Hello. I just wanted to clarify some things about the ivermectin, since there seemed to be some questions.
First, yes - it's the cattle ivermectin. I usually buy generic as Ivomec seems to be very highly priced and rarely comes in smaller containers. My last container was Aspen brand, 250, and was $13.95. The ingredient is "ivermectin", not any other -mectin, for the dosage given. It's a blue liquid.
I use the syringe and needle to help make precise sized drops that come out one at a time (unlike droppers which sometimes come out two at a time for me) and that I can place precisely. I keep the needle horizontal and pointing off to the side, not towards the bird. That way if they wiggle, I won't poke them.
It's very important to find a spot on the main body that will give you about 1/2 inch of naked skin. I find that the feathers on the back of the neck have less fluff and that's where I usually end up. Preen through there, find a good spot, clear the bits of fluff away with your fingers of one hand, and use the other hand to apply the drop(s) onto the skin.
If it hits fluff, it will soak into the feather and you won't know whether or not it went into the system. I use normal skin, not comb or leg skin.
By the way, use this time to do a full exam of each bird. Check their weight, their feathering, for parasites, their breathing etc etc. It''s best if you make a journal when you do this.
Additionally, I usually recommend worming with Wazine as a first wormer if the bird hasn't been wormed in a year, or if they're of unknown origins. Use Wazine 17 (piperazine 17% solution) as labeled in their water for one day as the sole source of water. (Check the label to see how much Wazine to use per gallon of water.) That paralyzes adults roundworms, and a couple of other worms. It neither kills nor paralyzes larvael stages, and since it's designed to be repeated it won't even effect all adults - but that's what you want.
If a bird has an unnoticed heavy parasite load (and you cannot go by the droppings on this one - only a fecal egg count) then sloughing all the worms at once can sometimes cause the bird to go into shock or to have blockage as all the paralyzed worms try to pass out of the body.
So I practice the wise tradition or worming light the first time, and then in 2 weeks going back and worming with a more full-spectrum strong wormer like ivermectin, levamisole, or fenbendazole. After that, I just worm with ivermectin twice yearly without the pre-wormer, or as a fecal egg count dictates.
My choice, ivermectin, will also kill larvae of roundworm which is important because the larvae will develop into adults and reinfect your birds. So one the second wormer, I like to kill them all. The one common worm it won't kill is tapeworms. Few wormers do. You have to spot treat for that.
I hope this helps.
