Safeguard Mash - Zero Day Egg Withdrawal

[dawg53]

That's outstanding information that @coach723 put out for you.
Additionally, keeping everything as dry as possible goes a long way in preventing birds getting worms.
Sand is best for keeping everything dry, think "beach." I have sand in all my pens, coops and some of the nest boxes. Sand dries quickly after it rains and doesnt wash away like dirt or mud. There are no nasty mud puddles for birds to drink out of. Sand also deters parasites.
Deep litter is a hot bed for capillary worms, especially if you live in a warm/humid climate.

 

[Saraschickens]

I'm not sure about the second round of mash, but when treating gapeworm or capillary worms with the five day treatment at full strength no repeat is needed after the five day run.
For getting rid of them in the environment, it's nearly impossible. Most of the species eggs (they have a very tough coating/shell) are very resistant to chemicals of all kinds, the meds kill the worms but not the eggs, which is why one treatment dose isn't enough, the treatments kill the worms in the birds, so repeat treatments are needed to get the eggs that continue to hatch, until they are all gotten. Burning the ground will work, but it's not really doable for most set ups (this is why in rural agricultural areas field burning is common every year). Rotating pastures/ground can help, but again for many that isn't doable either because of space or structures that can't move. So keep droppings cleaned up as well as you can, keep bedding and shavings etc as dry as possible. Deep litter works, but only if it stays dry. In an open run that gets wet a lot or stays wet, it will be a stinky mess. To truly control worms when they are in your environment the best way to deal with it is to worm regularly. Roundworm eggs can survive 10 years in laboratory conditions, and at least several years in even very harsh winter environments. If you worm monthly for several years, you may be able to get rid of them, or reduce the load. But every time a bird gets infected they shed 1000's of eggs in their droppings into the environment again. And wild birds can bring them in too the same way. I would just keep things as clean as you reasonably can without making yourself crazy, use feeders to discourage them eating off the ground (you will never stop them scratching around and finding things), keep feeders and waterers clean, and worm regularly for the type and load you have. Some people can do once or twice a year and that's enough, some will have to do more often, every flock and every environment is different. For some worms, like tapeworm, an intermediary host (cockroaches, earthworms, slugs, etc) is needed, so getting rid of, or reducing, the numbers of that host can help.

Thank you, thank you! That's so helpful! I really appreciate all the information!

 

[Saraschickens]

That's outstanding information that @coach723 put out for you.
Additionally, keeping everything as dry as possible goes a long way in preventing birds getting worms.
Sand is best for keeping everything dry, think "beach." I have sand in all my pens, coops and some of the nest boxes. Sand dries quickly after it rains and doesnt wash away like dirt or mud. There are no nasty mud puddles for birds to drink out of. Sand also deters parasites.
Deep litter is a hot bed for capillary worms, especially if you live in a warm/humid climate.
View attachment 3717368

Thank you so much! Ok, great to know! I live in California, and it's super dry here. We're officially out of the 4 year drought, but we're still waiting to see a good rain, lol! My dirt is definitely very sandy where I'm at, but very good to know about the sand. I will definitely be implementing Coach723's knowledge and yours as well! Thank you!

 

[Saraschickens]

Hi! I have a question to anyone who may understand the dosing of Safeguard.
So, I see that the dose can be .23 ml per pound of bird, for 1, 3, or 5 days depending on the type of worm. And again 10-14 days later, unless a 5 day dose was given.
In my case, (my bantam coop) at 127.4 lbs of flock weight, equals 29.302 ml of Safeguard (per day).
But, in the 5 day mash, with the equation given, 127.4 lbs of flock weight, came out to 0.5790909091 ml (rounded up to .60 ml) per day, times 5 days, equals 3 ml, altogether.
I just wanted to understand how the dose of 3 ml total over 5 days can be as effective as almost 30 ml in 1 day? (And as many as 5 doses/days of 30 ml = 150 ml total.)
Does anyone understand how that works?

At that rate, wouldn't a dose of 30 ml in the mash make more sense than 3 ml? Otherwise, if the 3 ml is effective, then it makes more sense to be savvy, and make the Safeguard last a lot longer? I kind of figured, if I was wondering about this, that others might be wondering the same thing.
Thank you so much to anyone who understands and is willing to explain!
-Sara
(I wrote this comment in another thread, but I thought this might also be a good place to ask it.)

 

[Lortiz]

This dose of 1 mg/Kg Fenbendazole is only for Safeguard Aquasol which is formulated differently from the other Safeguard dewormers. The doses when using the other forms of Safeguard are much higher and this dose would be useless if using the other Safeguard products. The dose for Fenbendazole that is not in an Aquasol product is 20-50 mg/Kg. 20 mg/Kg is for roundworms and 50 mg/Kg is for tapeworms, although fenbendazole does not kill all types of tapeworms. And my vet prescribed Safeguard Fenbendazole at 100 mg/Kg for Giardia. All of these doses are to be given for 3-5 days in a row and then repeated in 10 days. Only the Aquasol Fenbendazole products have no egg withdrawal,band that is because the dose is so low. There should be an egg withdrawal for using other products with Fenbendazole in them.

 

[HannahGillie]

Couple of questions, I am treating for possible gape worm and reading I need to use 1ml per bird. I assume I need to go ahead and treat my whole flock for the 5 days needed, but then after that how often do I need to deworm them for prevention? And would it be at the same dose or the lower dose mentioned previously on this thread? I know gape and capillary worms need a higher dosage to be treated but is that the same for prevention?

 

[coach723]

What medication do you have, exactly? Correct dosing depends on the concentration of the medication. Most forms of Safeguard, the goat wormer and the horse paste, dose is .23 ml per pound of body weight for 5 days in a row, orally. The medications will treat the infection but will not prevent infection. They pick the eggs up in the environment so reinfection is possible. Keeping feeders and waterers clean can help, but it's nearly impossible to completely eradicate them from the environment. So if it's an ongoing thing in your flock, you may need to worm regularly. Every flock is different, every environment is different, some can worm once or twice a year, some may need to more often. Time and observation (if testing isn't possible) will tell you how often is needed.

 

[T-elle]

My hen tested positive for capillaria. I had already dosed my hens with valbazen a week before the one hen was tested and showed eggs for capillary worms. The vet recommended 7 days with Panacur for the one hen, but since I had already planned on the redose of Valbazen in a few days and they are molting, I went ahead with the Valbazen.(Normally, I would be more sure of my vet, but I don't think they deal with chickens much and I think even avian vets don't always think of the effect fenbendazole has on molting.) I hope I made the right decision. Anyway, I see now that the recommendation in an older post was 3/4 cc but in other threads, I thought it was 1/2ml or 1/2cc. I am wondering if I should have given more? How long to see signs of improvement? Also, if my hen doesn't show signs of improvement, when should I re-treat and with what? And, my vet said to keep the one hen separated. How long would I need to do that? She wants to graze so bad. I feel like keeping her penned up is futile since she has probably pooped those eggs all over the place anyway, before she was tested. Thanks in advance.

 

[coach723]

For a standard sized bird many people round and do a .5 ml dose. The actual math for dosing is "weight in lbs / 2.2 X 20 mg / 113.6"
works out to about 0.2 ml per 2.2 lbs of body weight. A 6 lb bird would get 0.48 ml, most round that up to 0.5 ml. If you have bigger birds, then the dose will be a little more. Two doses of Valbazen 10 days apart is correct, if you were using fenbendazole then you would need to dose 5 days in row. I wouldn't keep her isolated unless she's acting sick and getting bullied. The eggs are very likely already in your environment and can survive a very long time, so I would either get a fecal test done in 6 months (a mixed sample from several droppings) to see if there are any present, or just watch for symptoms again, to figure out how often you may need to worm to keep your flock healthy. Every environment is different, every worm load is different, so every flock is different. Once or twice a year may be all you need, some flocks need more often.

 

[T-elle]

@coach723Thank you so much for replying! I was a bit discouraged with no replies to my posts. I had thought that the eggs were probably already out there, but had been keeping her separate in the off chance her fecal test was the first of the eggs. That particular hen had been acting a little sick and had watery poo. We had already treated for coccidiosis (it showed in a fecal test). Then, I saw a roundworm in the droppings board (when I had her separated for acting sick). So, by the time her vet appointment finally came around, I had already given the first dose of Valbazen to all of them and they had started molting. She hadn't been separated from them for a lot of her time of having the yucky poo. So, I didn't know what I should do. She may have something wrong with her that has lowered her resistance to parasites. I don't know. To get rid of the worm eggs, I guess I could always set fire to all the dirt on my property.