Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Hi All,

 

I've purchased (at £17+!!!! ) a diddy pot of the new Flubenvet wormer.

 

The instructions (some verbal in SPR and written in instructions) say to add a measure, 6g, to a 2kg batch of pellets, remove any left in the grub at the end of the day & replace with fresh each morning. Any leftovers at the end of the 7 days is also to be discarded. Now this sounds awfully wasteful to me, I've just weighed out 2 kg of pellets & it's a VAST amount -I'm sure my 3 chooks, however greedy they are, wouldn't manage to eat all of that in 7 days.

 

I haven't found any reference to the number of chooks this would dose either - larger fowl will eat more, smaller ones less so they self dose the right amount apparently. Not very scientific!

 

I'd like to take the direct "grape dose" method, so I know they are all getting the right amount, but am becoming more & more befuddled by it all { yes I know, that's not difficult!! }

 

As you will see from below, I have 3 hairy monsters too, who I will worm too as they love the chooks offerings as a snack ! Any advise on timings for this? I assume towards the end of the Flubenvet, so the chooks are free of any offending wrigglers, then flush through the dogs as a final flourish - and follow everyone round with a bucket & spade for a few days to stop snacking?!

 

Any thoughts would be very welcome....

 

Sha x

[Blackrocksrock]

Work out what they eat for 7 days and add the required amount of flubenvet to this and only put in the grub what they will eat in 1 day - then if any left get rid of it and put fresh in the next day. This is the way all the poultry are done and should give an exact dose

 

6g 2kg

3g 1kg and so on. It the new dosing for small poultry holders such as us.

[Egluntyne]

I agree that it is. wasteful. I wouldn't throw it away, I would make approx the correct amount for 7 days and just top it up as necessary. They will get they correct dose as they eat enough according to their weight and age.

 

I think this new package is going to make a fortune for the manufacturer, especially if perfectly good food and medication is thrown away on a daily basis.

 

I'm sticking with the original.

[Chook n Boo Mum]

I would have done if I could have got it, I was only offered the diddy pack & need to get my chooks started on it asap as they are potentially showing early signs of gapeworm.

 

VermX, which I've been dosing all my gang with religiously since I got the chooks, of course doesn't cover gapeworm - whether it covers any of the other efficiently is a matter of opinion, from what I read on here!

 

Think I'll dose a kg of pellets & mash mixed, so I can make some up as porridge so they are well & truly dosed! Can always make up another batch if I need to, if the little gutbags DO eat it all!

 

Can't understand why the leftovers need to be ditched at the end of the day rather than topped up...except as a marketing ploy!

 

Sha x

[Sandychick]

If it's to treat gapeworm, the dose will need to be doubled.

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Ok thanks for that, I hadn't read that on the instructions. Does that apply to the new strength as well as the old type? ( I have the new expensive version!!!) If so, I'll mix another 1/2 measure into my just under a kilo of pellets & mash - the chooks snaffled all except a few beakfuls of the porridge I made up earlier - maybe I am underestimating how much they actually eat.... !

 

DH was going to get his very tiny & precise measurement scales out this evening, so we could measure out a daily dose - I was too impatient & was delighted to discover that the measure provided with the powder was marked up as 5ml & I have a child's medicine spoon with 2.5ml on one end. Thought I was being so clever

 

Sha x

[Sandychick]

I would imagine it would apply to the new stuff as well. The new 1% version is just a diluted version of the old 5% stuff - so you use 5 times as much.

 

As Egluntine has just reminded me on another thread there is an egg withdrawal period during and for 1 week after treatment if the dose is doubled.

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Oh my goodness, that seems a heck of a long time - is there anything I can do with the eggs during that period? What a waste to just stick them in the green cone

 

Sha x

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Having taken advice from David Bland of SPR - that man is the "all knowing chook man" around here! - it would appear I have been over-reacting { moi? over-react - never... )

 

What I had actually seen my chooks doing was - YAWNING!!!! Having watched them avidly for what seems like hours at a time, I haven't actually seen them "reach for the stars, gasping for breath". Oh boy am I feeling silly!!

 

The chooks are still being flubenvetted at the single dose, just in case they are harbouring any nasties - which I haven't seen any signs of yet, but will have a closer look in the poop tray when I empty it later (once this wretched misty rain has passed!!!)

 

If I am worried, he's happy to take a look at the chooks if I take them in to him - what a star he is! Much better than my vets who readily admit they know nothing about such exotic creatures as the farmyard chook!!!

 

Anyway, am of (((hopping & skipping))) to get on with my day

 

Thank you everyone with your wonderful advice as always,

 

Sha x

[Sarah B]

What I had actually seen my chooks doing was - YAWNING!!!! Having watched them avidly for what seems like hours at a time, I haven't actually seen them "reach for the stars, gasping for breath". Oh boy am I feeling silly!!

 

Mine do that too - I thought it was something sinister at first as well, looks like they have something stuck in their throats

 

Hens Ay!

 

Sarah

[Steve.]

Funny that my hens from SPR do 'yawn' a lot more than the Omlet hens!!!

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Well I had underestimated the amount of food my feathered ones would consume; I did throw a relatively small amount away - about the equivalent of a flora tub of porridge spread over the week, as I won't re-serve last night's leftovers to them! Partly because they seem to have this knack of either topping up the porridge bowl with a liberal shower of dust bath or depositing the biggest poo in it I think there was about a handful of pellets left in the grub last night too, so I don't mind ditching that either. Quick wash & brush up this morning & start again with fresh rations.

 

I have seen no signs of wiggly things, dead or alive in any offerings, so I assume we are all free of any nasties & will dose again in January - just in case! I'll carry on with the Vermx at least until I've finished this batch. If nothing else I expect the herbs to be a tonic, which won't do them any harm!

 

Steve, my chooks aren't from SPR, just the advice - maybe it's the relaxing Sussex air that makes chooks yawny ?! Yours were reared in the stuff & mine live in it constantly....

 

Sha x