Safeguard and Feather Damage While Molting

[MinxFox]

The research I have done just happens to be exactly what KsKingBee's vet recommended, which is Safeguard liquid or paste at 0.5ml per 2.2 pounds for five days.

That works out to:

• Large adult male - 3ml
• Large adult female - 2ml
• Small adult male - 2ml
• Small adult female - 1.5ml
• Large 3 month old chick - 1ml
• Medium 3 month old chick - 0.8ml
• Small 3 month old chick - 0.7

Above doses are for liquid *or* paste.

I prefer to work all of mine orally, but I can understand why some people don't want to, and I guess if I had to choose between food or water or food, I'd choose food. To do that I would guess the weight of my flock in pounds or kg and do a little math. I would then most likely put the amount of Safeguard needed in some water, mix well and then I'd use that water to make a mash. I think Zazouse puts her wormer in eggs?

Hope this helps,
Kathy

Thank you for posting this! Well I guess I should stop putting it in the water and just make a mash with it.

The math formula is:

Weight of flock in pounds divided by 2.2, times 50, divided by 100. The answer to that is the number of ml needed for your flock.
For example:
10 seven pound hens looks like this - 70 ÷ 2.2 x 50 ÷ 100 = 16ml (rounded up from 15.9090909091)

-Kathy

Okay so I would use this formula then? Or wait would I just add up this...
Alto - 3ml
Peep - 3ml
Frosty - 3ml
Ice - 2ml
Damsel - 2ml
Shyanne - 2ml
Snow White - 2ml

= 17ml of liquid safeguard? So that is 17ml daily and do I mix it with water or just keep it straight medicine into the mash?

 

[Garden Peas]

All of it needs to go into the birds, so unless they drink ALL the water, they won't get enough. That's why the mash thing works, it all goes into the birds...

 

[KsKingBee]

Thank you for posting this! Well I guess I should stop putting it in the water and just make a mash with it.

Okay so I would use this formula then? Or wait would I just add up this...
Alto - 3ml
Peep - 3ml
Frosty - 3ml
Ice - 2ml
Damsel - 2ml
Shyanne - 2ml
Snow White - 2ml

= 17ml of liquid safeguard? So that is 17ml daily and do I mix it with water or just keep it straight medicine into the mash?

What has worked well for me is to put the Safeguard in the water then put the water in the food. I did have a leg up as I was already feeding mash before I started the meds so I knew how much water I needed to how much feed to make the consistency I wanted. If you just dump the Safeguard into the feed there will be a glump of food with the meds, if you mix it into the water first it will be evenly distributed throughout all the mash.

I would feed the mash without the safeguard in it for a couple of days first to see how much feed they will clean up in one feeding. If I remember right you mentioned that you thought that they get tired of mash and will stop eating it after a while. I will mix things into mine to give them a change up. I will mix in really old bananas on one or two days a week, they really like mackerel so I mix a can in for 'Fish Friday' and 'Mackerel Monday'. Right now we have an abundance of rotting pears and apples, yep, into the mash, they love it. Celery and carrots diced breaks up the monotony as well as add to the beta carotene helping the feather color. Oh, and groats, aka steamed and rolled oats, they really like their oats and it is high in protein too.

Sorry if I am going on a bit, but mine really enjoy their mash and come in willingly every evening for supper and stay in all night. Then every morning they get their morning mash before enjoying the day free ranging.

 

[KsKingBee]

Here is one of my necropsy pictures showing very small cecal worms.


-Kathy

Those would be very easy to miss! I had to blow the pic up to even see them. Did the color of the organ alert you to the worms? Thanks for sharing.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: I hadn't seen them until I took the pictures and downloaded them. Once I saw them on the screen I went back outside to get a better look. They are so small that I will never see those in poop. This is what the end of the cecal pouch looked like:


Roundworms

Cecal Worms

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Quote: Add them up *or* do the formula, either way is fine. Then do like KsKingBee does and put it in the mash.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Valbazen (albendazole) is an alternative to using Safeguard five days in a row. A single dose at 20mg/kg will kill a large percentage of most worms, including gapes and capillary worms. Dose once and repeat in ten days.

• Large adult male - 1.06ml
• Large adult female - 0.53ml
• Small adult male - 0.53ml
• Small adult female - 0.26ml
• Large 3 month old chick - 0.35ml
• Medium 3 month old chick - 0.28ml
• Small 3 month old chick - 0.25ml

Or take the weight of flock in pounds, divide by 2.2, times 20mg/kg, divided by 113.6 (number of mg per ml). The answer to that is the number of ml needed for your flock.
For example:
10 seven pound hens looks like this - 70 ÷ 2.2 x 20 ÷ 113.6 = 5.6ml

Disclaimer: I have not used Valbazen, but I have researched the it and came to the conclusion that 20mg/kg is the most effective dose. In addition to that, that amount was confirmed by a vet, but not my vet.

It is a safe drug, but not quite as safe as Safeguard according to what I've read.

-Kathy

 

[MinxFox]

So then after 10 days give them the safeguard for 5 more days? Or should it be after 14 days? I just want to make sure I do this the right way since I love all of my birdies.

I think all of this info needs to be in a peafowl sticky or something. Maybe you could write an article for the UPA magazine even? They have recently been running a lot of medical themed articles and yours could really be helpful.

 

[casportpony]

So then after 10 days give them the safeguard for 5 more days? Or should it be after 14 days? I just want to make sure I do this the right way since I love all of my birdies.

I think all of this info needs to be in a peafowl sticky or something. Maybe you could write an article for the UPA magazine even? They have recently been running a lot of medical themed articles and yours could really be helpful.

I think KsKingBee's vet said just the five days. As for an article in the UPA magazine, I doubt some people there would want to print it as it contradicts what many of them think is the proper way to worm.

-Kathy

 

[KsKingBee]

I think KsKingBee's vet said just the five days. As for an article in the UPA magazine, I doubt some people there would want to print it as it contradicts what many of them think is the proper way to worm.

-Kathy

She want to do another fecal exam four days after the treatment to see whether another cycle of treatments is necessary. According to her dosing information it should not be necessary but we want to make sure. Curious minds want to know.

Update on grow out pen; on third day of dosing I still have not found any worms in the stools, and I have examined between fifty to seventy by now. Perhaps the load was not that bad after all.