The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[crazyhen]

It was a whopping 32 *here this morning. The beautiful trees will be quick about coloring up. I am 2000 ft. also Cyn. How is Atlas? Has he calmed down any. He is very pretty. It always breaks my heart to have to rehome or process a roo or hen. I am afraid I get much too attached.

 

[speckledhen]

It was a whopping 32 *here this morning. The beautiful trees will be quick about coloring up. I am 2000 ft. also Cyn. How is Atlas? Has he calmed down any. He is very pretty. It always breaks my heart to have to rehome or process a roo or hen. I am afraid I get much too attached.

Yup, we were at about 33* also.

Atlas is better, yes! He seems like he's happy to be in what he considers home. Like I said, he was an angel when we wormed him and I go in and out of there and picked up his pullets to worm them and he only watched me, no move to defend. He's doing great right now!

 

[Peanutsmomma]

Yup, we were at about 33* also.

Atlas is better, yes! He seems like he's happy to be in what he considers home. Like I said, he was an angel when we wormed him and I go in and out of there and picked up his pullets to worm them and he only watched me, no move to defend. He's doing great right now!

I am joining you in that happy dance!!

Hopefully, everything on the Atlas front will be smoother sailing from here on out.

You mentioned earlier that you were using a better wormer. Would you mind sharing what that is? I have been using D.E. since I am making every effort to raise our flock organically and our 6 month old girls are great with no signs of parasites however, my experience with my sick Choc Orp babies is making me think I need a back up plan.

 

[speckledhen]

I am joining you in that happy dance!!

Hopefully, everything on the Atlas front will be smoother sailing from here on out.

You mentioned earlier that you were using a better wormer. Would you mind sharing what that is? I have been using D.E. since I am making every effort to raise our flock organically and our 6 month old girls are great with no signs of parasites however, my experience with my sick Choc Orp babies is making me think I need a back up plan.

I hate to tell you this, but DE doesn't worm. It loses cutting ability when wet, which it definitely is inside a bird's gut. The best wormer is Valbazen. If you want a natural preventative, pumpkin seeds and buttermilk is a mild one. The curcurbit in the pumpkin seed paralyzes many worms so they can be flushed from the body; some folks follow with a molasses flush (molasses in water to hurry food through).

 

[Peanutsmomma]

I hate to tell you this, but DE doesn't worm. It loses cutting ability when wet, which it definitely is inside a bird's gut. The best wormer is Valbazen. If you want a natural preventative, pumpkin seeds and buttermilk is a mild one. The curcurbit in the pumpkin seed paralyzes many worms so they can be flushed from the body; some folks follow with a molasses flush (molasses in water to hurry food through).

Thanks for the info on the Valbazen. I will check with our Feed and Seed store to see if they have it for my arsenal.

I had heard that DE doesn't work when wet either so back when I was doing my fermented feed experiment with Scratch and Peck feed I called them to ask about that since they recommend mixing up to 2% weight of feed with DE whether you are feeding it dry or fermented. The S&P rep told me that DE does not work for the control of external parasites when wet but that for the prevention or elimination of internal parasites it must be wet to work. I thought that didn't make a lot of sense but I decided to start giving them DE early on since most everyone in our Mobile Backyard Chicken Club uses it and an acquaintance of mine who is an organic chicken farmer/processor swears by it. When you mentioned the Pumpkin Seed and Buttermilk remedy I remember her saying something about that in the class that I took from her on raising chickens organically. I need to go back and check my notes, thanks for the reminder. I know that from reading the boards here that some love DE and some think it is hogwash but all in all I am super happy with the DE as I got a clean poop screen from the vet and we don't have a fly problem in our coop.

If something happens to go wrong with our girls I wanted to not be fumbling around looking for a good wormer and I trust your advice so thanks again.

 

[speckledhen]

Quote: He has it all mixed up, Angela. It does kill soft bodied bugs like lice/weevils when dusted on a bird or when put in feed, which is why I put some, maybe a cup, in newly opened feed bags, but I do not give add it to feed at that 2% ratio because there have been studies (wish I could find that link) that showed necropsies on birds fed DE at that rate had badly dessicated intestines, not a good thing at all. Logically, if it doesn't work when wet in one case, why would wetting it help in another? He's just plain wrong.

I do use it, and it works for what it's good for, but I never depend on it to worm birds. Too many necropsies have shown birds full of worms who were fed DE as a wormer, sadly.

 

[Peanutsmomma]

He has it all mixed up, Angela. It does kill soft bodied bugs like lice/weevils when dusted on a bird or when put in feed, which is why I put some, maybe a cup, in newly opened feed bags, but I do not give add it to feed at that 2% ratio because there have been studies (wish I could find that link) that showed necropsies on birds fed DE at that rate had badly dessicated intestines, not a good thing at all. Logically, if it doesn't work when wet in one case, why would wetting it help in another? He's just plain wrong.

I do use it, and it works for what it's good for, but I never depend on it to worm birds. Too many necropsies have shown birds full of worms who were fed DE as a wormer, sadly.

Good to know, I will google the info on necropsies on birds fed DE. I do not want to do anything that will harm our girls in the long run. I know our new sick babies are battling some sort of parasite that is eating their intestinal lining and that makes for a mighty sick chicken.

How often do you recommend regular worming? Do you have to wait a certain length of time after worming to be able to consume their eggs?

 

[speckledhen]

Good to know, I will google the info on necropsies on birds fed DE. I do not want to do anything that will harm our girls in the long run. I know our new sick babies are battling some sort of parasite that is eating their intestinal lining and that makes for a mighty sick chicken.

How often do you recommend regular worming? Do you have to wait a certain length of time after worming to be able to consume their eggs?

I admit that I was never much of a worming chicken keeper, though everyone was wormed about once a year. That was when they were all free ranging much more than they are now. Penned chickens need worming more regularly, IMO, than ones who can access natural wormers out on range while foraging (don't ask me what they are, though, can't remember where that list is, again with the memory!). I would probably recommend worming twice a year. You then have to do a second one two weeks later, if you want to be thorough, to get worms that hatch from those internal eggs the meds don't get. I've usually skipped the second phase, but this time, I am going to do it.


I am announcing that today, I bought eggs for only the 2nd time since owing chickens. They look anemic and will probably taste the same (not used to seeing stark white eggs!). Blech! But, I have to worm them and they are not laying much anyway. Got 2 LF an 1 bantam egg today, which added to every day's take, will be fed back to the masses until the second worming. Wormers have different withdrawal periods, but those are just estimates and some folks don't even do them. I usually wait over a week, sometimes two weeks, before I eat their eggs, however, since I'm re-worming in two weeks, it will be awhile.

If you look up any of dawg53's posts, he is considered quite the expert on worming around here, Angela.

 

[1muttsfan]

Sick babies are more likely to have coccidia - and dewormers are inefective for protozoal parasites.

 

[speckledhen]

Sick babies are more likely to have coccidia - and dewormers are inefective for protozoal parasites.

That is very true, but she said she had them tested at her vet so I assumed he decided what the parasites were. Said they had four types. Angela, have you dosed them with Corid? I don't remember if you said.