Worms in Chickens

I went out to collect eggs today and much to my surprise, some poop that was laying in one of the nesting boxes had a huge worm in it. I did some research on the internet and some things suggested for treatment was garlic powder added to their water or pumpkin seeds. Any thoughts on these treatments? For the winter I have been letting the chickens free range it in my garden and I have been dumping the extra straw and goat poop into the garden also. My thought was "could the goat poop give chickens worms"? Any suggestions would be awesome. This is my first year raising chickens and have done research on all other topics, but didn't realize chickens could get worms! Any help would be greatly appreciated... Thanks

As for parasites going cross-species, there are vets out there who will tell you that it can happen, but other vets will say that it doesn't happen. In the vet books I've read, they all talk about the many different species that infest different species of animals. You will hear plenty of individuals say that chickens give goats lice, but I've read that there are more than 400 different species of lice, and each one is host specific. My chickens have never had lice, but my goats have, and they share pasture space. I think people may get confused because there are "roundworms" that can infest many different species of animals, and their eggs look the same under the microscope, but they are different types of roundworms. For example, haemonchus contortus is the most common internal parasite in goats, and the eggs look the same under the microscope as roundworms that infest dogs, although dogs don't get haemonchus contortus. HC is a ruminant parasite, so if chickens eat the eggs or larvae, their stomach digests them. HC trying to live in a chicken would be like a human trying to live on Mars. A lot of holistic livestock producers talk about chickens cleaning up a psture where goats or cows live because they'll scratch through the poop and eat the eggs and larvae before they can reinfect the ruminants. I'm afraid I can't help you on what to use for worms in chickens because mine have never had them. Garlic powder and pumpkin seeds are commonly used for worms in a lot of livestock. If I were going to use garlic powder, I'd sprinkle it on their grain. I don't think they'd get much of it if you mix it in water because it would probably just sink to the bottom.

Replies

Janel Rickey December 27, 2011 at 10:43pm

That's really interesting Deborah thanks for taking the time to share that information. I'm not sure now it really was worms. I haven't seen anything else since. Thanks Rachel for the information on DE. I think I may offer it to them and see what it does. This is my first year with chickens, so always a learning experience. So thankful I found you guys for support!! I feel I have avoided a lot of mistakes reading all these forums and learning something new daily. Thanks again...
Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres December 26, 2011 at 2:15pm

Diatomaceous earth is also used for worming. Food grade, of course, and you wet it. The doses are fairly high, I've posted somewhere about it... HERE it is!
Deborah Niemann-Boehle December 26, 2011 at 12:31pm

As for parasites going cross-species, there are vets out there who will tell you that it can happen, but other vets will say that it doesn't happen. In the vet books I've read, they all talk about the many different species that infest different species of animals. You will hear plenty of individuals say that chickens give goats lice, but I've read that there are more than 400 different species of lice, and each one is host specific. My chickens have never had lice, but my goats have, and they share pasture space. I think people may get confused because there are "roundworms" that can infest many different species of animals, and their eggs look the same under the microscope, but they are different types of roundworms. For example, haemonchus contortus is the most common internal parasite in goats, and the eggs look the same under the microscope as roundworms that infest dogs, although dogs don't get haemonchus contortus. HC is a ruminant parasite, so if chickens eat the eggs or larvae, their stomach digests them. HC trying to live in a chicken would be like a human trying to live on Mars. A lot of holistic livestock producers talk about chickens cleaning up a psture where goats or cows live because they'll scratch through the poop and eat the eggs and larvae before they can reinfect the ruminants. I'm afraid I can't help you on what to use for worms in chickens because mine have never had them. Garlic powder and pumpkin seeds are commonly used for worms in a lot of livestock. If I were going to use garlic powder, I'd sprinkle it on their grain. I don't think they'd get much of it if you mix it in water because it would probably just sink to the bottom.

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