NY chicken lover!!!!

[rancher hicks]

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I have not had to inject my chickens yet. I have only had chickens for about 18 months. However, I have had 2 hawk attacks, one hen with prolapsed vent, and chickens with lice. OH! I have also had lots of eggs! Welcome!!!

Exprinex is a wormer for cattle and it's a "pour on" like I said just like Advantage or Frontline for dogs and cats' you just put it on between the shoulder blades. There is no withdrawl of eggs. It is good for internal and external parasites. I doubt Gramma ever injected her birds.

If you free range it's likely your birds will get worms. However, unless their system gets over loaded you may never have a noticeable problem. Perhaps a lull in eggs. If you live in a dry area then you may not have a problem with worms, but if you like me have a wet area you might. Worms live in a host such as earth worms , snails and slugs.

DE can be used in nest boxes and coop floors to fight mites and other soft body creatures. I also have a sand box in a run that I put sand in and toss a bunch of DE in so they fight mites when they dust themselves. You can also dust your bird individually.

Vaseline can be rubbed on feet to fight scalely mites. These can be done to prevent an outbreak of mites and worm problems.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Rancher--do you think it is necessary to worm your chickens even if you have never seen any evidence of worms? All this talk about it makes me wonder. Mine are a year and a half now and I have never wormed them. I see nothing in their droppings, handle them to feel for weight (they feel right) and they do freerange my yard when I am out. They eat everything that isnt nailed down. They are molting right now and look pretty raggedy. I would like not to give them anything if I dont have to. Since you seem to have the most experience with chickens, I wanted to get your opinion.

Oh...and how long before the girls finish molting? My egg customers are getting antsy for eggs but I am only getting 1-2 a day.

Hope everyone else is doing well and enjoy this nice weekend!

 

[Cass]

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I know you asked Rancher, and he is a good source of info, but I would like to offer my opinion.

Some people never worm, cuz they never see a reduction in eggs or anything that indicates they need to. (Weight loss, evidence in poo, etc) I doubt old timers even know that you CAN worm chickens, much less that some folks swear it has to be done regularly.

If you think it wouldn't be a bad idea to worm your chickens annually NOW is the exact right time to do it, cuz they aren't laying anyway, so you can use the less expensive wormer....the one that requires you throw out 10 - 14 days worth of eggs. (and you just add it to the water for 24 hours and you are done with the whole process, no catching each and every chicken)

I wormed mine with Eprinex (sp) because it kills EVERYTHING inside and outside the chicken and they weren't laying. It did seem to help egg production, right up to the point they started to molt. LOL

But it is an indivdual choice based on what you know about your flock and their situation. (My area is VERY wet and some of my chickens LIVE for earthworms, a huge vector for intestinal worm eggs)

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Thanks for your input Cass. I am giving it serious consideration just because they do eat lots of bugs and worms.

 

[rancher hicks]

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Worming isn't an absolute except where things are wet and if you see a problem. Most chickens have some worms but their system can get over loaded and then there are problems. I've lost a couple of girls to what I think was gape worm. This is a worm in the throat and it usually presents as them breathing with their mouth open, by which time treatment may not work. But that's just my theory. I see no sense in taking risks.

I like Eprinex for the no loss of eggs. I can't see feeding chickens and then tossing eggs. What's more I believe there is a residual affect. That some of the med remains even after stopping treatment. IMO anything that requires tossing of eggs is NOT safe and NOT a wise thing to use. I use an eye dropper to administer it to the birds. For all that I've spent on my birds I'm not cutting corners. Heck I've got $280 worth of chicks coming, why would I skimp on wormer? My last batch of chicks I bought cost over $120 not including gas and time to drive to pick them up. If you store it in a cool dark place it should last for a while I believe.

Not to mention, if I am using something that requires me to toss eggs and makes eating the meat harmful , I'm no better than a commercial farmer who uses other junk.

Where I am there are lots of slugs , snails and worms. During the dry period I like to sprinkle DE around and on my garden plants. Slugs and snails still come out at night and I've seen less of them. Lord have mercy I was losing alot of veggies to those buggers. I also think DE works for worms of other bugs like Squash borers.

If you see no problems then by all means don't worm. I also don't believe in using things that aren't necessary.

Hardiness of breed is, as far as I'm concerned something to breed for. More important than appearance. I used to breed Cavies/guinea pigs and show them. It was amazing to see someone who had a winner one year and then find out it kicked the bucket by the next show.

Well it is Saturday and I've places to go and people to annoy, take care.

Rancher

 

[marquisella]

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Pumpkin seeds, they say, are effective wormers for chickens. Don't ask me why, I have just read it.
I agree with Rancher about using a wormer that doens't affect the egg eating. I prefer Ivermectin, that you put in the water for 2 days. It will kill everything, including leg mites, except tape worm. You can eat eggs & the birds as it is also used on humans in countries that have bad worm problems even in humans.

I try to worm twice a year, fall & spring. Fall, to get any worms picked up during the summer, and then in the spring, just in case any were missed in the fall, because they lie dormant in an animal during the winter, but the warm weather "wakes" them up again.
Just to say, my hens have started laying again, all exept the black copper Marans, They are still not laying, but everyone else has begun....Lav Orps, BLW Wyandottes, Coronation & lit sussex, Buff Orps, Blue Copper Marans, and finally.....ta da....my silver laced Wyandotte hen...pullets not yete!

 

[rancher hicks]

Here's the front and back labels. You can read it and decide for yourself. As far as I know there is no wormer strictly produced for Poultry.

 

[marquisella]

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Same drug as I use, just pour on. It is a great wormer, I have too many chickens to do each one individually...so putting in water works for me.

 

[rancher hicks]

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Same drug as I use, just pour on. It is a great wormer, I have too many chickens to do each one individually...so putting in water works for me.

I just do them in the evening and do each coop in succession of nights. I put bands on the ones I've done and then I'll just remove the bands when I do them again. It's a pain but it has to be done.

There was another posting so I thought it best to just copy the labels and let folks decide for themselves. I really need to back up my pictures.

 

[Henicillin]

And then there were twenty-four...

The Mighty Mouth and his brother are now awaiting auction in Schuylerville - it SHOULD be somewhat quieter 'round these parts for a bit! He was trying to get jiggy with it with unwilling pullets as of late, so I'm sure they won't miss him at all!

It was another four-egg day, so we're now nicely supplied with eggs (and suddenly half of my FB friends are very interested). My lone White Leghorn laid her first egg today at just shy of 21 weeks, and the thing is easily medium-sized She's such a delicate-looking thing - I thought "ouch."