Layers pellets + flubenvet q's

[Becky]

Our 4 hens have just started their first week of marriage's pellets + flubenvet so just a few queries.

Is it normal for the use by date to be so short on them? Mine only have 1 month left on BB date and I'll barely use half of the 10kg bag this round. I really don't want to be wasting so much of it every 3 months as pellets + delivery from SPR centre cost me a small fortune because of living in NE Scotland. Can I still use them past the date or are they only fit to be thrown out?

Is it okay for the girls to still have a small amount of mixed corn and free range as normal during the afternoon? Or should I be restricting diet to just the pellets and limited free ranging? Can see myself having 4 grumpy hens if this is the case 0

I've given them 480g between them this morning (equivalent of 120g each) but can see them wanting more later, as I normally top up with the odd small handful of pellets later on in the day. Is this ok or will too much cause harm/overdose of the wormer?

 

[Marigold]

They will only eat what they need, and you can feed them freely and they will get the correct dosage for their individual weight. With hens its best never to let the feeder run empty as they need to nibble when they want to in small snacks throughout the day. Try to cut right back on the free ranging, they won't like it but must be hungry enough to eat lots of pellets. Ideally they should only eat the treated pellets.
A very small sprinkle of corn will do no harm, never more than an egg cupful each, and its best to give this later in the day so they've had plenty if chance to eat their pellets, whether these have Flubenvet in or not.
You're right about not using the remaining pellets when they've gone out of date, as either the vitamin content will be lowered or maybe the Flubenvet will be less effective. Once the bag has been opened it will deteriorate faster.
Like you I only have a small flock, 4 in my case, so the ready-mixed stuff isn't the best option. I use Flubenvet powder, which you can easily mix into a weighed quantity of the hens' usual pellets to make the equivalent of the ready mixed ones. If you buy a box of powder it will be enough to treat 20 hens so it lasts mine for 4-5 goes. The powder has a long use-by date and can safely be stored in a cool dry place. A box costs around £14 I think, ordered online from somewhere like Medicanimal, you can shop around for best price. It works out set about 75p per hen per treatment, which would be much cheaper in your situation.

 

[chrismahon]

The Flubenvet dosage with powder on feed works on each eating 150g a day. I expect the premix dosage to be the same. So if they are eating that much they can free range as well Becky. They can have treats as well so long as they eat enough treated pellets. What can happen is the birds prefer to eat anything thing else but the pellets so they don't get the correct dose unless they are given no other option for food. We did notice that our hens preferred the Marriages premix rather than their Smallholder pellets mixed with Flubenvet. I think that is because the Flubenvet dust lies on the surface of the pellet so they can taste it when they eat, whereas the premix has the Flubenvet inside.

As Marigold says, don't use the remainder of the bag after the use-by-date. Don't worry if they eat slightly more than the required amount either.

 

[Becky]

Thanks for the replies! I had them out free ranging yesterday but only for a couple of hours during the afternoon after lots of protesting!

Good to know that it's okay if they eat more than the 150g each, and I'll give them their afternoon treat after they've hovered up a good portion of the pellets each.

I might look into the powder. I love the convenience of the pre-mixed pellets but the price different looks huge.

 

[chrismahon]

The premix is a lot less hassle Becky. You have to avoid touching or breathing in the powder and have to mix it in stages. I mixed it outside wearing rubber gloves after I was ill from not following the instructions, mixed it inside without gloves and wormed myself I suppose! I found it best to mix the powder with a little olive oil and then mix it to the pellets. Dust is avoided and the powder actually sticks to the pellets instead of blowing off or falling to the bottom of the feeder. But we now give each of ours a shot of Flubenvet/ Cod liver oil mix. Bit time consuming for 7 days and risky if they inhale instead of swallowing, but we can check them over at the same time as well. Also certain that they all get a full dose and they can free range and have all the treats they get.

 

[Marigold]

I have never had any problems mixing the powder into weighed pellets, having just been careful to do the job in a non- windy situation. I do it like this; I weigh out 6 kilos of pellets for my 4hens. Normally they will eat 5kilos but will take more if not fed anything else. I take out about half a kilo and put this into a large container and mix in a little vegetable oil at that point, just enough to lightly coat this small amount of feed so the powder will stick to the pellets. Then add the correct amount of Flubenvet powder, no need to touch it because I just use the measuring scoop provided, and no need to breathe it either. I mix it very carefully, using a large old spoon, and then gradually add the rest of the pellets in stages, mixing the treated pellets in to the rest as I go. Empty the feeder of untreated pellets, refill with treated, and leave them to get on with it. I certainly wouldn't advocate giving it to them by syringe in oil, as not only would this be a lot of extra trouble and possibly uncomfortable for the bird, but if they just eat treated pellets at their own rate, each bird gets the correct dose for her own body weight and nutritional needs. The only time I might consider force-feeding Flubenvet might be with a hen who was so badly infested with worms that she wasn't eating properly and thus was in need of urgent treatment, not something that would ever happen if the flock was wormed regularly and efficiently. If the birds eat the pellets gradually throughout the day they get a continuous dose, which is how the manufacturers have designed this drug for the needs of poultry.
Yes its nice for hens to be able to free range, but I also think this is one of those cases where you are in charge and should be confident about how to manage them. Like all animals (and children) they will give you the run-around if you always give in to their demands. Just feeding pellets for a week when they're being wormed will do them more good in the long run than if you give in to them when they demand to be let out, then fill up with goodies from outside or with treats and don't eat enough Flubenvet to do the job properly.

 

[elmdene]

I have just a little flock of pekins (2 at the moment, soon to be 4) so they don't eat anywhere near that much. I put a suitable measure of pellets in a largish ziplock polythene bag with the flubenvet and then shake it all around. As it's all sealed up there's no dust and you can shake it each time you give them more pellets just to make sure it's all mixed up well. I may have to make up a couple of bags for each treatment but it's clean and easy. Then at the end of the course I rinse the bag out with a little water and make up some mash with it. (This also works well with meat marinades for the barbecue - not chicken of course!)

 

[Tweetypie]

I hope you don't mind me coming back to this post, which is almost 6 years old.

I use Facebook and saw an ex battery hen forum pop up on there yesterday, so joined. Someone was talking about worming and the struggles with it.

I use the powder form, as I think Marigold and Chrismahon previously use(d). I measure it carefully and place that amount on a small piece of tomato and feed a separate piece to each hen for 7 days, knowing they have had the correct dosage. I mentioned this on the forum and basically was told that putting the powder on anything wet (tomato) stops the powder working. Now I know I am not a scientist, but I have owned horses and cats and always disguised their wormers in something like bread. I was basically blasted for what I said. 11

I have seen Marigold, chris and others state they use a little olive oil or similar to ensure it sticks to their feed, but they dissedthat, too.

After many comments, I decided to contact the manufacturer this morning and here what they said:

 

[Marigold]

I agree - just get the right amount into each bird, by whatever means you find easiest. I've actually changed my method from what I said on this thread back in 2014. At this time of year especially, I always give them a nice warm damp mash in the afternoon so they go to roost with full crops through the 15-hour night time when they have no food or water. When it's a Flubenvet week, I make up a tempting mix of 50% pellets, 25% mixed corn and 25% sunflower seeds, enough to fill 7 small containers, about the size of a teacup. For my 5 hens I then mix in 6.25 grams of Flubenvet, i.e, one and a quarter measures using the dosing spoon provided in the pot. 6 grams is the recommended dose for 2 kilos of pellets, and I reckon my 5 hens would eat about 2.5 kilos of pellets per week if not supplemented, so I add a bit for the 5th hen's portion. Then I give them a really nice damp warm plateful each afternoon, using the small measuring cup to dose them with 1/7th of the mix I've prepared for the week. As the daily amount is quite small I can add any other tasty bits, so long as i know they will eat the lot before roosting - it always goes down the hatch in a few minutes, job done. Whether this is the whole ration for the day, or smaller portions as I described, doesn't seem to matter very much. The rest of the time they just have access to their normal pellets, and after they've finished their 'tea' I hang up a bunch of greens for them.

I did once try putting a bit of flubenvet on grapes or tomatoes as you suggest. Tweetipie, but i found that they all crowded round and I could never be sure who had eaten more than one piece and who had none! Also I think the dosage is likely to be a bit random unless the powder is mixed in to a larger quantity of food. 6 grams for 2 kilos works out at about 1.5grams per hen for the week, about 0.2 gram per portion, and I don't think it's easily possible to be accurate about this. If you just had one hen who needed treatment and could separate her, the bit-of-powder-on-a-grape method might be practical,but I decided it was just too much fuss for me.

 

[Tweetypie]

Thank you for reassuring me again Marigold. The only reason I got away with dosing them on a piece of cherry tomato is that I lift each hen up and hand feed it, otherwise, as you say, they crowd around. I made that mistake first time and Mabel had two lots. ? I might invest in a worm count kit after I've wormed them, just to be doubly sure my method works properly.

 

[Tweetypie]

I just wanted to post this update to confirm that my choice of how I worm my hens is working, contrary to snide comments on another forum I have now removed myself from

With thanks to Marigold's original post using something to make the flubonvet powder stick to the feed, I used her idea and made my own by putting a measured amount of the powder in a small piece of tomato, fed over 7 days.

 

[Marigold]

Brilliant! Well done!
I didn't doubt it would work, just that I'd found it difficult to actually get it to the right hen every time!

 

[Tweetypie]

Thanks to you, Marigold. 17

 

[rick]

That's interesting Tweetypie. The proof is in the pudding! The idea that in anything wet would stop it working is crazy - OK, so not in their water!. But its good to know that they can be dosed each day on a 'snack' rather than spread through all the food.
With the regular on everything they eat for the week method - My milligram scales are one of the most useful things Ive bought. Were about £10 I think. Can dose pretty much anything by weight so they even get scratch with a little oil to make it stick. Totally unnecessary I know - they could eat the pellets all week and stare at me accusingly from the run but ...

 

[Marigold]

The standard method of adding powder to pellets and only feeding pellets for a week is obviously the best way to dose large flocks, especially if they're kept in a barn and only fed pellets anyway. Although I do wonder whether, with their very short 18-month lives, whether it's considered economic or necessary to dose commercial egglayers at all. However, for luckier chickens like ours, reducing the ration to only pellets must constitute a big change in the diet and routine for them, especially if it also involves shutting them off from their usual free ranging, and this could in itself be undesirable. It's good to know that other methods based on individual dosing do indeed work, whether it's powder on bits of tomato or grapes, or a in a really scrummy plateful of teatime treats.