New Chickens

[Anonymous]

HI all,

New to this so hoping you could give me a hand. I just bought some chickens- who have been laying etc for a while so not young I don' think- and have a whole load of supplements which came with them and have been trying to make sense of them. Here's what I've established so far and would appreciate if you could let me know if I am right, wrong etc...

Verm-X- General Wormer- feed for 3 days each month.

Diatom- Spray into their hutch and bedding once a week. Spray onto the hens themselves every 2 weeks. Can be fed to do the same as Verm-X

DE-sign of nature- from what I can read it is exactly the same as Diatom- being diatom itself and can be used the same way?

Red-Mite Powder- This was unopened but and old-looking container so from what I've read I can use Diatom to do the same thing? If this is the case I will use it when I run out of Diatom. Also is it only for putting onto the birds and not the coop?

Virkon-s- disinfectant for cleaning everything- coop,feeders etc- how often should I use this?

Thanks,

 

[foxy]

Hi there and welcome to the forum! 08 08
Firstly there are lots of products and supplements out there, and as you have already discovered, some of them have the same ingredients as other products, but might have slightly different wording to add to the confusion! 07
Firstly, with chickens, nothing replaces good husbandry and the right amount of space in order for the birds to express themselves naturally. This in itself reduces lots of potential problems, both in behaviour and stress which in combination will precipitate a lot of illnesses.
Looking at your list - Virkon S is a very good effective all round disinfectant, this time of year use on a good bright sunny day after thoroughly removing old bedding and any organic waste. You can if the weather is bad use a dry disinfectanct - Stalosan F is a good one.
Mites and lice - DE or Diatom is one of the main stays of the poultry keeper, a little in the nestboxes in the winter when changing bedding will be fine. When handling your birds, part the feathers, particulary around the vent and watch out for pale, fast moving sesame seeds - these are lice, wont really harm your birds, but sometimes seem to afflict a run down bird more than a healthy one, a good idea to get rid of them quickly!
A note on powders, don't assume they are all able to kill mites/lice -some look like DE but are just "repellents" not use if you have already spotted lice.
Vermex - this is a herbal tonic - the jury is out on how effective this is as a wormer. Another option is Flubenvet. Worming should be done twice a year before the peak seasons (spring and Autumn) or before moving birds to fresh ground.
Hope this helps, good luck with your new chickens and please feel free to ask questions!

 

[Blue]

hello and welcome
foxy has given such a good answer, I wont bother!

do you know what breed your hens are?
have they got names?!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys for such a quick reply and such good advice. One of them is a Sussex star? I am not sure about the other one... The other one- which is a light brown colour, is called mable and the jury is out on the other name!

Also is using a liquid disinfectant such as Virkon suitable for disinfecting wooden coops or should I use a powder?

Thanks again,

 

[Tim]

Foxy I think has said it all!

I just wanted to add a link to a "What Products to keep in Stock for Chickens" list that might be useful for you.

I have arranged an independant trial of Verm-X with the support of the manufacturers in the Spring which will hopefully give some clear results one way or the other.

Good Luck!

Tim

 

[karlooben]

this is one way of putting it -- fast moving sesame seeds -- :lol: :lol: :lol:
i agree with foxy an tim there isnt really much to add but just dont go looking on the poultry sites your 'll be shocked i thought i had lots of stuff for the horses but the girls beat them hands down although i will openly admit that i have run out of stuff but will be re stocking in jan

 

[Anonymous]

Hey

Thanks for all the advice, thought I might put some pictures up aswell to show you them. Changed their bedding and put in some Diatom and they have the Grit, Glug and Grub all outside in their run with a small bowl of food and water inside incase they fancy a midnight snack! We have had 5 eggs already and we've only had them for 3 days! They were laying on the first morning- Mable lays everyday, whereas the other, a sussex who is Jill , lays every other- I think its that way round anyway. Enjoy