It’s that time of year again! I worm the girls twice a year, in March and in September. I use flubenvet powder and one box does the year. I find the easiest way for me, is to make up four little dishes of mash. I then sprinkle on a level measuring spoon of powder over the four dishes. The measuring spoon is included in the box of powder. I mix it in and set the four dishes down on the chicken’s patio.
Worming the girls
They all get a share
If the bottom girl isn’t getting any I will put her on top of the nest box with her own dish and guard her until she gets a share. At the moment Cinnamon and Apricot are the bottom girls but they were easily getting their share so this wasn’t needed. It’s testament to how well the flock are getting on together that I am not needing to help any of the girls to get a share.
I put only a small amount of mash in each dish so that it is all consumed quickly and I know that that they have all had some powder. My girls are so small that only a small amount of powder is easily enough.
In the past I have done this with fish but for the last few years Emerald hasn’t been interested in fish so I changed to mash which is equally liked by all the girls. I have also used sunflower hearts in a little olive oil and then powder added and chopped grapes with powder added. Over time though I have found that the mash works best as it’s not messy and is quickly and equally consumed.
The flubenvet has to be given for seven consecutive days so this will be our morning routine for a week. If the girls have any worms they will show up in the poop on the second day. Hopefully there will be none and this is just a preventative measure. I think the girls will enjoy having mash for a week.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Good job done.
It is nice that it is so easy to do with these girls. They have had two days now and no worms found so that it good.
I still haven’t decided on worming. It seems to be a 50/50 split of opinion. One half will worm routinely whereas the other will only worm if required. I do like prevantative measures though (that comes from managing IT systems!) so think you are doing the right thing.
I felt the same as you and didn’t worm until I was a couple of years in and found a couple of worms in the poop. After that I have done it six monthly and in seven years I have found worms three times. I noticed one girl not looking her usual self and after worming only found some once or twice in the poop so I think that each time it was only one girl that had worms.
I do it now because I have read that it is more important when the girls are in a fixed run on the same ground. I haven’t found any worms this time round so I am glad that there are none present but am happy to continue with it as a preventative measure because as my seramas are so tiny they are more vulnerable to any kind of problem.