Moxidectin Plus in drinking water for scaly leg mites

I have been researching the issue of scaly leg mites and have come acroos a treatment that can be added to the drinking water, however, the product is Australian and I was wondering if anyone in the US stock it? It is apparently a very effective treatment for worms too.

Here is some additional information;

http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?t=7966206

The US product is Quest. (active ingredient is Moxidectin) It's a horse dewormer.

One used to be able to buy Quest PLUS, but it is NO LONGER available, not being manufactured, indefinitely on back-order. Much to my dismay... It's my preferred product for horse dewormers.
(another company bought it out, and that company already has a dewormer that targets tapeworms, therefore *I* am assuming it won't be coming back, period, because they are focusing on their original tapeworm product. It's been MIA for awhile now...)

Is it Quest Plus only that treats the scaly leg mites? Or the moxidectin? Because you can still purchase Quest/Moxidectin. You'll find it at a farm/feed store in the equine section.

Now, you can still purchase praziquantel, but in farm supplies/feed stores, you'll find it mixed with Invermectin (Equimax), but it's sold as a cat/dog dewormer, too... and may be available for purchase in a liquid form from a vet. Technically, you could make your own Quest Plus if that were the case...

Thanks for the info. It does sound similar to Equimax and is in liquid form. It is generally used for pigeons. Being able to add it to the water would be great since I am sure the birds that are infecting the chickens are doves and in treating the water hopefully they would drink from the source to and stop reinfecting the chickens.

I have read that Ivomec can also be added to the flocks water but I am not sure if it is the pour-on or injectable kind and how long it would be before you could eat the eggs after treatment.

It's the injectable that can be added to the water, not the pour on... supposedly. I mean, I haven't done it...but I've read it somewhere. I don't believe it mixes very well with the water, though. The pour on has an ingredient that makes it absorb quickly into the skin... and I don't think that should be given orally.

I would be very careful. I don't know about how it would affect chickens but compared to most wormers, Moxidectin has a very low threshold for ODing in mammals (can't remember the exact number by like 3 - 4 times the correct dosage would kill, versus Safeguard at 70 - 80 times the correct dosage before you even start seening issues). When Quest first came out, people were killing thier smaller horses and foals fairly regularly by giving them too much wormer. I use the paste in my horses, but am very careful to give the correct dose and to watch them for 24 hrs afterwards.

Wow that is scary! It seems like very powerful stuff! That definately makes me shy away from it. I friend of my husband has some cattle and is going to give me some of the pour-on kind of Ivermectin.

How long do you have to wait before you can eat the eggs after treatment with pour-on Ivermectin?

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I believe it is 14 days.

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Yes, we had a horse react badly to it and almost lost her. The vet said it is much more toxic than other wormers. Needless to say I don't use it anymore:/

I've used Quest Plus gel with no issues. Dosage is a small "pea" size for standard size and a "BB" size for smaller chickens. I've found that it's easiest to put it on a small piece of bread and give a piece to each chicken. I've never seen the liquid form of moxidectin. Since it has been used on fowl in Australia successfully with proper dosage, the paste can be used with proper dosage as well. I recommend the usual 14 day withdrawal period for egg consumption.

It's true that the overdose is at a lower threshold than other dewormers, at least for horses. It's still several times (4 or 5) the weight limit, so the risk is usually in very young foals when someone estimates weight incorrectly, or minis.

It's an extremely effective dewormer showing little, if any, resistance. The BIGGEST problem is just that... it works so well. It should never be used on a malnourished or heavily infested animal or bird. Many of the problems seen with it (not quite as widespread as many would have you think), is because it does it's job so well, if there is a heavy worm load, the sudden and large number of them dying off at once cause problems-- they give off toxicity themselves. It can be too much for a weakened or heavily infested animal to endure, not to mention cause impaction. For instance, I have a (bad) habit of 'rescuing' neglected, sickly horses. They are usually on their last leg, literally, and carry a heavy, heavy worm load. On these, I have to start with safeguard... and sometimes at HALF dose to just maybe get a *few* worms. Then, several weeks later, I can full dose them with safeguard. THEN, ivermectin a few weeks later, possibly at a reduced dose, too. THEN, I powerpack them with safeguard. THEN... and it depends on the individual case, I can use something that really packs a punch. The whole process can span several months before I get them to a point where they can go on a regular, less monitored deworming schedule. Too much, too soon, WILL kill them... even though you'd like to get every last one of them instantly. It's not the dewormer/drug that's the problem, it's the massive die off of worms that can cause all kinds of havoc.

The same could be said from many dewormers if used on heavily infested animals or birds or on ones that haven't been on a good deworming schedule. If you kill off EVERYTHING at once, it can cause problems. That's why it's best to use a milder, actually less effective dewormer in these cases FIRST. Quest targets (in horses) even more stages of the worms that other dewormers don't touch... so suddenly, there might be even more dying off.

There have been cases of invermetin type dewormers causing reaction (allergic and otherwise) in mammals (horses/dogs, Particularly certain breeds of dogs that carry a certain gene ), too. Sometimes after successfully using the drug many times before.

Done properly, dosed properly, there's rarely a bad effect or outcome from any of the dewormers.