Worming Questions

[Friendly_Lurker]

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about worming birds. I’ve never done this, and never had a problem. Why and how would you do that?

 

[dawg53]

Chickens get worms just like any other animal. More so because chickens are always pecking the ground. In doing so, they pick up worm eggs and are swallowed, excreted and then eggs become infective. The chicken pecks the ground again and then becomes infected. Check out the large roundworm life cycle.
Additionally, chickens can eat insects that may be infected with worm eggs and become infected.

When and how often you worm birds depends on your environment. If your soil is warm and moist or wet most of the time, it's best to worm your birds frequently. I worm my birds monthly and rotate wormers on occasion.
If your soil is cool or dry, rocky, sandy or mountainous, you may not need to worm as often as I do.
If birds are kept on the same soil, particularly penned, they will need to be wormed frequently.

There are different wormers on the market that can be used: Safeguard liquid goat wormer, Valbazen liquid cattle/sheep wormer, Pyrantel Pamoate, Levamisol, Wormout Gel, Equimax and Zimecterin Gold horse paste for tapeworms.
Natural products do not work and are a waste of money. I've been doing this long enough to know.

It's best to give wormers orally to each bird. That way you know they got properly wormed with no guesswork. Adding wormers to water is guesswork, especially in cooler temps when birds drink less.
If they drink the treated water, you dont know if they drank enough to be effective or if they drank it at all. Sick wormy birds wont drink at all.

Sometimes it's best to take a fecal sample to a vet and have them check for eggs in feces, then treat accordingly with a wormer.


All the wormers I mentioned above treat many types of worms that chickens can get.
I prefer Valbazen since it slowly kills worms over 3-4 days, no need to worry about toxic dead worm overload. I also use Safeguard and Pyrantal Pamoate. I have used Zimecterin Gold and Equimax for tapeworms as well as Valbazen.
I've also used Ivermectin which proved to be ineffective in treating large roundworms and possibly other types of worms. I stopped using it years ago and stuck mostly with the benzimidazoles.

 

[MGG]

Don't worm your birds unless you have evidence there are worms. You can have a fecal done if you are worried. There are egg withdrawal periods, it can be costly, and it is a lot of work. Even when I had to treat my 4 hens it was a lot of work

 

[dawg53]

Don't worm your birds unless you have evidence there are worms. You can have a fecal done if you are worried. There are egg withdrawal periods, it can be costly, and it is a lot of work. Even when I had to treat my 4 hens it was a lot of work

How was it alot of work worming your birds? Do you mean worming each bird individually?
As far as withdrawal periods, the residue in eggs is minute. Most of the benzimidazole wormers (up to 60%) are excreted within 3 days after oral dosing. We eat the eggs, still here typing.
However, if you suspect that you or a family member might have a reaction to the wormer residue, by all means toss the eggs in the garbage for two weeks after the last dosing and dont sell or give away eggs to be eaten.

 

[MGG]

How was it alot of work worming your birds? Do you mean worming each bird individually?
As far as withdrawal periods, the residue in eggs is minute. Most of the benzimidazole wormers (up to 60%) are excreted within 3 days after oral dosing. We eat the eggs, still here typing.
However, if you suspect that you or a family member might have a reaction to the wormer residue, by all means toss the eggs in the garbage for two weeks after the last dosing and dont sell or give away eggs to be eaten.

Well, I had to dose them myself and they aren't too tame. Very squirmy. I know people are ok after eating them, but we give away our eggs to people at church, friends, etc. and we couldn't risk it, as I don't know if they would have any reactions.

 

[coach723]

Don't worm your birds unless you have evidence there are worms.

Often the only 'evidence' you will have is if you have a fecal done. Many birds will not show evidence until they are suddenly very ill. As @dawg53 said, every environment and every flock is different. If you have never had a fecal done, then that is what I would do. If you don't have a vet that will do one for you (take a mixed sample from your flock) there are mail in options, you can get one on Amazon. If it comes back negative, then you are clear. Then get one done again in 6 months to a year, to make sure they are still clear (assuming that there are no symptoms). That is the only way to know for sure. I no longer do fecals very often at all on my birds. I can pretty much guarantee that mine will come back positive for roundworm every time, so I just worm regularly. It's just a fact for my environment and flock based on years of doing this. Even with that I had a very sick bird 2 weeks ago, secondary infection due to roundworm. After worming and 5 days of antibiotics she recovered. So I will be bumping up my worming rotation again, less time between. I have more than 2 dozen birds, and I worm regularly, and each bird individually orally. I don't find it that hard. Some people don't need to worm more than once or twice a year. Most animals, pets and livestock, are pretty universally recommended to have a fecal done once a year, even with no symptoms.

 

[MGG]

I did suggest fecals. That's what I do. I just don't see any point in medicating birds unnecessarily, but if you know you have worms then clearly it would need to be done. It varies on environments like you said, but I just always suggest a fecal first.

 

[dawg53]

Well, I had to dose them myself and they aren't too tame. Very squirmy. I know people are ok after eating them, but we give away our eggs to people at church, friends, etc. and we couldn't risk it, as I don't know if they would have any reactions.

I hear you, my birds arnt exactly tame neither lol.
Go out early in the morning to your coop just before sunrise when it's dark. Use a flashlight and have your syringe without needle preloaded with the wormer, valbazen for example, 1/2cc for standard size birds. Then repeat again in 10 days.

Snatch a hen off the roost and cradle her in your forearm. With your thumb and fingers, same arm/hand, pull down on her wattles and her mouth will open. Use your free hand and grab the preloaded syringe and shoot the liquid in her open mouth and IMMEDIATELY let go of the wattles so she swallow the liquid on her own. Then put her back on the roost or let her go.
If you dont release the wattles right away, the liquid can go down into her windpipe and cause bad problems.

Then preload your syringe and snatch another hen off the roost and repeat the procedure.
If a hen shakes her head, hang on to her wattles and dont let go, she will eventually tire, then dose her.
Practice the procedure a couple of times, like a "dry run" and it'll be easy for you when you go to actually worm them. In time, worming will take no more than 10 minutes or less for 4 birds.

I forgot to add that worming birds before they eat in the mornings is very effective. The worms are hungry, feed them the wormer lol. It's best to wait a couple of hours after worming before feeding your birds.