Is my pekin bantam male or female?

[Dolly]

It seems poor Roxy has NFM and after a couple of weeks of spraying her with Xeno 200 and Johnson's anti mite to little effect, she went to the vets last week who gave her Ivermectin drops, but as this is the same ingredient in Xeno, it's not made much difference unfortunately.

 

I discussed Ivomec Eprinex with the vet but he doesn't keep it in stock and said he could order in for me but I'm running out of patience trying to get hold of him and Roxy's getting worse!

 

Does anyone know where I can order some online (I know it's not licenced for poultry), I just can't bear to see her suffer any longer.

 

Also can anyone confirm the exact dosing rate - I want to be sure I don't overdo it.

 

Thanks so much.

[laurmurf]

mostin and i share a bottle of this that we got from my vet who, like yours, ordered it in for us. It didn't take long to come as they get deliveries all the time.

 

It is very effective stuff! I put 1 drop per kg on the back of the neck (out of reach of preening beaks) and Elaine puts hers in a Xeno bottle and gives three sprays each chook (which we worked out is about the same dose).

 

I know that NFM is horribly difficult to get rid of as it's presence in the 'display' chooks at Temple Newsam caused them to give up using an entire shed/barn because wild birds kept infecting the flocks.

 

Good luck!

[Redwing]

You can get a small bottle of Eprinex from argicultural merchants (about £30) but I have to say *its not licenced for poultry*

 

One of my chooks came home from a show with NFM and I actually found that the thing that got rid of it eventually was a bathe in dog shampoo! I did follow up with a product to keep it away and catch any strays though

[Jools]

I had NFM on my big chickens a few months ago and it was a pain to get rid of! Tasha, can you say which dog shampoo you used? I'd definitely try that next time, in fact when the weather improves a bit, I'll probably bathe the two who were worst affected to make sure they were all gone.

[Redwing]

The dog shampoo was this one: http://www.seapets.co.uk/products/dog-supplies/dog-health/dog-flea-treatment/dog-flea-shampoo/bob-martin-flea-shampoo-150ml.html

[Jools]

Brilliant, thanks Tasha

 

BTW, did you know you got a mention in the Poultry section of Country Smallholding?? Page 11 Best Soft Feather Heavy Bantam

[Redwing]

yes Jack was in there and on the contents page and was also in the National Show Championship spread in Fancy Fowl

[Dolly]

Well Roxy has now been dosed up with Ivomec Eprinex and hopefully we're on the way to getting rid of the little blighters! The vet charged me £3.50 for 4mls, does this sound about right (bearing in mind it was from a 250ml bottle which had an expiry date of this Sept)? I guess it works out more expensive ml for ml but I'd never use 250mls in 9 months on 2 chooks!!

 

I've cleaned the eglu and sprayed with Total Mite Kill but do you know if the mites actually live on the housing too and if so how often should I give it a going over with the spray and permethrin powders etc?

 

Also, how often would you reapply the Ivomec Eprinex? The vet thought 4 weeks but that sounds like a long gap between applications to me.

 

Thanks for your help as always.

[The Dogmother]

It's not licensed for use on poultry in the UK, but I'm a long term user of the product (on my chooks!), I use it quarterly as a preventative, but on the advice of my vet, I once dosed them with it twice 3 weeks apart when there was an infestation of NFM. These mites are much harder to shift that plain lice and I coupled it with sprays of either the Johnsons anti-mite spray or the NetTex one... two sprays a week apart. Neither of these sprays are licensed for use on poultry in the UK.

 

I hope that you get rid of them

[Dolly]

Many thanks Claret. I'd like to give Roxy a bath too (in the pyrethrum based dog shampoo) to wash the yukky dead mite mess off but how long should I wait to do this, given that she only had the Ivomec Eprinex applied a few days ago? Will it get washed off or is it absorbed into the skin/body by now?

[The Dogmother]

I would give it 4 days to absorb - that's what they recommend with dog and cat spot-ons - bath her in that, then spray her when she's dry - I have done the same using a very diluted bath of Total Mite Kill Concentrate - it kills bugs and gets the mat of mite poo off the feathers. Only do it when you're able to dry her off thoroughly though (sure you would anyway ) Permethrin and pyrethrum are very similar but both are toxic to cats, so be careful when you use it.

[mostin]

Also, how often would you reapply the Ivomec Eprinex? The vet thought 4 weeks but that sounds like a long gap between applications to me.

 

Thanks for your help as always.

 

Always do my Eprinex every 4 weeks, and fingers crossed they haven't caught anything yet