Ivermectin For Chickens – All You Need To Know!

Ivermectin (IVM) is known as one of the most beneficial and safe antiparasitic drugs used to prevent, control, and treat various types of parasites on the animal. If you intend to use Ivermectin for chickens, then read through this article for more detailed information on how much to give, how long it takes to work, egg withdrawal period, and so on.

Ivermectin for chickens

What is Ivermectin for chickens?

IVM is a medication used to treat internal and external parasite infestations in humans and animals with great success and limited side effects. This drug kills most species of adult roundworms in poultry and is also given as a treatment for scaly leg mites, intestinal parasites, and lice.

IVM was an absolute revolution in parasite control. For the past 30 plus years, it has been used to treat livestock, such as sheep and cattle to protect them from awful parasites.

How does Ivermectin work?

Nerve cells have glutamate ion channels which are important in cellular signaling. These channels open and close continuously to start off a signaling pathway within the cell.

Ivermectin binds to receptors of these channels and keeps them open all the time. From there, the drug allows ions to enter and create an ion imbalance. After that, the cell signals wrongly and generally lead to paralysis.

How to give Ivermectin for chickens?

There are many different brands and derivatives of Ivermectin. Some products are absorbed by ingestion through the flocks’ water supply and others are placed on the skin intravenously, orally, topically. The easiest method trusted by a lot of chicken owners is to use it externally via drops on the back of the hen’s neck.

Drop Ivermectin on the chicken
Drop Ivermectin on the chicken

If IVM is applied topically on the skin, the dosage would be 200 micrograms (=.04ml)/kilo. One drop from a standard eyedropper = .05ml; hence if your chicken weighs 2 kilos, the dosage would be less than 2 drops.

With proper doses, IVM is a safe and effective medication. On the other hand, with higher doses of IVM, egg production and feed as well as water consumption are noticeably reduced.

Additionally, overdosing your chickens can create a mass die-off of worms. Chickens normally live in harmony with internal parasites, so it only becomes problematic if chickens have a heavy infestation.

How long does Ivermectin take to work on chickens?

Ivermectin can take about 2 or 3 days to completely kill the parasites present on a chicken’s body.

Remember to repeat with a second treatment in 7-10 days to ensure you have killed any larvae that have hatched subsequently to the first one. For the best result, you should treat about every 3-4 weeks to keep them clean.

Can you eat eggs after Ivermectin?

IVM eggs chart

The graph above describes Ivermectin residues after oral administration. After 5 days, although IVM residues were not found in egg white, significant residues were quantified in the yolk.

When injected (400ug/kg), it took 2 days for the concentration of the drug to be halved within the body. This same dose was presented in drinking water over a period of 5 days. After 8 days, the level of IVM is about 50ng/gm of egg yolk.

As advised by many vets, the egg withdrawal period should be 8 days because residue ending in the egg yolk then will clear when it applies to water.

It is recommended that eggs treated with Ivermectin should not be consumed by humans after a period of 14 days. From then on, the level of the drug in chickens is considered negligible and the consumption of eggs from the poultry can resume.

How long after Ivermectin can you eat the chickens?

After Ivermectin treatment, be sure to follow the meat withdrawal timeframes. As advised by the Vet, slaughtering chickens for human consumption is 28 days after the IVM treatment.

Is Ivermectin toxic to humans?

Ivermectin has continually proved to be safe for human use. Mammals have a blood-brain barrier, which stops the majority of large chemicals from passing through the membrane and into the brain tissues. However, due to its large structure, IVM cannot pass or affect the nerve cells in the brain, hence it is toxic to parasites but not to humans.


Ivermectin was a truly revolutionary drug in control of uninvited visitors because of a good safety profile as well as low adverse effects. I hope the article provided adequate information about Ivermectin for chickens and other related questions. So, why don’t you take action immediately to guarantees the safety of this animal food product for our consumption?

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