Chicken Feed + Water = Crazy feeding frenzy... why?

[cmom]

Something that I don't think anyone else has mentioned is the possibility of using wet food as an easy delivery method for medications. Such as wormers or mite treatments. Especially if the birds see wet food as a treat and gobble it up.

I always have struggled with finding the perfect medication that can be dosed as a "pour on" (like flea meds you put on your dog), that actually has impact on a broad range of pests (seems many only kill specific bugs). I don't want to deal with squirting something in their mouth, and don't want to be injecting with a needle. Yes, there is the holy grail of Eprinex that kills a broad spectrum of bugs, but it is super expensive.

It seems that most if not all of the main oral drugs suggested for chickens could be mixed into some wet food, which solves the problem of not wanting to squirt it in their mouth one by one. As long as you make enough wet food that they all get a full crop/full dose!

There are things you can put in their water.

 

[paneubert]

There are things you can put in their water.

Yeah, and they are usually not water soluble! Or come with a warning from the person who recommends putting it in the waterer that "it will settle out really fast, so make sure you go shake it up every 30 minutes." Haha. If there was a truly water soluble med that wormed a broad spectrum of worm types, I would be all over it! The closest I have come to a true water soluble wormer is "WormOut Gel". Expensive and still super hard to keep in suspension in their water. And that is sad since it is MEANT to be put in their water.

EDIT to add: Now if we could get our birds to drink booze....that would make it a lot easier. Most drugs are easily soluble in alcohol. Haha. I have also had this issue in my saltwater reef tank. It is a really good idea to quarantine any new fish and treat for worms and parasites before you put them in your main tank, since once in your tank, it is impossible to get the parasites out without killing all your coral and live rock. Even the FISH drugs (well....they are the same drugs as the human and livestock drugs, just marketed to fish keepers) are usually not water soluble. Figure that one out! Haha.

 

[cmom]

 

[paneubert]

Don't get me started! Haha. . Just kidding. There are good water based meds, but they always seem to treat only one specific thing. Like Wazine. Treats mostly roundworms and not much else from my experience.