New hens not going into Eglu Go Up

[Andrls]

Hello, I'm looking for some help. I have 7 chickens in a cube with a 4 meter run and they free range around the bottom of my garden for most of the day. I've had the birds since spring. I've been giving them verm-x wormer for the first 3 days of each month although I've had a manic month with relatives staying and didn't do it at the start of Oct. Due to all the people staying I also did not clean out the poo trays for approx 10 days and when I gave it a good clean in one big build-up of poo where it was still wet I found lots of White worms in it. Yuk! This was 2 days ago and I've been through the poo tray again today splitting all the poo and haven't found any more worms. Do you think my girls have worms or do you think the White worms are maggots as the poo had been left around for a while? The girls have been laying very well over the summer and we usually get 7 eggs a day. This has dropped down to 5-6 in the last couple of weeks but the drop-off is mainly from the 2 oldest birds that lay blue egg and are approx 1 yr old. These same hens seem to be losing a few of their feathers which I put down to a start of moulting. So all girls have seemed very healthy until now. I thought I should worm with flubenvet as well and went to my local supplier. He didn't have a pot of it but sold me some pellets which had already been prepared with it. I haven't started however as I'm not sure my chickens will like the pellets as they are used to garvo mash and I usually give them the verm-x in a meal worm porridge which they love. I'm also worried about starting flubenvet when my girls are starting to moult and about keeping them in the run for a week in order to ensure they eat all the flubenvet coated pellets. Sorry for the ramble. But do you think the girls do have worms and should I start on the pellets I was given and keep them in the run for a week from today or should I just keep on as usual and give them the verm-x? Thanks

[The Dogmother]

There was a similar thread recently on worming and moulting.

 

Seeing worms in their poo is a clear indication that they have a very heavy worm infestation, conversely, not seeing any worms doesn't mean that they don't have any. The one sure way to ensure that worm loads are kept to a minimum and the birds are healthy is to worm every quarter with a licensed wormer, in other words Flubenvet. That is the only way to ensure that their health isn't compromised by internal parasites.

[memphisto]

When I bought my girls, I was told they'd just been wormed with Flubenvet but last week one had worms in their faeces so I have wormed again with Flubenvet.

 

When I went to order Flubenvet from the vets they said it was £18+ £3.50 dispensing for the Flubenvet and they'd have to order it, taking 3 days, but went to the local argricultural shop and got it for £12.59, so do shop around for the Flubenvet too.

[Andrls]

Thanks for your reply. I've read that thread and quite a few others on here and have put the girls in their run and started them on the pellets. Interesting that I may have a major infestation even though they seem very healthy and are laying well. Do you think that's because I didn't use the verm-x at the start of this month or is it actually not that effective? I asked about the possibility of maggots as I did a google search of 'worms in chicken poo' and found some threads suggesting they may be maggots from flies laying their eggs in the poo rather than worms from the chickens. If I do have a worm infestation what should I expect to see in their droppings now I've started the treatment? I'm guessing lots of worms but what size and will they still be alive or dead? Thanks

[The Dogmother]

If you see any expelled worms after worming, then they will be dead.

 

I'd stick to using a licensed wormer if they weer my hens.

[clucker1]

Just ordered my second lot of flubenvet layers pellets from www.sprcentre.com/ and they now do the marriages pellets in 10kg bags for us poultry owners with a smaller flock.

[The Dogmother]

I usually get the 10kg bag straight from Marriages. Does my girls for 2 doses of worming before the use by date runs out.