How can I tell if my chickens have worms?
• Pale combs
• Weight loss
• Stopped laying eggs
• Poop on the eggs
If your chickens live outside in a coop just assume they have worms, all animals that live outside have worms and need to be wormed on a regular basis.
There are lots of different worms chickens can get. A couple of them are: hair worms, round worms (the easiest ones to see because they look like spaghetti), tape worms (hard to spot because they’re very small), gape worm (looks like a Y).
What is the best treatment for worms?
We want to use a wormer that kills all the worms, and the eggs, and is all natural and chemical free.
What I use is call Diatomaceous Earth. The reason I like it is it’s chemical free, and it kills all the different kinds of worms.
Particular chemical wormers only work on particular worms. That’s the beauty of DE, it kills all the worms.
How much DE should I give and how often?
For babies:
Wait until they’re a month old before you start to worm – because if you de-worm too young it could constipate them – then once a month mix 1/4 cup of DE per 2lbs of non medicated chick starter. Then just feed them as normal.
For adults:
once a month mix 1 cup of DE per 5lbs of whatever you’re feeding them. Then put that in the automatic feeder and once it’s gone fill it back up as normal.
