Mercedes55 Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I intend to worm my girls soon but just wanted to ask a quick question regarding where the girls are allowed to go while they are being wormed. Right now our 3 ex batts and our 4 pure breeds are separated due to one of the ex batts being a feather plucker. So for the moment our ex batts have about two thirds of the WIR to themselves and are let out onto the lawn when the weather is okay for a little while. Our 4 pure breeds have a smaller part of the WIR and also access to the border at the back of our garden which is where they like to spend a lot of their day. They have eaten all the shrubs in there, but they do peck about at the soil. Is it okay to worm them and also let them out onto the soil like that? I know you aren't supposed to give them treats while they are being wormed, just not sure what they may pick out of the soil as I guess there will still be worms and things like that out there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 good question, I'm guessing (new to this!) that they'll be ok to leave as they are - people with chooks in runs (inc small ones) can't really do much else than leave them be ????? Hopefully someone with MUCH more chook knowledge will let us know for certain! x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercedes55 Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 good question, I'm guessing (new to this!) that they'll be ok to leave as they are - people with chooks in runs (inc small ones) can't really do much else than leave them be ????? Hopefully someone with MUCH more chook knowledge will let us know for certain! x You are probably right as yes there are lots of people who have their runs on soil, I am just being a bit paranoid as before when I wormed then I would keep them in their slabbed WIR so that there was nothing else for them to eat but their medicated pellets. Now if I shut the back run off it would mean the 4 pure breeds being confined to quite a small area and I think they would go stir crazy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I think that they will be fine out with access to the soil. Wormers do not provide any protection, just elimination. So, think of your animals as having worm eggs all the time and then worm regularly to ensure any developing worms are small enough not to cause a problem. By worming regularly (3-4 months) you ensure that worms are never large enough to cause clinic signs and illness and minimise their ability to shed eggs. In reality, and this is true of any animal, you can worm one day and they can go out and pick up some worm eggs the very next day thus reinfecting themselves. I consider my birds to be at low risk of infection and so ( knowing it is against the rules ) allow free ranging during worming. If however this changed and I considered them at higher risk, I would keep them in during worming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Tea Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I just wormed my Pekins but they were still free ranging in the garden - they would go completely batty if I left them cooped up in the run - they are a little bit spoilt My hybrids have a pen on earth and there's no way for me to confine them to a run so I don't have a choice with them. I use Flubenvet but also regularly use Verm X and plenty of DE which I understand can help prevent against worms ........ although I might be wrong there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddie Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I take all their food away from the morning, and only give them the special stuff for "tea", and dont give them any corn until it's gone. That way I can tell whether it's gone, and who has had it! Fun stuff this hen keeping! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
