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

[1muttsfan]

I've had great results with just a handful of pumpkin seeds a few times a year. 

Have you checked your program by having fecal exams done for parasite eggs? Adult birds can harbor parasites without clinical signs or visual evidence of worms in the stool. Pumpkin seeds are not a very effective dewormer. Having stool samples checked can both identify whether you have a parasite problem, and what the best treatment is if you do.

 

[islandgirl82]

I haven't but thank you for the info.

To my knowledge, I've not had an infestation and do take preventative measures. I have seen abnormal droppings a couple of times if my flock has been stuck in the run for an excessive amount of time instead of getting out to range but droppings were back to normal a day after feeding the seeds.

I do free-range as much as possible and I give FF and offer dry as well. Their feed also contains DE in it and I add ACV to the water.

 

[speckledhen]

Even invermectin is not a great wormer for some worms now. I wormed a hen who then died from what turned out to be a massive reproductive infection. Just two or three months after worming, she had an infestation of capillaria. And this was a free ranging hen. So, I switched to Valbazen on the advice of a man who has raised chickens longer than most of us have been alive who is also an NPIP tester for the state. If there are no signs of dull feathers or any other symptoms of worms, they're probably fine with the pumpkin seeds, but neither DE nor pumpkin seeds can be counted on to worm. There were necropsies done on birds who were fed the 2% ratio of DE in their feed, probably more if the results are any indication, that showed their intestines were dessicated, literally dried up, but they still had worms. I wish I could reference the post about that, but it's been a long time ago. I do think worming quarterly is overkill, though. Some folks worm so often, I wonder when they'd ever eat the eggs.

Hector pics today. His tail, what there is of it, is all over the place. First photo, his "stop stalking me with that camera" face. Others show poor, sweet Apollo running..and running... and running from Hector.


















ETA: Got this msg from my son just now:

Quote:

 

[getaclue]

You might want to check out the thread I've posted. There is great information about worming, and wormers, especially on the first 25 pages.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-and-wormer-misinformations-graphic-pictures

 

[islandgirl82]

Thank you for posting that thread. That's loaded with information. I've been keeping a flock for 7 years and never used anything like that on anyone; trying to stay as natural as possible. I lost one hen to egg binding a couple of years ago and one more recently who was going through a molt but didn't show any signs of illness. Any others I've lost were due to predators.

No one is currently laying in my flock so I suppose now would be a good time to worm? There are a couple who are finishing up with their molt, would worming be a problem for them?

 

[1muttsfan]

This would be a great time. Probably the best way would be to use Valbazen, then redose 10 days later.

 

[speckledhen]

Thank you for posting that thread. That's loaded with information. I've been keeping a flock for 7 years and never used anything like that on anyone; trying to stay as natural as possible. I lost one hen to egg binding a couple of years ago and one more recently who was going through a molt but didn't show any signs of illness. Any others I've lost were due to predators.

No one is currently laying in my flock so I suppose now would be a good time to worm? There are a couple who are finishing up with their molt, would worming be a problem for them?

Excellent time to worm them, though if a hen is having a particularly evil molt, I hesitate to use anything on her until she's on the upswing, but that's just me. I feel like it's more stress on her system, but I could be just borrowing trouble. I admit that I usually skip the second worming two weeks later unless I feel I really need to do it, but it is supposed to get any worms that hatch during that time from eggs since wormers don't kill worms inside their own eggs.

 

[getaclue]

If they are finishing up with their molt, it should not be a problem to worm them. When I first began with worming, I used Safeguard Goat Dewormer (Fenbendazole). You can give .25 cc per lb. of bird, or 1 cc for 4 lbs. of bird. I did the 5 days in a row treatment, which is more work, but kills everything including 2 types of tapeworm, but does not kill all varieties of tapeworm, however, I was not concerned about tapeworms. Having had no experience, at the time, I purchased my product at the local feed store. The price was why I chose Safeguard over Valbazen at that time. I've since learned that my local feed store has a huge mark-up on their dewormers.

I understand that using the same dewormer for years, tends to make the birds/worms a bit resistant, and switching it up every other year or every other time you worm, is beneficial, so this year I got the Valbazen, and will switch off between the two.


While some people insist you can not tell whether your flock needs worming without a fecal test, that's not entirely true. Like I said before, I pick each of my birds up, and inspect them on a very regular basis. (I don't do this nearly as often during molt, since it is uncomfortable for them, but when you do it regularly, and know everything is ok, then you can get away with not checking them as much during molt.) When you are checking them, notice their heft. Birds with worms will lose a little weight, and won't feel quite as filled out as they should. Notice their combs, waddles, etc. The combs, and wattles of birds with worms tend to be a bit more pale. Birds with worms tend to lay less eggs. When checking pooh, keep in mind there is regular pooh, and cecal pooh. Both should be checked. While no one symptom is an indication of the presence of worms, two or more of these symptoms, when you are sure there are no lice/mites, and they seem otherwise healthy, tend to indicate that it's probably time to worm.

 

[Wyatt0224]

Congratulations for your son being accepted!

 

[speckledhen]

Congratulations for your son being accepted!

Thank you! He is a long time out of college so he didn't know if they would (he was 37 in August). But, this program is a one year program, something that is unusual and this college is prestigious. So, I believe this is in preparation for leaving Korea and settling somewhere in the future. He may fall in love with Ireland, though.

oh, I was videotaping something about the Brahmas and Hector had to get his head in the frame, twice. So, it's all about the Brahmas (and nosy Hector). And Thea kept pulling on my shoe lace, too, and rocking the camera so I'll have to do the "shaky-fix" thing, LOL.


ETA: Since my upload speed is less than 1 mbps, it's taking forever, sorry.
I changed Atlas's photo in my avatar to a more mature one of him.