[gracie]

Oh this worming seems very overwhelming for someone new to chicken keeping. I have 4 chickens of 12 and 15 weeks old. They free range whenever I am home. I'm not lazy but would prefer the easiest way of worming. What do you recommend, at present I need a plan of how and when to worm as a preventative measure.

[Helenaj]

Personally, I prefer the pellets - there's no measuring or mixing of the powder into the pellets. However, with only 4 chickens you may find it wasteful to buy the pellets. The smallest the Heygates pellets come in are 5kg sacks (which would be ideal for you). I know my supplier stocks them at that size (and 10kgs), but not many do, so you'll either have to throw them away if you can only get the 20kg or 10kg (short shelf life) or ideally, find another chicken keeper who would be willing to share a sack with you.

If your girls free range, then they will have more contact with worms - in the snails and slugs they eat: etc or if they are kept on the same ground for any length of time, so I would recommend worming about every three - four months.