[treacle]

Yesterday i popped to the vet to ask about Treacle who has been coughing and shaking her head,he said it sounds like gapeworm,but he only had treatment not licenced for chickens,sounded a bit dodgy so i said i'd go to my local poultry supplier,only by the time i got there it was shut,now i can't get any Flubenvet till Monday and i fear she might just shut down.i'm thinking that it may have been what killed Bumble last week after researching it, although she wasn't coughing like Treacle is, anyway wanted to ask how long does it take to kill a hen? If i gave her the oily feather treatment today, would that get a few out and hold them at bay till tomorrow,and does the treatment kill them straight away? 

[cathangirl]

Hello Treacle,
Don't know how quick flubenvet works, but it is a 7 day course of treatment.
My advice would be to always keep Flubenvet in stock, as they need worming at least twice a year, sometimes more, depending on free-range or not.
Hope she recovers.
cathangirl.

[joyfull]

sorry can't help with gape worm but there are a lot of medicines that are not licensed for poultry eg metacam and frontline - it just means that the manufacturers have not gone through and done all the tests for poultry. I have used metacam for mine but gave my hen the dose for a 7.5 kg dog as a chicken has a higher meta bolic rate than a dog (think thats what my vet said), it was just something I was perpared to do.
As for flubenvat do you not have a pet centre/garden centre near you that may stock it?
I keep it in stock and worm regularly as mine free range all the time.

[treacle]

I only started keeping chickens in late march,i did intend to get some wormer but didn't think i would need it so soon as they were pullets when i bought them and had already been wormed, i'm learning something new everyday thanks to this forum and hope to be an expert by Christmas 

[joyfull]

Treacle, none of us are experts (except for Will the vet of course ), we are all learning all the time  . I only started on with hens last August and have picked up loads and loads of usefull tips of here - plus lots of gardening hints as well, so much so that have just started raised beds and am growing sweetcorn just for the chucks in one of them 

[Foxy]

I wouldn't try the oily feather treatment tbh. Have you had a look down her throat? I expect if you have researched them you have seen a piccy, thin, red stringy things, sometimes you can see them, but not necessarily as they can lodge further down the gut. Did the vet consider any other diagnosis? Gapeworm isn't that common, unless you are in a very rural area, with a high density of local game (partridge, pheasant etc) and your birds free-range, just a thought.

[Aunt Sally]

Everyone should keep some flubenvet in their poultry medicine kit !

For gapeworm you should give a double lenght course - not so easy to get at as they are not in the gut.

[treacle]

I have just read the packet on my dog wormer and it's the same ingredient (fenbendazole) it's in granular form could i use that? I have noticed on the forum that a lot of people use a little cattle wormer for thier hens.

[joyfull]

don't know the strength may be wrong for chickens, sorry

[Aunt Sally]

The ingredient in flubenvet is flubendazone.

Fenbendazole is found in Panacur which is not licenced for poultry and therefore requires an egg witdrawal period.

If a vet uses Panacur they will administer a single dose followed by a repeat dose a week later if required.  I'm not sure of the dose rate though.

Found this:

fenbendazole is suitable for the treatment of the important intestinal and tracheal worms of poultry, a dose of 15 to 20 mg/kg for 3 consecutive days being recommended for use under field conditions.

That just gives you some sums to do and chickens to weigh.

[joyfull]

aunt sally your a mine of information 

[Aunt Sally]

You learn a lot in 300+ years 

[treacle]

  Thanks Aunt Sally and everyone...... i think i'll just wait until tommorow and get some Flubenvet to ensure proper dosage. :happy: