Lesley-Jean Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 (edited) The advice given in this sticky is that of the authors and cannot be considered as professional advice. It is, however, drawn from the experience of a large number of forum members. Worms in our chickens are of two general types 1. Gut worms These live in the chicken’s digestive system and cause the hen not to thrive in many ways. They can be picked up by your hen from other hens or from wild birds. Transmission is via faeces. 2. Lung Worm or Gape Worm These live in the chicken’s respiratory system and can be very quickly fatal by suffocation. They can be picked up by your hens eating slugs, snails and earth worms when free ranging. Frequency of worming Most vets will recommend treating your chickens for worms every 4-6 months, but this is a decision for the individual to make. Worming Products There are a number of products available for use in treatment: Flubenvet, Panacur and Diatom are the most commonly used by forum members. Flubenvet Intermediate is the most commonly used by the forums members. It is a white powder containing 2.5% w/w flubendazole in 240g tubs. It is a broad spectrum anthelmintic (acting to expel or destroy parasitic worms) and is for oral administration, active against mature and immature stages of worms in the gastrointestinal and respiratory tract. Flubendazole has no adverse effect on egg laying and hatchability and there is no need to withdraw eggs from consumption. Dosage and Administration of Flubenvet Forum members have employed a number of different methods of administering flubenvet. The correct dose rate is 1.2g Flubenvet Intermediate per kilo of feed and the chickens should be fed on this for 7 consecutive days. This is approximately the same proportion as Kate has recommended below. Large birds will eat more feed, smaller ones will eat less and so they get the correct dose for their body weight. It is a good idea to restrict treats to a very small amount in the afternoon while your hens are being wormed to ensure that they eat sufficient wormer. Some kitchen shops sell small measuring spoons which can be used to measure ½ or ¼ tsp. I use 1tsp Flubenvet to 4kg layers meal but you could probably do 1/2 tsp to 2kgs as it's still an awful lot of feed. Give this over 7 days and discard any leftover. Another method which some members use is to dose each bird individually each day for 7 days. It is not possible to weigh out the correct dose on domestic scales so they use a “pinch” (about 0.1- 0.2g) of flubenvet per bird per day for 7 days, and some members hide this in a grape which the hens will gobble up without hesitating, you can use the tip of a sharp knife to smear a little in the grapes, this should be plenty, but you do need to make sure each hen gets its grape (OK if you only have a few hens) or add it to some porridgy food, mashed potato or whatever your girls like to eat Some members administer it using a syringe with the Flubenvet mixed with a little water. Panacur 10% is a wormer more commonly used for cats and dogs and birds which are not to be used for meat soon after dosing and are not used for table eggs. If you take your hens to the vets for worming they will probably be given Panacur (as many vets recommend it as a broad spectrum wormer), one dose followed by another 7 days later if there are signs of worms is in the faeces. Vets recommend withholding eggs for 7 days after the last dose of Panacur Diatom is another name for Diatomaceous Earth, it is 100% natural and is mined from the ground. It is comprised of the fossilised remains of diatoms (a type of algae ). The diatoms have a hard shell made of ‘sharp’ non-crystalline silica, which does not decompose in the lakes, or sea where diatoms live. Thus over long periods of time large volumes of diatoms are exposed on the surface of dried out lakes. It can be added to animal feed at a rate of 5% to combat intestinal worms and can be considered an organic remedy as its action is physical rather than chemical but many members have found it unreliable for worming and the consensus of opinion on this forum is that Flubenvet is the wormer of choice. Some Suppliers of Flubenvet: The Domestic Fowl Trust SPR Farmrite wormers . co . uk some vets may supply a small quantity. Some hen keepers add Apple Cider Vinegar to their chickens water. But is should not be relied upon as a complete treatment for gut parasites ! I use 20ml of apple cider vinegar to 1 litre of water. This is given once a month for 7 days, ( I start on the 1st of every month else I forget ) Make sure you buy unrefined apple cider vinegar for horses and not the sort from Tescos etc. It can be bought from shops which sell horsey things. The Omlet shop also sells it. The vinegar makes the chickens guts slighty acidic which worms and parasites (sp) do not like. You may want to look through some of the postings about worms, these are a few of the many If you use the forum search facility you will find more: Flubevet - How much do I give? Flubevet or Diatom To worm or not to worm Panacur wormer – how much do I give my hens? Information on worms and worming Edited July 3, 2006 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley-Jean Posted May 16, 2006 Author Share Posted May 16, 2006 (edited) Ivermectin There has been recent (16th May 2006) discussion in a thread about Ivermectin as a wormer for our hens. You can get a wormer that you drop on the back of the neck (like cat/dog flea drops), and it works for mites too. It isn't licenced for poultry, but my chicken vet supplies it. It's called Ivermectin and you need the right dilution. The vet says that it's fine and there's no need to withhold the eggs. Interestingly I noticed some cage bird anti-mite/worm drops in the pet shop that had this as the active ingredient. Ivermectin is used in humans in some countries. It was originally developed to control human worms in third world countries and found its way from there on to the animal market You can read more about Ivermectin Here Well, I have managed to get hold of my chook vet (as mentioned in another thread) to continue our discussion about using Ivomec Eprinex to zap internal and external parasites in chooks. ************************************************************ NOTE: this product is not licenced for use on poultry, so I cannot recommend its use on chickens, but I thought that some of you might like to hear what he said. ************************************************************ This product can be used to spot on the back of a chooks neck to kill off any external parasites (lice, scaly leg worm etc) and also to treat for internal worms (like we do with Flubenvet). He recommended 2-3 drops on the back of the neck, on the skin (like with cat/dog flea drops). With a repeat after 3 days if the birds already have an infestation. And a preventative dose once a month, or less in the winter. He says that he would recommend an egg withdrawl period of 7 days, but that this was totally up to me so long as I wasn't giving the eggs to anyone else (incidentally it has been used to treat worms in humans in Africa ). This product differs from regular Ivomec, which is more expensive and is manufactured for vaccination rather than as a 'pour on'. I shall be picking mine up tomorrow and will report back with the results. My chooks are plagued with lice at the moment and catching and dusting all 7 of them every few days is a mammoth task You can see a link about the use of this product here, this also gives a recommended dosage. Thanks for that information Clare. Is your vet prescribing it for your chickens Yes he is, he is happy with me using it on my chooks. They have ordered it in and I'll collect it tomorrow. The smallest bottle is 250ml though, so I guess that I will have more than enough for my lot. It's just over half the price of regular Ivomec. I will confirm the price when I collect it. Is the formulation/concentration different to the cat/dog ones Apparently not, just the dosage. Ivomec is used on farm animals mainly, but can also be used on domestic animals and I plan to use it on my puss cats and bunnies. He also says that you can use dog/cat Frontline spot on remedies on chooks, but that they only kill exo-parasites not worms. Well, I dosed all the chooks last Thursday with the Ivomec Eprinex. Working on the dosage of .25ml/5.5lb of chicken (as per Scott Shilala's article). They all seem fine and are now lice free . I can only assume that it has wormed them as well as I have no evidence otherwise. After consultation with my vet, I have decided not to withdraw eggs. Edited July 31, 2006 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melcotton Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 I have used verm x now for a while and it has been really successful. It is also based on totally natural ingredients so no nasties in there for the 'green thinking' ones amongst us!! Can be bought over the internet and is really easy to administer in small doses. Mel You can read more about Verm-X Here - LJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley-Jean Posted June 16, 2006 Author Share Posted June 16, 2006 (edited) Due to recent discussion on the forum regarding Verm-x I decided to contact the manufacturer for information regarding its efficacy. This is the reply I received: Hello Lesley Thank you for your interest in Verm-X for your Poultry. Being 100% natural and therefore not a classified and licensed medicine we are unable to publish or use any marketing that implies we are such - this includes certain words e.g. 'de-wormer or anthelmintic' and prevents us from publishing our efficacy trials. However we have lived with this restriction since we launched in 2002 and due to the effectiveness of our formulations the respect in Verm-X has grown throughout our markets, recently being accepted for use on Organic Farms and awarded recognition by an Environmental Best Practice Award Scheme supported by the British Government. We are aware that in the past few months independent test results from the usage of Verm-X have been published in several publications such as Practical Poultry, Fancy Fowl and Smallholder magazines. In addition we are aware of different poultry chat room sites that have received positive communication regarding usage of Verm-X. Apologies that due to legislation I am unable to answer your specific question with specific answers, this I fight constantly but fortunately we have a fast growing loyal consumer base that have found Verm-X to be an effective alternative to chemical applications. Yours Philip Ghazala I hope that give you more information on which to base your decision. LJ Edited September 14, 2006 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craven fowl Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 Hello everyone, Now, I haven't been keeping chickens long (10 whole days to be precise), however my mum-in-law, who has kept between 50 and 80 chickens for over 10 years recommended garlic. She tries as much as she can to do things organically, only using chemicals as a last resort. She recommended putting a crushed garlic clove in the water. It can be removed everyday, fresh water put in the drinker, and then the garlic clove popped back in. The garlic clove lasts for a week. Her chickens have never had many problems with worms and the chickens don't even seem to notice. Makes the drinker smell to high heaven mind, but if nothing else, it should keep the fanged-beasties away (vampires, not cats, though, you never know). Thanks, Marie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 The garlic clove lasts for a week. Until a big fat Bluebelle takes a liking to the taste, and gobbles it up every morning before she even inspects the supply of pellets! We now use garlic powder, mixed into the pellets - does the same job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craven fowl Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 Might of know that chickens are adept scuba divers too! So much to learn, I'm sure I'll get there. Might try the powder in the food job. Thanks for your wisdom, Marie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 (edited) We had panacur prescribed by a vet. We wormed with Flubenvet every 3-4 months but Susannah got very ill and had a large number (subjective) of worms which may have killed her. This is how we used panacur. 4ml of 2.5% for 3 days. This was for my amber star hybrid, just under 2kg weight. I since found panacur can be bought over the Internet without a prescription for cats and dogs, the 2.5% is for kittens/puppies. The 10% liquid would be 1ml dose. It is a 2 man job and involves 1 holding the chicken and the other opening the beak and syringing down the throat. Sometimes the chicken only lets you do it in stages and splutters white liquid over your clothes To open the beak you have to hold the chicken's face under the chin and near the nostrils and prise apart near the corners of the mouth, wide open is good as you can put the whole lot down their throat, but quite often they slam their beak shut or only open a fraction and you have to do in stages. We wormed at night when we had quieter chickens. Edit: I've now learned a new method for 1 person. Tuck the chicken under your arm and use the fingers on that side to squeeze the hinge of the beak to open it. Use the other hand to syringe in the liquid. Edited May 10, 2007 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 I have just noticed that Verm-X is now available in the Omlet shop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 After losing Doris I thought it was time to re-deworm (not sure that's a word ) We are trying flubenvet this time. I have been reading all the threads with the various suggestions for administration. I was going to add mine to the pellets. Our vet has given us the correct dose to mix with 1.5 kg of pellets. Is there any reason why I shouldn't coat the pellets with a bit of olive oil in order to help the flubenvet stick? Answers by tomorrow morning would be helpful as we would like to start them off tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 Oil is a very good way to get powder to stick to food, I saw it recommended on the practical poultry forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley-Jean Posted May 10, 2007 Author Share Posted May 10, 2007 After losing Doris I thought it was time to re-deworm (not sure that's a word ) We are trying flubenvet this time. I have been reading all the threads with the various suggestions for administration. I was going to add mine to the pellets. Our vet has given us the correct dose to mix with 1.5 kg of pellets. Is there any reason why I shouldn't coat the pellets with a bit of olive oil in order to help the flubenvet stick? Answers by tomorrow morning would be helpful as we would like to start them off tomorrow. A bit of oil on them would be fine but it is quite a fine powder and you may find you don't need the oil. Make sure the pellets are the only (or definitely major) food supply otherwise they may be under dosed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieMcHen Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 "Our vet has given us the correct dose to mix with 1.5 kg of pellets". And the correct amount is? There are a lot of different dosage amounts mentioned on the forum. The vets advice would be a good addition. Have fun dosing Maggie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I've started mixing a "pinch" of flubenvet with live yoghurt as the chickens like it, and the powder is easy to mix in. They look very amusing with yoghurt coated beaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughescoop Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 thanks for the info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 I've read this thread with great intrest including Verm-x's website. I prefer to try the natural route and only yesterday ordered some Verm-x (amongst other things!) from Omlet.Hopefully it lives upto its claims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
