Quote:
Maggots can live in anything that provides moisture. Use permethrin dust to dust the coops to kill the maggots. Read the label. Then pick up the maggots and throw them away. Keep the birds away from them in the mean time.
WORMING:
For worming, buy a thing of Wazine. And then in a month buy a thing of fenbendazole or pour-on ivermectin for cattle (the small 250 bottle, generic, is around $15 - PM for usage of either).
You worm initially with Wazine to paralyze adult worms and expel them. Wazine is meant to be repeated, but on birds with an unknown worming history it's most safe to worm as if they all have a lot of worms. So on the follow up, instead of using more wazine (which won't kill larva in the bird) use the fenbendazole or ivermectin which DOES actually kill both larva and adults. Then you stop the cycle. Repeat fenbendazole or ivermectin twice annually thereafter.
If the birds are under four months old, just repeat the wazine as labeled until they'r efour months - then worm with the fenben or ivermectin.
Incidentally, I always use Wazine first (or only) if the bird meets *any* of the following qualifications:
- Bird is shedding worms
- Bird is quite thin or has diarrhea
- Bird is under four months old (only use Wazine til 'of age')
- Bird hasn't been wormed in over 6 months
- Bird is of an unknown worming history
WHY WAZINE FIRST?
The reason I don't recommend just starting with something like ivermectin or fenbendazole (unless recommended by a vet) is that if a bird has a good parasite load, then you can shock them or even clog them with the paralyzed expelled worms if you kill EVERYthing at once. Checking the feces for worms is an ineffective method of determining worm load as parasites generally stay inside the bird (other than tapeworms). Otherwise they'd die. So instead of leaving the bird, they shed their eggs. Getting a 'fecal egg count' at the vet is the way you truly check. Otherwise use the Wazine first, worm with a broad spectrum wormer to followup, and worm twice annually.
NATURAL PARASITE REDUCTION AIDS:
Some people choose to use natural worm deterents inbetween wormings to hopefully reduce loads of parasites available to be picked up. Note: these do NOT expel worms, they do NOT treat a worm infestation. But maybe they help reduce parasite loads between worming. I think this is a good idea if you're interested:
DE food grade only (see below for use)
Cayenne - sprinkle on feed daily
VermX - a self-proclaimed worm repellent aid; use 3 consecutive days per month.
USING DE CORRECTLY:
You can use DE (food grade only ever) in the bedding and even in their food if you use food-grade for all applications. Feed rate is 2% of their total feed weight, stirred in. DE food grade in the bedding -sprinkle on the ground, replace bedding, sprinkle in the bedding, stir in. Use DE food grade in the places where you know they dust bathe - just a little, stir in.
MAGGOTS:
As for the maggots, any time you see any pick them up and get rid of them pronto! Chickens will eat them, and maggots carry botulism germs. Also, I find the hanging bag fly traps (the one with the plastic tube inside that you break, then fill with water) work wonders! The one I mentioned smells the least bad, attracts tons of flies and traps them, and won't leak. (The ones I had with little cloth bags instead of tubes smelled like death and then leaked the nasty fly and fly attractant water all over my feed room!) The fewer the flies, the fewer the maggots. The fewer the maggots, the fewer the flies.
ENVIRONMENT as a help to reducing parasites and disease:
I have to agree with trilyn on the horse-stall type shavings. Buy the compressed pine shavings for horses from
TSC, etc. They're dried and thus they dry out poop so wonderfully! They reduce disease and don't have mildew spores as bad as hay/straw. Having horses, you soon learn exactly which shavings are effective and which aren't. For your dirt areas, top the soil areas with sand. Again it dries out the area, keeps bacteria and parasites down (they can't live as long in dry areas), keeps the smells away, and you can rake it. Water drains through it and keeps your birds skin healthier.
