Urgent - Has anyone used Durvet Ivermectin product yet?

[Chickassan]

Guinea or chicken nobody likes having bugs lol!
He will be grateful...sorta.

Ohhhh, yeahhhh! Remember they are Guineas, so extra happy to be caught and handled - Not! LOL

But he will feel sooo much better when he does not have to continuously grow feathers that are immediately chewed up - phew!

 

[Vickischics]

Hi Vickichics,

You may want to search the forums for "worming schedules" "parasite prevention" and such.

As far as I can tell there are widely differing opinions about this - what works, what does not, how often to use it - **but** there are common reports on what works for most people.

I am no expert on chickens - we only have Guineas - and I have been going back and forth on how much 'poison' to give them. Never had external mites (so far so good) and never had a problem with internal worms when the vet checked.

Vets, by the way, have given me widely differing opinions, too, on wormers. I err on the side of not treating but that is a personal decision.

We really started treating hard when we got feather or quill mites one year and the birds went downhill fast - I went to the vet, cried, tried a number of things, went to another vet, etc. In the end one vet prescribed the IVOMEC ivermectin pour-on for cattle and we worked on the dose (I made a weighing cage to hang from a suspended scale) and that was the only thing that got rid of the quill mites for us.

I had to treat 3 times, highest recommended dose, 7-10 days apart and when I missed it, I had to start the 3 times over again - arghh!

After all that, only gapeworm could have survived and I treated with the goat wormer (forgot the name but can look it up if you are interested) for that but am not doing that regularly.

Some of our Guineas will be 8 years old this year! The ones that did not make it died from predators, tumors, error in feeding (too many treats in the winter), and 2 unknown (may have been parasites?? but no proof of that).

I use preventative Diamoteceous Earth (DE) **under** the bedding and in crevices where mites tend to hide. I don't use it on open surfaces so the birds don't whirl it up and we all don't breathe it so much, but some folks put it in their dust bath - I don't.

Hope that helps a little.

My advice: ask lots of questions and stay sharp. Use your own mind to think about it and observe your birds. Use what you think is best for you. Best of luck!

Thank you.
I do have a call to my vet to see what her recommendations are to since reading your posts. Im going to begin using Diamoteceous earth also.
So far, so good.

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

Thank you.
I do have a call to my vet to see what her recommendations are to since reading your posts. Im going to begin using Diamoteceous earth also.
So far, so good.

Sometimes vets are not real familiar with poultry and the forum folks are much better help.

I had one fantastic vet I found because one person who bought keets from us said she stitched up her chicken after a hawk attack. The vet's office said: "we don't treat poultry, only cats and dogs and parrots" but when I asked for this vet in particular and told them she had helped my 'friend' they relented and she was the greatest Guinea vet - now retired, sadly.

In any case, vets can be a great help if they care - hardest part is finding one who cares and has some knowledge of poultry. Most poultry vets are in the commercial businesses and they are used to birds being treated as expendable. =[

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

That reminds me of a joke:
Guinea walks into a bar. Bar tender says: "We don't serve poultry here." Guinea says: "That's ok, I just want something to drink."

 

[Vickischics]

New Question??
After reading about different bird pests and mites. How much do I use and where do I put Diamoteceous earth?
They have their coop thats 6x6 and a run thats 12x25.
They dust bathe daily and I laugh because they are too funny rolling around and flinging dirt. I have videos of them. Lol
Just spoke to my Vet. She knows me very well and it was decided a "No" to vaccines unless problems arise for my backyard little flock of 6 hens. She said around here, she really only sees chickens brought in for major injuries from preditors esp. Ones not locked up at night or in a good cage material to prevent the predator from grabbing a chicken via the wire. She also sees hen wounds from an agressive Rooster. Other than that, she recommends just keeping an eye out for worms, and mites ect with my hens then, treat them accordingly.
Question: How much do I use and where do I put the Diamoteceous earth?
Thanks in advance.

 

[aart]

How much do I use and where do I put Diamoteceous earth?

Leave it in the container you bought it in....
...until you might get grain mites in the summer, only thing I've seen it worth treating.

 

[Vickischics]

Leave it in the container you bought it in....
...until you might get grain mites in the summer, only thing I've seen it worth treating.

Ok, Thank you.

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

New Question??
After reading about different bird pests and mites. How much do I use and where do I put Diamoteceous earth?
They have their coop thats 6x6 and a run thats 12x25.
They dust bathe daily and I laugh because they are too funny rolling around and flinging dirt. I have videos of them. Lol
Just spoke to my Vet. She knows me very well and it was decided a "No" to vaccines unless problems arise for my backyard little flock of 6 hens. She said around here, she really only sees chickens brought in for major injuries from preditors esp. Ones not locked up at night or in a good cage material to prevent the predator from grabbing a chicken via the wire. She also sees hen wounds from an agressive Rooster. Other than that, she recommends just keeping an eye out for worms, and mites ect with my hens then, treat them accordingly.
Question: How much do I use and where do I put the Diamoteceous earth?
Thanks in advance.

Hi Vickichics, Did you mean "No" to "wormers" instead of "vaccines"? Vaccines prevent disease from bacteria and viruses, like the flu vaccine or the measles vaccine, wormers kill worms and sometimes their eggs and sometimes other parasites in and outside the body. If you look at my reaaallly long post above, I do talk about where to use DE. It is not good to breathe, for us or the birds, so basically, I, personally, only put it **under** their bedding when I clean the coop out and inside crevices between boards where mites might hide; I don't use it in dust baths or open surfaces where it could be more easily stirred up and get into our lungs and eyes, etc. Others have widely different opinions and uses, I know for sure. Some say it works, some swear it does not. I don't think anyone has done a controlled study.

aart, if it works for grain mites, I would think it would work against other mites as well, you just don't see the effect as well as you do in the grain container?

 

[aart]

aart, if it works for grain mites, I would think it would work against other mites as well, you just don't see the effect as well as you do in the grain container?

Even with grain mites(which are very softbodied) in the feed, it can take while to be effective.

I've just read too many stories about infestations of lice and mites appearing after regimes of DE as a preventative to believe it's worth in that realm.

 

[Vickischics]

Hi Vickichics, Did you mean "No" to "wormers" instead of "vaccines"? Vaccines prevent disease from bacteria and viruses, like the flu vaccine or the measles vaccine, wormers kill worms and sometimes their eggs and sometimes other parasites in and outside the body. If you look at my reaaallly long post above, I do talk about where to use DE. It is not good to breathe, for us or the birds, so basically, I, personally, only put it **under** their bedding when I clean the coop out and inside crevices between boards where mites might hide; I don't use it in dust baths or open surfaces where it could be more easily stirred up and get into our lungs and eyes, etc. Others have widely different opinions and uses, I know for sure. Some say it works, some swear it does not. I don't think anyone has done a controlled study.

aart, if it works for grain mites, I would think it would work against other mites as well, you just don't see the effect as well as you do in the grain container?

NO to routine vaccines. Yes, to wormers when indicated. Yes, to Diaimontaious earth. Not preventive maintenance. Now, my dog is different. She gets all her prevention vaccines, heart guard, boosters, flee & Tick stuff and a county license ect.