Do you treat your flock with dewormer as a regular preventative practice or only if an issue arises??

Hello Chicken friends,
Do you deworm your chickens? Do you do it as preventative or if an issue arises? Thank you!

I have never used it. I would use it if I saw signs.

Parasites can become resistant so it's best to only treat when needed.

My Very First 6 Chickens said:

Hello Chicken friends,
Do you deworm your chickens? Do you do it as preventative or if an issue arises? Thank you!

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How often you worm birds depends on your soil conditions. Warm moist or wet soil will require frequent worming. Cool, cold, mountainous or desert like type soil requires less frequent worming.
There are different wormers that can be used for worming chickens. Wormer resistance in poultry is pretty much a non issue.

My Very First 6 Chickens said:

Hello Chicken friends,
Do you deworm your chickens? Do you do it as preventative or if an issue arises? Thank you!

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I chose to monitor for symptoms. Having a poop board helps keep an eye on weird poops.
I take the same approach with my goats.

I haven't wormed them yet, just over one year with chickens. I'm going to take a fecal sample to the vet this fall for a float test, and then treat or not as needed. That way I don't have to figure out species and correct drug/dosing. I think I'll do a float test once year or if there are any signs of worms.

I do my own fecal floats. I've not had to worm my chickens yet (almost 5 years). But it does depend on your area. My avian vet said not to treat unless an overload was present. Another BYCer's avian vet suggested a yearly worming because of a climate that made for increased parasite risk. I've also read that the housing conditions make a difference, too. You might ask vets or other poultry owners in your area what they do.

Tervuren said:

I haven't wormed them yet, just over one year with chickens. I'm going to take a fecal sample to the vet this fall for a float test, and then treat or not as needed. That way I don't have to figure out species and correct drug/dosing. I think I'll do a float test once year or if there are any signs of worms.

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Thats not a bad idea for 5 hens. Do you think i would need a fecal sample of all of them?

Aunt Angus said:

I do my own fecal floats. I've not had to worm my chickens yet (almost 5 years). But it does depend on your area. My avian vet said not to treat unless an overload was present. Another BYCer's avian vet suggested a yearly worming because of a climate that made for increased parasite risk. I've also read that the housing conditions make a difference, too. You might ask vets or other poultry owners in your area what they do.

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Great idea Aunt Angus. I live in a valley up against a state park. I dont always see what they get into. How might one do their own fecal floats? Thank you for that Auntie

My Very First 6 Chickens said:

Great idea Aunt Angus. I live in a valley up against a state park. I dont always see what they get into. How might one do their own fecal floats? Thank you for that Auntie

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I can't find the websites I used to learn, it I did find this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/fecal-examination-in-backyard-chickens-101-part-1.75459/

This is pretty much the exact method I use. I've done lots of tests for my goats, and only a few on chickens. It's easier on goats mainly because I can recognize the worm eggs more easily. There is much, much more info out there to help people recognize goat parasites than chickens because goats always have worms so they need these tests done very frequently, they are more expensive livestock to replace so there's more demand to keep them healthy, there's a major problem with resustence to wormers because of wormer misuse. I find it harder to get pics of some poultry-specific parasites online. That's the hardest part for me.

The first few times I did it, I also got fecal floats done by my vet or those mail in ones you can buy online to compare findings. I got better with practice and found that it's easier to count thr overall eggs first to see how many you're dealing with rather than look for specific types of worms. It took A LOT of practice, but I've got it down well enough now.