Eglu Cube Coop For Sale

[ajayb]

Hope someone out there who is more experienced than I am can help me pin down the most effective treatment to worm our chooks.

 

Have used Flubenvet & Verm-X previously, problem being that I can't obviously restrict the hens' diet to the dosed food as they range over several acres in a day (suspect we have very well-wormed wild birds, though!). Have also used Xeno 450 when they've had lice and know that's supposed to take care of ecto- and endoparasites but do get really annoyed with the poor value, fiddly pipettes which never seem to contain as much product as the manufacturer suggests ...

 

Can anyone with long term experience of free-rangers please tell me how frequently I should be worming and what the most effective product is? I'd really like to get into a routine that works so I know I'm doing the best for the birds.

 

Thanks!

[jam]

can't say im an expert on free rangers, but here we go! I use flubenvet which should be given every 6 months for a week. Perhaps you could put the wormer in their favourite food every day for the duration of the treatment, If your chickens are anything like mine it'll all be gone in an instant! so they should eat all the food, and therefore all of the wormer... just a thought, it might work

[Egluntyne]

If you have plenty of land, you could rest part of it for three months to break the cycle, on a rotating basis. That goes a long way towards solving the problem, but isn't always feasible in a small back garden.

 

You could try dosing them with Panacur small animal wormer *not licensed for use in poultry in UK. You have to do them individually, and then repeat after a week.

[ajayb]

Thanks for the replies - very helpful!

 

My husband did say just to put the Flubenvet in some sweetcorn but I'm concerned that the bigger, greedier hens eat just about all of it and some of the smaller ones get none at all (using different feeders doesn't seem to help as the 'pecking order' ensures that the dominant chooks chase the others away from favourite foods).

 

Re fencing off the land: easy to do with pigs and sheep (we already rotate paddocks), not so simple with chickens. Would need to buy electric chicken fencing and think the chooks might resent being so restricted (plus do have access for two geriatric Labs who no longer see very well to think about). Have dosed the most heavily used areas around the coop and our back door with Stalosan F. (I do think the nesting wild birds at the moment won't be helping.)

 

I remembered that a breeder I bought some hens from last year used CROVECT pour on (which I have for sheep) which I wasn't keen to use because of the egg withdrawal period, but I've e-mailed him to see if he can confirm dosage and withdrawal time. I do prefer something that is a 'spot on' type treatment as you can be sure each animal's been dosed - a bit alarmed at the thought of trying to prise open 11 protesting beaks to get the Panacur in!

 

Thanks again - any oother suggestions welcome too!

Edited June 4, 2010 by Guest

[Chucky Mama]

You shouldn't really need to do anything any different than any of us keeping free ranging 'backyard' chickens. If you have a large area that your birds use your environmental worm egg burden should not be any higher than that of a large back garden - in fact it should be lower. Routinely worming your chickens every spring, summer & autumn as recommeded for 'control' should be sufficient. Ensure that any new birds are wormed prior to putting them out with our existing birds and if you do rotate your land then do them before moving them to a new field. Use the recommended dosing method, feeding over 7 days - you should shut them in to prevent them eating anything other than the medicated feed for those 7 days (I don't but make sure that they are shut in morning and evening to ensure a decent amount of medicated food is taken). Flubenvet has been carefully designed to feed this way and large birds eating more than their hen pecked friends means that they will take the higher dose necesary for these heavier birds.

 

Re ecto parisites, Xeno is an effective treatment despite the apparent small dose. You can also use the xeno spray (both not licensed for poultry). Personally I would probably use Frontline spray despite the need to visit a vet with a chicken as it is a prescription only medication (1 bottle should last some time and a vet will probably let you have a repeat prescription without seeing a bird within 6 months of the first consultation- each vet different though so don't quote me on that one ) You can use louse powder but make sure it isn't a repellant as these powders don't kill lice, they 'repell' i.e they are more of a preventative.

[ajayb]

Thanks, Rachel!

 

Interestingly, just been on the phone to the Vet at Janssen's (Flubenvet people) and he said that the ONLY way to give the product is by penning the chooks in for 7 days twice a year... He was very helpful about working out the dose for my little flock but my heart does sink at the thought. We will now have to consider constructing some kind of extended run which will also have to be fox-proof too if we're going to use Flubenvet.

 

Think I would prefer to use a pour on that meant an egg withdrawal period as the whole point of keeping chickens at this level is to give them as much freedom as possible, so anyone's experience of using an ivermectin -type product would be welcome.

[Chucky Mama]

There is no pour on that is licensed for chickens. For a vet to prescribe a pour on 'off license' legally they need to be able to say that they are prescribing it as there is 'no reasonable alternative' which of course there is. They would also need to see a chicken to be able to prescribe. My chickens free range from dawn to dusk in approx 1/2 acre. Whilst I don't do faecal egg counts I have never had cause to thing that I have a worm issue. I worm them 3 times a year and - against the 'best practise' advise, I let them free range whilst worming. You would have to withdraw eggs if you use a pour on and the period would be a 'recommended' time as no testing on chickens will have been performed. Personally I would stick with Flubenvet.