Unsecure chicken perches

[mollyripkim]

Posted at the beginning of the week that Henrietta was poorly and vet did stool sample, got results today that showed no nasties except a high concentration of roundworm, in fact enough to be fatal. He wormed her with panacur on Monday and she is still on antibiotics but is so much better.

I am really concerned as I used flubernet in April so how could it get so bad so quickly and how do I stop it happening again, they already get wormed four monthly and have ACV monthly?

I have been asked to weigh them all and pick up treatment for them all in the morning, assuming that includes cat and dogs.

Vet said ground will be infected, how do I deal with that? I use stalosan weekly in the run but they FR all day.

I feel really bad that this has happened and any advice would be appreciated.

[mollyripkim]

Sorry just bumping this up as I really need advice on how to get rid of roundworms in the garden.

Thankyou.

[Chucky Mama]

It sounds like you are doing all the right things. It is important to ensure that you are using Flubenvet as prescribed and not using the 'grape' method or anything like that. I would use a more frequent worming regime and also make sure that they are not allowed to free range during their Flubenvet worming. Your dogs and cats will have their own worm species and so will not catch your chickens worms and visa versa. They do still need worming regularly though Panacur is ideal for your hens now to deal with the roundworm but it doesn't kill all poultry worms so you would need to continue using Flubenvet. A few worm egg counts throughout the year would confirm (or not) that your worming regime is working.

[mollyripkim]

Thanks Chucky Mama, I use the Flubernet in their food and stop them from FR but how often is it safe to use it to stop them getting such a heavy infestation. I thought four monthly was ok but if the ground is infected then they will just keep getting them or is this usual? Can you recommend anything to kill the worms in the soil?

Glad the dogs and cat will be ok although I have ordered them some wormers from the vet even though they were only done six weeks ago.

Sorry but another question, do you know how long I would have to wait after whatever the vet gives them (I have to go in this afternoon to pick it up) before doing Flubernet again to kill any other worms?

Sorry for all the questions - 2 years in and I am still learning!

[Chucky Mama]

I will leave someone else to help you regarding the soil as it is not something that I am wildly knowledgeable about. I know that many use Stalosan which you are already using. With regards to Flubenvet, you should tailor your use according to the chicken's risk factors. Advise re time between worming is as follows:

 

For High Infection Pressure* - treat every 3-4 weeks

For Medium Infection Pressure - treat every 6-8 weeks

For Low Infection Pressure - treat every 8-10 weeks

For Control thereafter - treat every 10-12 weeks

 

*high stocking density or where high egg counts have been recorded.

[mollyripkim]

Thanks Chucky Mama, I think I will go with the 6-8 weeks and see how that goes over the summer, they have a large garden for FR all day so don't think it's the stocking level so hopefully that will do the trick.

Hubby suggested garden lime so I will google that for the soil or failing that will get some diatom to dig in unless any one else has other suggestions.

Thanks for your help, it's lovely to have people with more experience as its still a learning curve.

[merlina]

Be careful where you introduce diatom in the garden - remember it will kill all sorts of beneficial insects as well as worms.

Bright sunlight (UV light) sees off the worms/worm eggs from what I've read - hence advice to keep grass short on areas where hens have been to allow the light to get to the ground

My grandparents always put woodash as a 'disinfectant' where the hens main run had been, their understanding was that 'cured' the ground after a year. Not sure of the truth of that, but they never wormed their hens and they all lived to a very old age

[Hayleybug]

i think that the woodash would work like lime, it has the same alkaline properties i think (correct me if im wrong) and so should be a cheaper (i.e. free if you have an open fire!) alternative to buying lime.

[mollyripkim]

Thanks for that, I hadn't thought about killing the good stuff as well so won't be doing that. Vet very kindly rang this evening, he said that as you can't rotate garden hens then the best option would to worm 8 weekly in the summer, apparently the very warm weather followed by very wet weather is ideal roundworm conditions and then in winter its not such a problem as the cold sends the roundworms deeper into the soil. He suggested another sample after this lot of worming to check the worm level to make sure the meds are working.

Must say that he has been brilliant and took time to call and discuss it all to put my mind at rest and never made me feel "it's just a chicken".

Good news is that Henrietta is back to her normal nosey, chatty self in the midst of everything and that makes me smile again

[Egghead68]

Glad she's back to normal!

[Chucky Mama]

With your worm egg counts you need to take into account 'prepatent periods' this is the time between infection and worm egg detection in faeces. For example the prepatent period for roundworm is 34-42 days in young birds and 50-56 days in adult birds. What this means is that taking a sample under 34 days in young birds or 50 days in adult birds may give you a false negative. I would suggest taking samples for egg counts, if you choose to do them, 50 days post treatment. Other common poultry worms have a prepatent period under 50 days so you should still be able to detect them in any samples - hope that makes sense Let me know if it doesn't and I will try to explain a little better.

[mollyripkim]

Thanks Chucky Mama, I am definitely going to get another sample done, just a question of when would be best so your advice is really great, makes sense to wait for the 50 days, I was going to do it when they have finished this course but I can see it would be better to wait as I don't want a false negative lulling me into a false sense of security. Date now on the calendar.

They are not happy girls being shut in as they are used to being out and no treats as well! but I know it is for their own good.