Chickens often pick up parasites while foraging for food, which they then spread via their droppings and excrement. Worms can also be picked up from eating creepy crawlies that have been infected with the parasites.
Symptoms may include dirty vent feathers, weight loss and listlessness. Vaccinations and wormers provide protection from internal parasites.
Contents
Feeding schedule
Fenbendazole is an effective chemical wormer designed specifically for chickens that can be mixed into their feed, and one scoop treats one kg of body weight. An accurate count can also be obtained via faecal sample submission; however, these may prove costly to obtain results from.
Healthy chickens can tolerate a certain number of worms without becoming unwell or stressed; however, when these factors combine with poor nutrition and poor immune systems to cause their immunity system to falter and the worm population increases significantly resulting in disease or even death.
An effective natural remedy is garlic, which can be grated and added directly into the water source. Diatomaceous earth may also help, but its effectiveness remains disputed. There are medicated layers pellets with Flubenvet included (available at Heygates or Marriages) – these should be fed for seven days following mixing the wormer into regular feed.
Chemical wormers
Chemical wormers use poisons that kill parasites without harming animals; however, repeated doses can become costly and lead to resistance; additional side effects include adversely impacting dogs, dung beetles and soil micro-organisms that come into contact with these chemicals if they come in contact with them; there is growing recognition that such chemicals may damage the environment.
There are natural wormers available that can be added directly into chicken feed without an egg withdrawal period, which offer the advantages of being both cheaper and without adversely affecting other animals. They work by making the environment inside the gut unpleasant for worms; some even improve health so as to help birds be better equipped against future infestation.
Safe-Guard AquaSol is an easy and safe way to eliminate capillary and gapeworm infestation in chicken feed, and available from online suppliers. Other products use flubendazole which has been licensed for poultry in the UK (chickens, turkeys and geese) but require seven days of mixing into their diet before any food or water should be provided to birds consuming these treatments.
Natural wormers
Natural methods exist that can effectively deworm chickens without causing lasting harm, including using Verm-X herbal gut sanitisers that have similar action as pharmaceutical wormers but are suitable for organic production. They all involve making it unpleasant or impossible for parasites to survive within the gut, such as adding sanitising powder (such as Net-Tex Ground Sanitising Powder) to feed or adding apple cider vinegar or crushed garlic to water (Verm-X is one such brand) – these work by making unpleasant parasite survival inside its gut – examples include using these natural methods of deworming chickens without long term damage.
Epazote, a Mexican herb, has proven highly effective at protecting chickens against parasites, such as worms. Additionally, its effectiveness extends to goats, horses, humans and even goats! Wormwood and black walnut contain powerful anthelmintic agents. Garlic also boosts immunity against external mites and lice infestation.
Prevention
Assuming your flock has access to fresh ground and is moved regularly around their coop (or onto grazing chicken mats) to break their parasite’s life cycle, then proper management should only require occasional worming treatments. Grated garlic added directly to water is another natural preventive, while diatomaceous earth dehydrates parasites while providing additional trace minerals – it even tastes great!
Always monitor the signs – dark foamy droppings; poor vent feathering; pale comb/wattles and loss of weight are telltale indicators that your flock needs treating. A Worm count kit will quickly tell if your flock requires treatment, while Aviverm Poultry Remedy offers an easy pour-on treatment option you can apply directly onto their necks or mix into their water to quickly restore health in their flocks – with a short withdrawal period for eggs but without impacting on quality of meat production.
