One other question I had... I also have geese, ducks and guinea fowl.Pour on actually gets dropped on the bird. I get the generic (not Ivomec brand) ivermectin (not eprinex) in the smallest bottle as only 1-6 drops are needed per bird. Mine was $14 for 250 ml which will last me ages.
I use a 3cc syringe with a 25 gauge needle - NOT that I will be injecting it, but because I find making drops from a hypodermic needle to be more accurate than doing so with a dropper. You hold the bird in your left hand against your body, with the syringe near (and uncapped). Find a place on the body (not the crest/wattles/legs) where there's a spot of naked skin. The lower back of the neck is a good place as there is little down there, easy to find a spot by pushing the down aside. You drop 1 to 6 drops there based on the dosage below. If you hit the fluff, then put a drop to replace it. I hold the needle pointing to the side of the bird, horizontal not up and down towards the bird. that way if she jumps, I don't poke her. Then just drop the drops on the naked skin.
I use that time also to carefully examine all of my birds - their weight, their abdomens, their vents if they're supposed to be laying (and even if not), their breathing (listen to it and feel the vibrations of it with your hand to feel for wheezing or rattles)... also for parasites (tho ivermectin does kill sucking lice for sure over a few days).
The dosage is:
1 drop for a small "micro" bantam, say the size of an OE hen
2 drops for an average small bantam - OE male, small bantam hens
3 drops for an average bantam sized bird or small hen
4 drops for a commercial sized hen or small large fowl hen
5 drops for a commercial sized roo or average large fowl hen
6 drops for larger bodied laying type birds
7 drops for giant breeds
As always I do recommend worming first with wazine if:
- the birds are under 4 months of age
- the birds haven't been wormed in over 6 mos w/broad spectrum wormer
- the bird is of an unknown worming history
- the bird is shedding worms, or their flock mates are shedding worms
That caution is to prevent an unknown heavy infestation from causing shock or blockage in a bird. Some say 'just do it' but I like to treat every bird of mine as if it were the most valuable irreplaceable bird in my flock. And so that's the advice I give to others - as if theres were that $500 once in a lifetime bird. That doesn't mean I recommend expensive things, but I darn sure don't recommend stuff that I think could harm.
Again I still recommend the pour-on of all the ivermectins because it has a chance to stay on the bird longer than the pour ons do through the mouth.
