Where are the eggs?

[roxyblue]

Valbasen is the best all round worm killer that I kow of (kills all of the little buggers) Though I'm sure if you asked that they could find you something.

 

[BlazeJester]

Start with Wazine - this will eliminate adult roundworms. It sounds like you may need several rounds of dewormer before you're in the clear. You should try to get one of the other wormers and use that 10 days after Wazine, to kill off other worms that may be present. Only Valbazen will eliminate tapeworms. I believe Ivermec and Safeguard will kill the rest. The second two are common cattle wormers and should be found at any feed store. I was unable to find Valbazen but dropped a line in my "Where am I? Where are you?" thread and am getting some by meeting a local who has access at her work.

Look at that link provided previously and read up on Dawg53's responses. He is very knowledgeable regarding worming.

 

[Happy Chooks]

You can buy Valbazen on line. Jeffers has it:

http://www.jefferslivestock.com/valbazen/camid/LIV/cp/16387/

 

[speckledhen]

Something else is eating your food or they're dumping it in the shavings; guess it could be worms, but I don't have experience with my flock having a heavy worm load so no idea if it affects food consumption. I have 44 +/- birds and go through one 50# bag per week of layer pellets and maybe 1/3 of a 50# bag of 11-grain scratch.

 

[roxyblue]

spckled hens right: way to much feed.
you can also find valbazen for $26ish dollars at www.firststatevetsupply.com that is the cheapest i've ever found it.

 

[Judy]

I recently wormed with Valbazen and did indeed see a reduction in feed consumption. I know for a fact I live in a heavy worm area, having treated not only dogs but people for proven cases of worms. However, the reduction in feed consumption was nothing like going from 300# to 50#. I would worm them with Valbazen, as it is a relatively benign med from what I've read, and their eating as if they were starving would be enough for me to try worming. I know of at least one experienced chicken keeper in this area who worms 5 or 6 times a year.

But I would also look at other critters getting in there and eating feed. How secure is your coop? Could rats or some other critter also be eating it?

 

[Ariel301]

I don't think worms would be causing 20 chickens to eat 300 pounds of food a week. It's just not possible; that's over 2 pounds of food per chicken per day, when chickens normally eat about a quarter of a pound each per day. You've got something stealing your food.

I think the most likely reason for the stopping of laying is the season. They stopped to molt, but because the days are not long enough, they have not been stimulated to start again. You could try putting artificial lighting in their coop on a timer so they are getting 14 hours of light a day.

If they are eating like they are starving...maybe your food thief IS starving them. Feel their breastbones--do they stick out really badly, or do they have a decent layer of padding on them? If the birds are too skinny, they are not getting enough to eat, which will affect their production. It's possible something is cleaning your feeder out so fast the birds are not eating enough.

 

[Chick Charm]

Wow!

I know you had a question about your egg productivity but the AMOUNT of feed you mentioned going through is OFF the Charts. WOW! My first inclination is to suggest that there is another critter eating you rations of chicken feed. I'm not implying worms aren't in the picture but wow.

I would also try worming. Also I would look into making sure no vermin are stealing your chooks feed and causing them not to lay. If their finishing their 2 month molt laying should come on slowly after a bit barring other health factors.

 

[bigspringshatchery]

Quote:
I miscounted. I have 35 chickens total that eat the layer crumbles. I just opened a 50# bag today and put in all feeders. Will update when they run out. Im making a stop tomorrow to feed stores and getting some wormer. Maybe this will help.

 

[Wynette]

I agree with the others- something is getting to your feed other than your chooks. Have you tried hanging feeders? That may help. Even if your birds DO have a heavy worm load, there's absolutely no way they should be eating that much food - in fact, I don't see how they physically COULD eat that much food.

Also, you "may" want to try switching to layer pellets. Crumbles are much more easily wasted than pellets. But do try hanging the feeders, in case something off the ground is eating the feed. Mice, rates, squirrels, even other (wild) birds can & will eat from the feeders. Also mink, opossum....etc.

As far as where the eggs are - most hens will not lay when they are getting less than 12 hours of sunlight per day, so as the days shorten, the eggs will diminish. The only thing I look forward to in December is the shortest day of the year...this year, it's 12/22 - we'll see the days slowly begin to lengthen after that, and the eggs will begin to increase come the end of January (at least in my situation). BEST of luck!

Oh, another thought - do you know anyone who has a game camera that you can borrow? That would definitley let you know what is getting to your feed!