Worming Chickens The Natural Way
Worming chickens the natural way is every bit as efficient as treating chickens with medicine, and nature’s way of worming chickens does not come with any side affects or waiting periods. Getting rid of worms naturally is also less expensive than any other form of treatment, and it does not damage the chicken’s immune system, as may be the case with drug treatments.
How Do Chickens Get Worms?
Chickens can be infected by two different types of worms: roundworms and tapeworms. A chicken gets roundworms by eating infested food – usually off the ground. This type of worm is found most often in chickens that are kept in captivity. Tapeworms come from eating bugs or earthworms that have tapeworms, and they are more common in free range chickens.
How Do I Know My Chicken Has Worms? There are several symptoms a chicken may exhibit when they have worms: > weight loss > apathy > decrease in egg production (seen more frequently in older hens)
> failure to grow and gain weight (seen more frequently in young chicks).
If a chicken has these symptoms, the next step is to check the droppings. It is common for a chicken with worms to have watery droppings, and you can also see the worms in the droppings. Roundworms are long and thin, and they look like a curled up piece of thread. Tapeworms are broken up and shorter, and they resemble a piece of rice. If you cannot tell for sure that there are worms in the chicken’s droppings, take a sample to a veterinarian who can analyze it to be certain.
What To Do If Your Chickens Have Worms
Both the meat and eggs can be contaminated by a chicken with worms, which is why identifying and worming chickens is so important. Whenever worms are present, throw away any eggs that are produced until the chickens have been treated for the worms for a minimum of two weeks. It is not enough just to treat the infected chickens either. Both roundworms and tapeworms are easily transmitted from one chicken to another, so the entire flock of chickens should undergo worm treatment.
How To Treat Chickens With Worms
Of course the vet can give you medicine that will deal with both roundworms and tapeworms in chickens, but there are a few drawbacks to worming chickens with drugs. The biggest problem is that the meds get into the eggs and meat of the chicken, so there is a required waiting period when using drug treatments. And then there’s the cost, which can be significant if a large chicken flock is infested.
Nature’s way of worming chickens has no waiting period, is minimal in cost and is as simple as adding garlic to their diet. Yes, you read right. Garlic. The same garlic that is used as a natural treatment for so many human afflictions.
There are basically two ways to use garlic to rid your chickens of worms: eating and drinking. Surprisingly, there are chickens who will eat chopped garlic just like any other food with no problem. In some cases, however, the strong garlic flavor may adversely affect the chicken’s eggs so this may not be the best garlic treatment.
Adding a garlic infusion to the chicken’s water will not affect egg taste, and it does the trick just as well. Make the infusion by putting 10 cloves of garlic in 1 cup of water and letting it soak overnight. Strain out the garlic and add the garlic infused water to the chicken’s water at a ratio of about 1 cup garlic water to 7 or 8 gallons of regular water.
Related Resources: