I realise, as birdkeepers, you are continually told you have to worm your birds. There is no doubt that common worms, especially roundworm, pose a significant risk to bird health in the aviary. There are several worming medicines on the market – some very safe and effective – some not so safe, and others that are downright dangerous.

The specific issues I want to mention in this article are:

- when should you worm and,

- how should you worm.

Worming prior to breeding season is mandatory! You should be worming right now, if you haven’t yet. I see several instances each year of young birds, often hand reared, that die from very large worm burdens before they have fledged. How does a baby bird get worms before they are eating by themselves? The answer is, the parents transfer eggs to them while they are feeding their young. If the aviary has worm eggs on the floor, the parents pick up those eggs, and just physically transfer them to the babies. Once in the baby, the eggs hatch, and go through their development cycle to become adult worms in 5 – 6 weeks.

So you need to have wormed before the babies are in the nest.

You also need to worm again when the young have fledged and again when the young are fully weaned and transferred to young bird aviaries.

On a yearly cycle that means, worm in March, April or May, again in August or September and they all should be done again in December/January.

Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security if you have suspended aviaries or concrete floors. These are good, but are not a substitute for a good dose of worm medicine.

How you worm is also important. In water medication is used commonly, and is usually quite effective. However there are some species and some situations where in-water worming can be a problem.

To work, the medicated water must be drunk – it cannot kill worms while it is in the bowl. If you medicate when it is cold, raining, or foggy the birds will not consume enough water to get the dose they need. Some species just hate medicated water: Australian desert species, Princess, Bourkes etc, can go days without drinking.

If it is time to worm, and you have an aviary full of Princess, and it is misting rain – then don’t in-water treat. You will need to crop needle the medication.

Now crop needling is a great technique, but there are some pitfalls and not everyone is confident with the technique. Sometimes dilutions can be a little confusing – on Vetafarm’s Wormout Gel for instance, I have given the rate as 0.05 (a twentieth) mL per 100 grams. Now this is a tiny amount and needs to be diluted out to make it practical. Mix 1 ml of Wormout Gel in 9 mLs of water, shake well to dissolve the gel, and then give 0.5 (half) mL per 100 grams by crop needle.

Remember to have the needle full of medication before dosing, otherwise most of the medication will be inside the crop needle, not the bird. For instance, a G12 needle has an internal volume of about 0.25 (a quarter) mL. So if you fill the syringe to 0.5 mL, use an empty needle and depress the plunger – only 0.25 mL actually comes out, the other 0.25 mL is still inside the needle! For a 100 gram bird you have only given half a dose! What is worse is if the bird weighs 50 grams, then he gets NO medicine at all!

The other danger with crop needle medication is the chance you may put the medicine directly into the lungs – not a good idea!

Always use the largest crop needle that will fit, this will reduce the chance of putting the needle down the windpipe. It also greatly reduces the risk of injury from the needle penetrating the tissues of the throat or crop.

Birds need worming, no question. Wormout Gel is useful in water or by crop needle. Just make sure that when you use Wormout Gel that you are in fact getting it where it needs to be – in the bird’s gut.