How do you worm a chicken?

Answer 1

The best way is with a natural treatment. Treating worms in chickens naturally has many benefits. It does not affect the eggs or meat of the chicken and therefore a waiting period doesn't have to be instated before you can collect eggs or butcher. Natural worm treatments also do not depress the immune system of the chicken, making it more susceptible to diseases in the future. Finally, natural treatments are far less expensive and just as effective as other treatment methods at eradicating worms in chickens.

Most natural cures for worms in chickens involve fresh garlic. Garlic's antibacterial and antiparasitic properties have been studied for more than a hundred years and garlic has been used medicinally for millennia.

To use garlic as an effective natural wormer for chickens, there are several methods. You can infuse garlic into water and feed each chicken by eyedropper. Add 5 to 6 crushed cloves of garlic to ½ cup of cool water. Cover and let stand for 8 hours or overnight. Shake and strain. Do not heat the water or it will erase some of the garlic's benefits. You can also add some of this garlic concentrate to the chickens' water for one week at the rate of ½ cup of concentrate to 4 gallons of water. Ensure that this is the chickens' only source of water during this time. Some chickens will eat chopped garlic straight and it can be fed free choice as they will only take what they need. There are two downsides with this method. The first is that it may be difficult to determine if all chickens in the flock are eating the garlic. The second is that this may affect the taste of the eggs during the treatment period. While perfectly safe to eat, garlicky eggs are not appealing to most people.

During the garlic treatment, watch the chickens' droppings for worms. You may see an increase in dead worms in the droppings or may see the worms disappear completely. Treat all of the chickens in your flock for one week, and then assess to see if another week of treatment is required. It is important to kill off all of the worms so that they cannot increase their numbers when treatment is stopped.

Of course, prevention is better than treatment though!

You can also buy a commercially available poultry wormer.

Answer 2

Chickens usually don't get worms, but if you suspect one or more of your chickens have worms, examine their droppings. Often, chickens with worms will have loose, watery droppings or even diarrhea. With a large worm load, you may be able to see worms in the droppings. Roundworms will look like long threads, curled like spaghetti. Tapeworms come out in segments which will look like rice grains and may be still moving. If you are not certain of a worm diagnosis, you can scoop up the droppings and have them analyzed by a veterinarian. In hens with an extremely high worm load, it is possible for worms to be present in the chicken's eggs. If this is found, dispose of all eggs from the hen until she has been treated for two or more weeks.

If you suspect your chickens have worms, a very effective, safe, and natural treatment is to feed them garlic. Soak raw, peeled cloves of garlic in vinegar or oil for at least 24 hours, crush or dice the cloves, and feed them to your flock as needed. If the chickens are hesitant to eat garlic, it can be mixed into feed. It does not effect the taste of the eggs. It's also a great preventive treatment, can be fed to your flock weather or not they have worms, and will help greatly to keep them healthy, as garlic is a powerful natural antibiotic.

Answer 3

Earthworm.