Poultry
How To Worm Poultry The Best Tested Way
How to worm poultry the best-tested way
Parasitic worms are a problem and are difficult to detect. They can cause chickens to suffer ill thrift, a drop in egg production, weak shells, and pale yolks, or in extreme cases may even result in death.
Chickens can become infected by parasitic worms through:
- eating worm eggs or larvae found in soil
- eating worms or insects that contain parasitic worms
- wild birds or from worm eggs brought in on clothing or equipment
An infected chicken will pass worm eggs out into the environment in their droppings, acting as a potential source of infection to other birds.
An Easy Solution
Rather than mixing a wormer with the feed, you can worm using Marriage’s Medicated Layers Pellets with Flubenvet.
Flubenvet® contains flubendazole, a medication that kills the adult and early immature stages of common poultry worms. This is Marriage’s highly palatable Layers Pellets with 17% protein, but with the Flubenvet mixed in at the mill. Making it a nice and easy way to worm your poultry, and it won’t affect the hen’s ability to lay eggs.
You will need to feed your hens solely this medicated feed (as you would a layers pellet) for a full seven days to enable an effective dose. It is safe to eat eggs from hens being treated with this feed. But birds should not be slaughtered for human consumption during treatment or for a period of seven days after the end of the treatment period. You should treat backyard chickens every three to six months.
Prevention
It is almost impossible to completely prevent parasitic worms from infecting a flock. Good practices include:
- Feeding from feeders rather than on the ground
- Moving birds to clean grass regularly
- Avoiding muddy areas or putting down shingle to allow droppings to dry out
- Keeping grass short, as exposure to sunlight will destroy worm eggs
Remember that it is not always possible to identify signs of infection with the naked eye and regular worming is the best way to prevent birds from suffering the effects of large worm burdens.
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.