Flubenvet and my chickens

[VirginVegGrower]

Started treatment today but OMG so difficult to measure out when you have only four hens. I hope they all get some. I might have to try the raisin thing as I don't reckon this is going to be that easy for me in their food. So much easier worming a dog. One tablet wrapped in ham = done for 3 months

[chris]

I believe Nicos does it in a grape or raisen vvg! (for her chooks)

[Glutton4...]

Started treatment today but OMG so difficult to measure out when you have only four hens. I hope they all get some. I might have to try the raisin thing as I don't reckon this is going to be that easy for me in their food. So much easier worming a dog. One tablet wrapped in ham = done for 3 months

Even easier; Cats and Dogs can now be done with a dropper on the back of their neck between the shoulder-blades. This does worms, fleas and ear mites, too!

[Nicos]

I believe Nicos does it in a grape or raisen vvg! (for her chooks)

I do indeed!

One raisin at night (whilst sitting on their perch) for 7 days.

You need to watch out for the greedy ones who try and snatch their neighbour's raisin!

[Suechooks]

Even easier; Cats and Dogs can now be done with a dropper on the back of their neck between the shoulder-blades. This does worms, fleas and ear mites, too!

Depends on the breed! Ivormectin is fatal to the collie breeds (and maybe others too but I'm a collie person!)

[chris]

Do you just dip/put some of the measured amount in, splitting it equally into each of the raisins, making sure it's all gone after 7 days?

[Suechooks]

Started treatment today but OMG so difficult to measure out when you have only four hens. I hope they all get some. I might have to try the raisin thing as I don't reckon this is going to be that easy for me in their food. So much easier worming a dog. One tablet wrapped in ham = done for 3 months

Just measure out 2Kg pellets mix in 1 scoop flubenvet and put it in their feeder (if you want to you can add a tsp cod liver oil to help it stick) When theyve eaten that do another 2kg and so on for a week. Don't feed anything else for the week. Simples!

[Nicos]

I slit open the raisins , then the powder sticks better to the inside of it- and they have no chance of tasting it!!!
Initially I measured the whole dose for them all for the week, then divided it up into 7 roughly similar piles- and then divided it by the no of chooks.
After the first time I got a 'feel' for the amount of powder to put onto the tip of the knife for each raisin- and now that's what I do .
It's not 1000% accurate- but near enough.
My Marans get 3-4 raisins per day compared to the one a day for the bantams ( cos they're nearly 4x heavier)...and Albert peacock has about 8 'dosed' raisins per day.

.....some of the chooks have managed to double dose some days- but they were fine!

So far I've not seen any worms ( crosses fingers and anything else to hand!)

[Nicos]

Have to add- that mine freerange and I'd have no idea if they had eaten enough pellets/worm powder - so that's why I chose the raisin way!

[VirginVegGrower]

Even easier; Cats and Dogs can now be done with a dropper on the back of their neck between the shoulder-blades. This does worms, fleas and ear mites, too!

I use Drontal and Frontline - seems to work but hens....it's sooo not easy when you have one hen who is as greedy as hell and pecks at Eloise everytime she dares go near me or food. Managed today by keeping her held back with a bamboo stick, but she is a s*d!

[VirginVegGrower]

I slit open the raisins , then the powder sticks better to the inside of it- and they have no chance of tasting it!!!
Initially I measured the whole dose for them all for the week, then divided it up into 7 roughly similar piles- and then divided it by the no of chooks.
After the first time I got a 'feel' for the amount of powder to put onto the tip of the knife for each raisin- and now that's what I do .
It's not 1000% accurate- but near enough.
My Marans get 3-4 raisins per day compared to the one a day for the bantams ( cos they're nearly 4x heavier)...and Albert peacock has about 8 'dosed' raisins per day.

.....some of the chooks have managed to double dose some days- but they were fine!

So far I've not seen any worms ( crosses fingers and anything else to hand!)

Have to add- that mine freerange and I'd have no idea if they had eaten enough pellets/worm powder - so that's why I chose the raisin way!

I am going for the raisins at night with Eloise - it's the only way. The others I know have had sufficient. Still easier doing dogs....grrrr

[Hilary B]

When I last kept chooks, I had no idea there was such a thing as wormer for chickens (maybe there wasn't, or not as readily available for small scale, it was 12 years ago) but initially they had sooooo much free range space, and later, when they were being kept in a run, it may have been cold enough to keep numbers down! Same applies to redmite, but I can see the reasoning behind all the precautions!

[RichmondHens]

I have a book first published around 1930 or so, which is all about raising chickens and rabbits for food. It does give some "traditional" remedies for worming, including a rather horrible sounding one for gapeworm which involves putting a turpentine soaked feather down the windpipe and trying to "catch" the worm and draw it up and out the mouth. Poor chicken! Thank goodness for modern medication.

I do think however that the way that many people keep chickens these days does contribute to a lot of the health problems encountered - as a rule free range chickens are far healthier than those kept cooped up.

[Feather]

I do think however that the way that many people keep chickens these days does contribute to a lot of the health problems encountered - as a rule free range chickens are far healthier than those kept cooped up.

I agree - but how many of us nowadays have even the large gardens which often came with houses 50+ years ago? I guess many of us on this forum are people with a few hens in a small garden, just trying to keep them as healthy and happy as we possibly can. We all know how 'chicken fever' can strike the hearts of any of us, so we can't resist getting yet more birds, and perhaps keeping them in what may be less space than they should have - maybe we should all be careful to resist overcrowding and keep our numbers down, so that each bird has at least 2 square metres of run space, adequate coop space, clean conditions, a balanced diet with daily greens as well as dry food, and regular Flubenvet!

[VirginVegGrower]

I agree - but how many of us nowadays have even the large gardens which often came with houses 50+ years ago? I guess many of us on this forum are people with a few hens in a small garden, just trying to keep them as healthy and happy as we possibly can. We all know how 'chicken fever' can strike the hearts of any of us, so we can't resist getting yet more birds, and perhaps keeping them in what may be less space than they should have - maybe we should all be careful to resist overcrowding and keep our numbers down, so that each bird has at least 2 square metres of run space, adequate coop space, clean conditions, a balanced diet with daily greens as well as dry food, and regular Flubenvet!

We are lucky and have half an acre but if I allow them to free range all day I would have dead chickens owing to backing onto woodland and its creatures and that wouldn't be healthy.
They follow me around the knot garden as I shake the corn but am still paranoid about old Reynard, so I don't have them out on their own or all day.