cracked beak n de-worming

[3sisters]

Hi!
I noticed my hen has a vertical crack in her beak. It does not seem to affect her. I feel better reading the post above. What would be the best glue to use when glueing the beak? I also read in a post that some people crop their birds beaks. Is that a necessity, kind of like trimming dog nails? I am new to having chickens and so far adore my three girls and of course I want to try to give them the best care.

Another question: My birds are not around other chickens, however are turned out with our two labs (they thinkthe chickens are dogs too) and I am wondering when, or should I de-worm my hens? If so, how much de-wormer (liquid I would imagine) and how much water per liquid wormer. My girls are 5 months old.

Thank you for the help!
3Sisters

 

[math ace]

Let me answer the crack beak issue first...

I have a male who has broke his break horizontally twice. Each time, we did nothing. The beak grows amazingly quick. He broke his top beak back so far that his tongue was exposed.

OK... so is she is able to eat and drink ok, I would not do anything. It took about two weeks for my male's beak to grow back to normal length. I think he gets it caught in the hardware cloth when he is spurring with the adjacent rooster.

 

[math ace]

Now for the worming question...Here is a copy from an earlier post of mine...

I like to worm mine for the first time right before they start laying. That way I don't have to worry about tossing any eggs the first time around. So your birds are the perfect age to start worming. If they haven't started laying yet, they will soon!

Next, which wormer and how to administer... There are three main ways of administering wormers...

1.) In their drinking water.
2.) Directly down their throats
3.) On the skin on the back of their necks.

Which method you use really depends on the wormer you choose. What you want is a broad spectrum wormer. You want a wormer that treats a lot of worms, not just one type.

I use to use Safe-gaurd (fenbenzole) 10% suspension goat wormer. This I would mix in the drinking water at a rate of 3 cc per gallon of water for 2 or 3 days. I like this wormer because it is gentle and very hard to over dose the birds on it. Of course, it will separate from the water, so you need to shake the waterer around when ever you go out to check on the birds, so that it gets mixed up again. PLUS, you need to make a new batch each day.

I had some birds get tapeworms. fenbenzole does not treat tapeworms. I had to switch to Valbazen (albendazole) for that round of worming. This medication is administered directly down their throats. You must be more accurate with the dosing because you are giving it to them directly and it is weight based. My birds are LARGE fowl and as a general rule of thumb, I used 1/2 cc for the hens ( 4 to 6 lbs) and 3/4 cc for the roosters ( 7 to 9 lbs).

The most important thing to remember when worming your birds is that they must be re-treated in 7 - 10 days to make the worming effective. The second worming is to kill any larve that hatched after the first treatment.

I use an egg withdrawal period is 14 days after the last dosing of wormer...

I worm every 6 months because I live in the warm, humid, south. Our dirt is great for bugs... Depending on where you live, you may need to worm more or worm less.

 

[3sisters]

Dear Flock Master
Thank you for the info My girls have started laying daily. However with the shorter days and the weather starting to cool off (well for South Carolina we are cooling off) the egg production has been every other day.
When I went to pick up feed for my girls, I asked one of the gals there and she said because they are free range hens and we are not going to eat them that worming is not necessary. What are your thoughts on that?
As for the beak issue. She eats and drinks without a problem. I will keep an eye on it and make sure she continues her regular behavior.
Going back to the wormer. I have horses and use Safe Guard paste on my guys during their rotation. Could I use some of it and mix it with water? It also comes in a pelleted form..could that be crushed and put in their food?

Thank you for taing the time to answer my questions. By the way, what is the name of the pot bellied pig? He or she is adorable!

3Sisters

 

[Mehjr10]

Even free range birds need to be wormed, the overloading of worms reduces the amount of nutrients that the Birds get from the food they eat. I use the Valbezan at the dosage listed above.. On tossing the eggs you can feed them back to the birds or if you research what is given for worming people, one of the products is the same ingredient that is in Valbezan. Your decision. Super Glue will work fast and hold the beak until it grows back out.


Search here on the safeguard dosage, I think I have read about a pea size ball orally.

 

[math ace]

When I went to pick up feed for my girls, I asked one of the gals there and she said because they are free range hens and we are not going to eat them that worming is not necessary. What are your thoughts on that?
As for the beak issue. She eats and drinks without a problem. I will keep an eye on it and make sure she continues her regular behavior.
Going back to the wormer. I have horses and use Safe Guard paste on my guys during their rotation. Could I use some of it and mix it with water? It also comes in a pelleted form..could that be crushed and put in their food?

Thank you for taing the time to answer my questions. By the way, what is the name of the pot bellied pig? He or she is adorable!

3Sisters

The folks at the feed stores tend to know absolutely NOTHING about taking care of animals. They just repeat what they have heard or been told. They have no REAL experience with birds.

Worming is necessary unless your birds are kept in cages like they do at the egg production places. The worms from come things they eat while free ranging. Certain areas of the US need to worm more frequently than other areas, BUT if your birds are not kept in a cage 24/7 they will need to be wormed sooner or later.

Safe Guard paste is really concentrated. I think the first notch on the applicator is for 250 lbs. It would be almost impossible to break that amount down small enough for a 6 or 7 lbs bird. I don't recommend using it... It is a paste and I don't think it will mix well with water. As far as the pellets go, I tried them once. The chickens wouldn't touch them! LOL..
I tried to crush them and I tried to mix them in other treats. It was just an unsuccessful PITA activity. The liquid goat suspension works very well and is easy to do.

GLADYS is the name of the pot belly pig... Thanks

 

[dawg53]

Dosage for the safeguard equine paste for chickens is a "pea" size amount given to each chicken individually. It's a pain to administer. Some people put it on a piece a bread and give it that way. However it's usually stolen by another hen, then there's the problem of possible overdosing. I agree with Math Ace, the safeguard liquid goat wormer is much easier to administer, no guesswork about it when you orally dose them one by one.
BTW, the paste is not soluable in water.

 

[math ace]

dawg53, I use the safegaurd paste with my pigs. I put it on bread. The chickens are constantly trying to steal it! They love it!
I quit worming the pigs with the birds around because the chickens are theiving heathens.

Just being the math person that I am .... I just don't see there being 15 or 25 pea size doseages before you hit the first weight mark on horse paste. This is the second reason that I quit using the paste around the chickens... The math just didn't add up. Whereas with the goat wormer, I could do all the mathematical conversions and the doseage seemed to be amount right.

The really funny thing is the birds will steal the safegaurd wormer on bread BUT do not want anything to do with the valbrazen wormer on bread. They ate the valbrazen wormer on bread the first time I did it, but after that they got smart and wouldn't touch it. Then I had to administer the valbrazen straight down the throat... LOL...