Worming advice

[gazparkin]

Hello.

I’ve noticed one of my ex-batteryhens doing something strange with her beak. Having looked into it I think it looks like she may have gapeworm. I give the hens a flubendazole 8mg tablet every three months as a preventative measure,and did this in December. Would it be ok to give them another tablet? Thank you!

 

[casportpony]

Hi there, I'm not positive, but I think gapeworms require treatment several days in a row.

 

[coach723]

You need to dose them with the fenbendazole for 5 days in a row for gapeworm. The dose below would work out to about 15mg per pound of bird weight. So you would need to give 2 of the 8mg tablets for each pound the bird weighs (or 4 tablets for each kg) for 5 days in a row. If you have access to a stronger fenbendazole, it might be easier to dose. The one I use is 100mg/ml, but you may not have that in the UK. (Anyone wants to check my math, please do!)

 

[casportpony]

They have fenbendazole in the UK. They sell a liquid and a paste for horses, a paste for rabbits, and a paste for dogs and cats.

For this liquid equine product, the gapeworm dose is 0.14 ml per pound of body weight for 5 consecutive days.

For the 18.75% pastes below the dose for gapeworms is 0.07 ml per pound of body weight for 5 consecutive days.

 

[gazparkin]

Thank you all for your help. I’m going to get them into the vets tomorrow to get them checked out and hopefully get a stronger dose. Thanks again!

 

[casportpony]

Thank you all for your help. I’m going to get them into the vets tomorrow to get them checked out and hopefully get a stronger dose. Thanks again! ☺

Oh good, glad you can see the vet! Let us know what the vet says.