Worming chickens via the mouth

Putting a question out there. I have some wormer, which is in the form of liquid, it covers every type of worm imaginable, including tapeworm. It is called Valbazen. The dose is .5 cc for an adult, .25 cc for a smaller bird.

Yes, yes, I know, I have used piperazine as well. But I want to worm for tapeworm too, and piperazine does not get tapeworms. To me, this medication is a good thing, covers everything.

Someone advised me to take a syringe, put the medication in it, hold the wattles of the bird and then quickly, whilst the mouth is open, squirt the liquid in the mouth. This is not a paste, it is a liquid, looks like liquid chalk.

This is where I have the big "but", smiling.

Understanding that the entrance to the bird's lungs is a hole at the base of the tongue, how can one possibly get .5 cc of liquid into the bird's mouth, without that liquid going into the windpipe hole?

Maybe the bird will close the windpipe hole....can they do that?

There must be someone that has had experience in getting liquid of this amount down the gullet of a bird, tell me how you do it, if you have done it. Have a wonderful and great day, happiness, health, love, CynthiaM.

Hi Cynthia,

The first year I had chickens I used ivomec oral solution to debug my flock. It worked fine, though I’ve since switched to pour on because it’s so much easier in my opinion.

What I did was held the bird in my lap, put my tiny (needless) syringe in the side of its mouth and slowly squirted the liquid in. The bird would swallow by reflex and most of the time everything went down the hatch no problem. I did compensate for leakage and spit out by adding a bit more to each bird’s dosage and no one was any worse for wear. Then I dipped each bird’s beak into a bowl of fresh water and made sure they got a good drink to rinse out their mouths. Afterward, I dished out mealie treats so they’d all still love me.

1/2 cc isnt that much couldnt you just put it on a small peice of bread and feed that to the bird? Mine seem to go crazy for bread, but not sure.
I think if you did a little at a time like flicker says they would swallow it.

Yes they will eat it and it is a good way to deworm if you only have a few chickes but to do a flock lots of bread one by one, and what if one bird eats 10 pieces

Ivomec or safe guard are great wormers and can be mixed with water

Long story I will try to shorten. I don't know why I got so lax about tapeworm killing, I still used the piperazine to get the round worms on a regular schedule. Think I was just overwhelmed by the thought of going down a chicken gullet.

Yes, the tapeworm that affects different species is a different tapeworm, and some worming meds will not cross-kill within those species.

The wormer of choice for ridding tapeworm in poultry species is only a couple of brands, they are called differently up in Canada than the US. I am going to look up my information and bring what I have found out here.

In Canada, there is a wormer for sheep called Valbazen.

In the US that particular wormer is called a different name. I went to a site, an American based site, that deals with all kinds of chicken stuff, like meds, etc. and Valbazen is what is used for tapeworm in chickens, period....it is called

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This following is a quote from a fellow that I had been conversing with (American) from another forum and it would appear that he uses Eprinex as well as Valbazen (albendazole) for everything. I wish that names of things would be standardized, it is so confusing so many different names It is quoted in bold below:

Yes, Valbazen (albendazole) is a liquid cattle/sheep wormer. Dosage for valbazen is 1/2cc for standard size chickens and 1/4cc for smaller chickens. It must be given orally, right down the throat...not on a piece of bread. Valbazen kills all known types of worms that chickens can get, including tapeworms and liver flukes. When I mentioned pastes, I was referring to most equine wormers that are pastes that have praziquantel in them, and you put the paste on a piece of bread and then give a piece to each chicken. Praziquantel kills tapeworms too, but valbazen is the best.Sorry for the confusion.
I dont recommend putting valbazen in water for your chickens, it can dilute its effectiveness in killing the tapeworms. If it was just a maintenance dose for preventative reasons, I'd say yes, go ahead...but not in this instance. I wormed mine this morning as a matter of fact, with valbazen lol. I catch them one by one and use a syringe (without the needle) and draw 1/2cc, I pull down on the hens lower wattles and her mouth opens, I then shoot it in there....gotta be quick though! I had all mine done in about 15 minutes.

I went to the poultry site that sells medications (along with the help of another forum member) and found out that albendazole is valbazen up here in Canada. I can give the link to that site, as it is not conflict here and is a useful source of information and a place to get medications, etc. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Anyhow, I am listening to the methods for getting that chicken mouth open and the medication down the gullet. The valbazen was extremely expensive, I think close to $150 for a litre, and this would last me umpteen dozen years. Too bad the postal system is so expensive, or I could share this around, adjusting for other friends, the cost of the drug in question. That is thoughts to be passed around for sure though. A litre would probably go bad before I used it all up, there must be a life span on it.

Yes. I have about 50 chickens to do, I know it is going to be a massive job. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

Interesting information Cynthia, wish I was closer I would come help and share the litre with you and then you could come help me. I am headed past your place in August sometime, maybe I will arrange to stop and buy a wee bit from you.
Wondering how young or old should chicks be dewormed, like the three month olds, should they be wormed now?