Can you deworm a chicken while they’re molting? I have one with running poop!

[ChickInnMama]

Hi, we have a little Easter egger named Charlotte that I’ve asked questions about before. She gets bubbles in her eye and her ear is swollen on that same side. We treated her with everything that was advised on BYC and it never went away but she acted normal. We live in FL and my girls are free to roam around our backyard during the day. When I dewormed everyone in the spring Charlotte was being treated for this other issue and didn’t get dewormed and then it was so hot that I didn’t want to stress her out and she seemed okay at the time (other than her comb kinda stays pale most of the time, but then all of their combs get pale on and off in our really hot summers). Now everyone is molting, some a hard molt and some a soft molt. She is doing a soft molt, but she is also having runny poop and has a pale comb. I just read this morning that roundworms can get in their eye and now I’m thinking she’s had worms this whole time and that’s why nothing else worked. But I want to deworm her asap because she’s slow to come out of the coop in the morning, pale comb, runny poop, just kinda sitting around more and not herself etc. I was reading older threads and some people say it’s fine to deworm with fenbendazole while they’re molting and others say no, to use Valbazen. I have fenbendazole already, and I looked for Valbazen and it’s not available anywhere near me and online it’s sold out everywhere I can find it in smaller doses, the only thing available are huge bottles that are super expensive. So I’d love to hear from people who have used fenbendazole while molting. Did it stunt feather growth? Or is there somewhere that someone knows I can find Valbazen? I guess I should deworm my whole flock if I’m going to do Charlotte? She’s the only one that didn’t get dewormed in the spring, but if you deworm one should you do them all? None of their others are acting weird: We have 7 hens, but if I deworm all of them then I need to use something other than fenbendazole because I don’t want them to become resistant right? I need to alternate? Thanks so much!!

 

[Debbie292d]

Fenbendazole is available in oral formulations under the brand names Panacur and Safe-guard.

Fenbendazole warns not to treat a molting chicken with this product.

You could use it again although it is recommended to rotate products to prevent parasites becoming immune.

Valbazen is another worming product. Here's a BYC article about it. I don't see it mentioning not giving it to molting chickens.

I cringe about giving a molting chicken anything though as they are already going through a stressful time and sometimes painful one.

 

[ChickInnMama]

Thank you, I think I’m just going to wait until she’s done molting and then treat her. Maybe I’ll be able to find the Valbazen by then anyway! Thanks!

 

[Debbie292d]

Thank you, I think I’m just going to wait until she’s done molting and then treat her. Maybe I’ll be able to find the Valbazen by then anyway! Thanks!

Probably for the best for Charlotte. I'd be tempted to do the whole flock then so then they're all done at the same time and nobody can infect anyone else.

 

[ChickInnMama]

Probably for the best for Charlotte. I'd be tempted to do the whole flock then so then they're all done at the same time and nobody can infect anyone else.

If I can’t find the Valbazen do you think it’s okay to treat them all with the Fenbendazole again? I know that I’ve read that we should alternate them, I’ve only ever used the goat dewormer. I didn’t even realize there was anything else, now that I know I’ll try to find it! Hopefully it’ll be back in stock by the time they’re done molting. Charlotte should be okay until she’s done molting right? If she’s had worms this whole time, even if she has diarrhea now? Can molting give them loose stool? Thank you so much for your replies! I appreciate advice from someone who has more experience than me

 

[dawg53]

Hi, we have a little Easter egger named Charlotte that I’ve asked questions about before. She gets bubbles in her eye and her ear is swollen on that same side. We treated her with everything that was advised on BYC and it never went away but she acted normal. We live in FL and my girls are free to roam around our backyard during the day. When I dewormed everyone in the spring Charlotte was being treated for this other issue and didn’t get dewormed and then it was so hot that I didn’t want to stress her out and she seemed okay at the time (other than her comb kinda stays pale most of the time, but then all of their combs get pale on and off in our really hot summers). Now everyone is molting, some a hard molt and some a soft molt. She is doing a soft molt, but she is also having runny poop and has a pale comb. I just read this morning that roundworms can get in their eye and now I’m thinking she’s had worms this whole time and that’s why nothing else worked. But I want to deworm her asap because she’s slow to come out of the coop in the morning, pale comb, runny poop, just kinda sitting around more and not herself etc. I was reading older threads and some people say it’s fine to deworm with fenbendazole while they’re molting and others say no, to use Valbazen. I have fenbendazole already, and I looked for Valbazen and it’s not available anywhere near me and online it’s sold out everywhere I can find it in smaller doses, the only thing available are huge bottles that are super expensive. So I’d love to hear from people who have used fenbendazole while molting. Did it stunt feather growth? Or is there somewhere that someone knows I can find Valbazen? I guess I should deworm my whole flock if I’m going to do Charlotte? She’s the only one that didn’t get dewormed in the spring, but if you deworm one should you do them all? None of their others are acting weird: We have 7 hens, but if I deworm all of them then I need to use something other than fenbendazole because I don’t want them to become resistant right? I need to alternate? Thanks so much!!

Eyeworms are white in color, small and thin, you wouldve seen them swimming in Charlotte's eye. More likely it's some type of respiratory issue/possibly ear canker that you're dealing with. Here's a link for you to read about ear canker:
https://chickenwhisperermagazine.com/health-and-wellness/ear-canker

 

[ChickInnMama]

Eyeworms are white in color, small and thin, you wouldve seen them swimming in Charlotte's eye. More likely it's some type of respiratory issue/possibly ear canker that you're dealing with. Here's a link for you to read about ear canker:
https://chickenwhisperermagazine.com/health-and-wellness/ear-canker

Thank you for the article! Is the Tylosin (spelling?) what is used to treat that? Because we tried that as well and it didn’t help. We had used regular amoxicillin the first time she got sick and that helped and it went away for about a year and then came back and amoxicillin didn’t help the second time so someone said not to use that but to get the Tylosin (the one with a pigeon on the bag) and that didn’t help either. But after reading the article I see that it’s super resistant to antibiotics so now I guess I’ll look up some of the other types mentioned and see about trying one of those. We only have one vet in our area that sees chickens and I’ve never been able to get in with them in an emergency. BYC is so helpful though, I really appreciate all of the knowledge here!

 

[Debbie292d]

If I can’t find the Valbazen do you think it’s okay to treat them all with the Fenbendazole again? I know that I’ve read that we should alternate them, I’ve only ever used the goat dewormer. I didn’t even realize there was anything else, now that I know I’ll try to find it! Hopefully it’ll be back in stock by the time they’re done molting. Charlotte should be okay until she’s done molting right? If she’s had worms this whole time, even if she has diarrhea now? Can molting give them loose stool? Thank you so much for your replies! I appreciate advice from someone who has more experience than me

Charlottes never had Fenbendazole, just you can't use that while she's molting. If you could find Valbazen, then you could treat her now. Nothing says to absolutely rotate products, it's suggested, and you apparently don't have too many choices where you are so I'd just use whatever you can.

In the meantime, try giving her/them some probiotics and vitamin water...alternate the days. The probiotics could help with the diarrhea and she should have had those anyway after the antibiotics if you hadn't done that already.

 

[ChickInnMama]

Charlottes never had Fenbendazole, just you can't use that while she's molting. If you could find Valbazen, then you could treat her now. Nothing says to absolutely rotate products, it's suggested, and you apparently don't have too many choices where you are so I'd just use whatever you can.

In the meantime, try giving her/them some probiotics and vitamin water...alternate the days. The probiotics could help with the diarrhea and she should have had those anyway after the antibiotics if you hadn't done that already.

Okay thank you! I’ll add vitamins to their water today and get some probiotics from tractor supply for tomorrow Charlotte hasn’t had antibiotics since the spring when I dewormed everyone else, but I didn’t realize that she needed vitamins and probiotics after so I appreciate that information for the future (hopefully I won’t need them in the future, but if I do now I know!). Blessings!