever they look listless?

@Bantamgirl715 , what is a float test and how do you conduct one? If it tests positive, do you worm the whole flock?

What kind(s) of worms do we worry about and how do they get them? Do you have to clean the coop, sterilize everything, destroy all bedding? I read somewhere you can't use the eggs for a certain length of time after worming. How long?

Thanks again.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oh, I checked out the fecal flotation link. Obviously not a test I can do at home.

 

[Bantamgirl715]

If your chickens spent any time pecking at the ground and it's spring, chances are they have a parasite load of some sort.
Safeguard (fenbendazole) is toxic to chickens, and can cause newly grown feathers to be deformed. Same as I don't use glyphosate on my garden, I won't use fenbendazole on my chickens.
Right now we are on an intensive round of cayenne, garlic and ground pumpkin seed in their feed (garlic goes in their water too). When butchering birds we have never come across one with a serious parasite load (and we check) so it must have some effect. My chickens free range sunup to sundown.