Flubenvet and my chickens

[vegetable-gardener]

We bought 4 POL (Point Of Lay) chickens in December. 3 were doing really well but one was deffiantly not doing well after 10 days. We thought is was the snow and frost and brought her in - a friend who is a vet said maybe she had a cold and gave her some antiobiotics. She felt better for a few days but a week later (it was snowing again) and she was very poorly again. A friend lend me her chicken book but there was nothing I could pinpoint it on.

I finally said to my daughter look she has one symptom of worms - so I'll buy some wormer and worm all 4 of them. I had to syringe it in because she was so poorly. (She really was literally at deaths door) anyway around 3 days into her worming she really perks up and now 1 month later she is a different bird and she has started laying.

So its worth buying that wormer. I'm very happy. Here you can see my lovely girls: Keeping Chickens | Raised Bed Vegetable Gardening

[Nicos]

That's fantastic news!

I also use that wormer twice a year.( I even worm Albert peacock in case he picks up anything on his wanders and passes it on!)

You have beautiful looking gals VG!

[vegetable-gardener]

Thanks, they are beautiful aren't they. You get really fond of them.

[VirginVegGrower]

What are the symptoms and how often should you worm please. Reason I ask is that I am new to hen keeping and we got our girls almost two weeks ago and I have no idea when they were last wormed.

[chris]

If they're in a static run, then I believe you can do it every 3/4 months (I asked similar). Mine have a run being built where they'll be if we're out/away, and roam round the garden all other times. I'm planning on doing mine twice a year unless I see any evidence of needing to do it every 4 months odd.

[RichmondHens]

Worm them now regardless of whether they have symptoms or not. Symptoms include diarrhoea, reduction in egg laying at a time when they should be producing lots eg spring and summer, listlessness and general "under the weather" look. Most young hens will not have a heavy burden so chances are yours are fine right now but it is good practice to get into a regular routine of worming - minimum twice a year for free rangers with plenty of space, three or four times a year for hens in smaller coops/runs which do not have a change of ground. Best wormer is Flubenvet which can be purchased on line or through your vet or feed merchant (on line is cheapest) which is a white powder that is mixed with feed and fed for 7 consecutive days (instructions on tub).

[chris]

Whoop! I got it right Just to point out too, VVG there's two concentrations of it. I read a blog post about it - 1% and 2.5% I believe.

Here it is: Garden Hens: New Flubenvet Pack Sizes

Edit: mind you, I only found that out as I was working out the costs per gram, or chicken I think (yes, I'm like that.. I'm as tight as a ducks a**e). I do that with most things I buy :/ Old age I guess.

[chris]

If it helps, I'm pretty sure the basic guidance of how much an adult chicken eats a day is 125 grams. I worked out I'd be just under the 6KG - and was advised it was ok to leave it for them to finish off! I'll dig out my thread for you.

Edit: here you go! http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ery_53415.html it was RH to the rescue there, as usual

[RichmondHens]

I'm not sure of the reasoning behind the two different strengths - my thoughts are that for the average back garden keeper the 1% is sufficient as you are only needing to worm hens. The larger tub with the 2.5% flubendazole is designed to also be used for game birds (who are much more susceptible to gapeworm which flubendazole kills). I use the larger pack principally because of the amount of birds I have but appreciate the stronger medication as we also have a lot of game birds on our land and as a result probably have an increased risk of gapeworm here.

[VirginVegGrower]

If they're in a static run, then I believe you can do it every 3/4 months (I asked similar). Mine have a run being built where they'll be if we're out/away, and roam round the garden all other times. I'm planning on doing mine twice a year unless I see any evidence of needing to do it every 4 months odd.

Worm them now regardless of whether they have symptoms or not. Symptoms include diarrhoea, reduction in egg laying at a time when they should be producing lots eg spring and summer, listlessness and general "under the weather" look. Most young hens will not have a heavy burden so chances are yours are fine right now but it is good practice to get into a regular routine of worming - minimum twice a year for free rangers with plenty of space, three or four times a year for hens in smaller coops/runs which do not have a change of ground. Best wormer is Flubenvet which can be purchased on line or through your vet or feed merchant (on line is cheapest) which is a white powder that is mixed with feed and fed for 7 consecutive days (instructions on tub).

Funnily enough there is an advert for Flubenvet in the GYO mag that I asked my OH to pick up for me, so I will get that. We have a big run that I will change the woodchips on once a week although we let the girls out today for the first time - I was so nervous as we are a fairly open garden leading onto woodland and fields. They were fine of course as Mr and Mrs Uptight sprinkled corn and looked ready to pounce. I am sure we will get a bit better at this soon.

Thanks again both for advice!

[VirginVegGrower]

Whoop! I got it right Just to point out too, VVG there's two concentrations of it. I read a blog post about it - 1% and 2.5% I believe.

Here it is: Garden Hens: New Flubenvet Pack Sizes

Edit: mind you, I only found that out as I was working out the costs per gram, or chicken I think (yes, I'm like that.. I'm as tight as a ducks a**e). I do that with most things I buy :/ Old age I guess.

Thought you kept hens not ducks!

If it helps, I'm pretty sure the basic guidance of how much an adult chicken eats a day is 125 grams. I worked out I'd be just under the 6KG - and was advised it was ok to leave it for them to finish off! I'll dig out my thread for you.

Edit: here you go! http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ery_53415.html it was RH to the rescue there, as usual

Excellent - thanks for this. There is so much more to hen keeping than you first think - reminds me two dogs to worm this week too. If I get the Flubenvet thingy I can do them all (with separate medicine obviously) at the same time and hence have only one reminder
Had some caecal poop today and thought I had a problem until I consulted your poop guide again. Am paranoid

[chris]

I think as long as you have the basics under control, and maintain a routine they're reasonably "easy" to keep.

that said, I have underestimated them before thinking I had enough feed in a feeder one day, went to work - came back home and they were jumping up the fence as they could hear me - wondered what was going off - went int he garden and they were all over me, under my feet flapping up my legs, etc - took me a while to work out they'd eaten all their food - greedy beggars!

As soon as I brought the sack in to top it up there went mad!

thankfully it was only a day - they were out and about so could have eaten something (grass/bugs/what not), so now I check their feeder when I let them out int he morning (I now put it in their coop as there's no run for them currently as I'm building a new one slowly) and when I put it away at night (have to remove the rain cover - so have a peek in when doing so!). don't take that chance anymore! I worked out that my full feeder would last them ~month - but it seemed during the cold weather I underestimated how much extra they'd eat. Not so much a problem now, as my wife has finished working so she's at home (and now making use of all these lovely eggs in fresh cakes for when I get home! - *shock* ) so she can keep an eye on things too now.

Looked at photos back of our garden before we had the chickens - wowee lush green lawn what's that now? aye, a mud pitch heh. Still, wouldn't be without them - when these lot have popped their cloggs, we'll no doubt have some more

[Feather]

What are the symptoms and how often should you worm please. Reason I ask is that I am new to hen keeping and we got our girls almost two weeks ago and I have no idea when they were last wormed.

You might find this link useful - http://www.crowshall.co.uk/forms/flubenvet-brochure.pdf ie, the manufacturer's brcochure for Flubenvet.

You should routinely worm all your hens with flubenvet twice a year - spring and Autumn is a good idea, to help them recover from the winter, and prepare them for the next one. Don't wait until you see symptoms of worms, by then the hens will be infested and losing condition and it'll be harder to treat. Free range hens who eat earthworms will be more at risk because the earthworms can carry the eggs of other types of chicken-related worms in the soil they are in the process of digesting, especially if the ground has been grazed by hens for some time - another good reason for rotating grazing if possible. Worms etc are very valuable in providing extra protein in the hen's diet, but you need be aware of the possible issues with worm eggs.

With just a few hens, the best way is to measure out the pelleted food they will eat in a week, plus an extra day to make sure, then take out a smaller amount into a separate container. Add cod liver oil and mix so all the pellets are well coated, then add the flubenvet and mix very thoroughly. The oil makes the powder stick to the pellets. Then gradually mix this in to the rest of the food so it's evenly distributed. Empty and clean all your feeders, fill with the mixture, and give the hens NOTHING ELSE TO EAT except the treated pellets and maybe a few greens, for the 7-day treatment. This will make sure they get their full dose without filling up an other 'treats.'
There are other herbal worm preventative treatments on the market, which are a valuable tonic, but Flubenvet is generally regarded as the most effective. If you get new hens and don't know when or if if they were wormed, it would probably be a good idea to treat them anyway.

[chris]

Oh yes, forgot to mention - there's no egg withdrawal with Flubenvet VVG - bonus [incase you didn't realise]

[VirginVegGrower]

Oh yes, forgot to mention - there's no egg withdrawal with Flubenvet VVG - bonus [incase you didn't realise]

Thanks CM - I did see that on the advert. Try withdrawing the eggs from the kids and I would have full scale war on my hands. Pancakes for breakfast every day so far