[SnooziSuzi]

Interesting article dated 13th October from The Poultry Site:

Pet Chickens Pay a High Price
UK - Chickens could end up paying a high price for their freedom unless their keepers take a more active interest in healthcare according to animal health experts.

Vet Nigel Underwood of Janssen Animal Health believes there is a growing number of poultry hobbyists who know little or nothing about preventative healthcare.

"While it's great to see people getting interested in keeping livestock using natural systems and thinking about where their food comes from, we are worried that no one appears to be giving any thought to the measures that need to be taken to keep birds healthy outdoors. Parasitic worms are very common and a cycle of infection can quite quickly be set up, resulting in a drop in egg quality and quantity, ill birds and even death."

Worms may not be a terribly trendy topic at the moment but as free range and barn systems of rearing become more popular, small scale chicken owners are likely to be having more conversations around this subject. Worm eggs can live in the soil for years, are resistant to disinfectants and represent a source of infection. In some cases the parasitic worms infect beetles, earthworms and other insects and are consumed that way. Once inside the bird the adult worm lays more eggs which are again passed out into the environment.

Traditionally, spring sees a rise in worm egg numbers, which can have a big effect on egg production by the chickens.

In rare cases, worms can even be incorporated into the chicken egg.

Treatment does not have to mean compromising on the 'return to nature' values that have usually driven the acquisition of backyard poultry. Veterinary licensed poultry wormers available from vets, pharmacists and agricultural merchants can be safe and effective and leave no residue in the eggs, which can still be eaten during treatment.

Says Nigel Underwood, "We would really like poultry owners to find out more about worms. In most cases there is a restricted amount of space in the garden available to the chickens and once that gets infected it will be much harder to eliminate the problem."

A free leaflet about worms affecting chickens, geese and turkeys is available from vets, pharmacists or licensed agricultural merchants or by calling Janssen Animal Health on 01494 567555.


ThePoultrySite News Desk

[kimT]

I read this article in Smallholder/Fancy Fowl magazine this month.

I'm afraid there will always be people rushing into buying chickens without doing some kind of research first. I know I read and read and read everything I possibly could about chickens and their health.

[Roughlee Handled]

NICE BIG SCARY ARTICLE MADE TO GET YOU TO PURCHASE  flubendazole  But has some points though.

[Knight Family]

Lol bought mine before i read it..... I agree but as said in the past on worming, you dont realy need to do it every couple of weeks etc, just like dogs and cats!

but mine will be done as I'm not 100% sure of the history

[naturesparadise]

true though i see to day that the land lords chickens seem to have gape worm

if he dont sort it soon ill buy the stuff myself and do it

his dog kill one of the bantams the otherday as well

poor little thing now the cock has gone missing too

[Aunt Sally]

NICE BIG SCARY ARTICLE MADE TO GET YOU TO PURCHASE  flubendazole  But has some points though.

Exactly !

They sent me the same article and wanted me to piubish it on here when I posted about the new 60g flubenvet pack:  http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?t=24342.  I decided as you say Roughlee.  It's just a marketing ploy to make you feel guilty and buy their new flunbenvet formulation  :roll:

[Bodger]

Stuarts hit the nail fair and square on the head. :thumright:

They are hoping that beginners inexperience and ignorance fanned by scaremongering will lead to increased sales.

[compostqueen]

well, they're not the only ones at it are they. I suppose in an economic slump when folks are feeling the pinch they might be less likely to worm their chickens, so need reminding    Marketing folks have to eat too  

[Bodger]

Not off my plate.

[stickywicket]

Whilst on the subject of flubendazole, I have just bought my 240g tub and am wondering about how and when to administer it. I know in the past I have read about putting a pinch in a grape and giving it that way.

I have 4 chickens and thought about putting a pinch in with their daily ration of pellets, which at the moment I am mixing with hot water to make a warm mash for them. Would this be ok?

My main concern is overdosing them. Even one pinch could be too much? I tried to weigh out the right amount of the powder but my scales just aren't sensitive enough as no doubt countless of you before me have discovered :oops:

I am worried that if I overdose them this could not only be harmful to them but also get into their eggs?

Also have you read the handling precautions for this stuff :shock: ? Is it really safe ?

[Foxy]

hi sticky wicket and I know what you mean! Well I have measured a "mounded" teaspoon of flubenvent to weigh exactly 6grammes  which I mix well into either 5kgs of feed or 2 mounded teaspoons for 10kgs.
Hope this helps!

[stickywicket]

Thanks Foxy. That helps. If a mounded teaspoon is 6g then half a mounded teaspoon is probably 3g and if I then halve that amount again I am just about getting to  the right amount for 1 weeks feed for my 4 chickens  :? Arghhh

Just to be a bit more precise about this, did you use a measuring spoon for your teaspoon or just a normal teaspoon :roll: .

[Foxy]

no just a teaspoon but I did wash it carefully afterwards!

and (dont laugh!) weighed the teaspoon first -set scales to zero then carefully measured 6g - after a lot of discussion with my OH decided that it wasn't "heaped" or "level" but "mounded"