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11:16 am
2nd Grader
Sat 19-Dec-09
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Hi guys, very new to keeping chickens have just got 4 pol hybrid hens a week ago and they seem to have settled in ok. Have been reading up on good house keeping especially worming. Is it right that i need to worm every 6 weeks, have been looking at Verm X pellets to go into there organic feed. However if anyone could recommend anything else i would take a look.
Regards..
5:02 pm
2nd Grader
Tue 22-Dec-09
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i use flubenvet powder.. every 3 or 4 months.. cheap.. but it is such a pain to mix up .. there must be a water addative that would do the job as well...
gary
11:16 am
Sat 12-Aug-06
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Hi Grazychef and welcome to the forum.
The Omlet site stocks most everything for chicken care and also you can find stuff in Pets At Home stores. I know that carrot is a natural wormer and our dogs love to chew on the offcuts when we cook them. Not sure if we ever tried them with chickens. I guess you would want to wash them first lest you introduce additional unwanted critters from the soil they were grown in.
Never knowingly underfed
6:26 pm
2nd Grader
Mon 28-Dec-09
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hello all
(my first post on this great forum!)
I have been keeping hens for approx 9 years now and often give my girls carrot peelings which they devour so there must be something in them that is beneficial - I hope. I also use Verm- X as it is easy to mix in with layers pellets and no wastage.
cheers
Jane
9:59 pm
2nd Grader
Sat 19-Dec-09
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Thanks Jane,
Have read several books which mention carrots, I'm happy to try!
However also have read that Verm x could make them a bit under the weather? How have you found.
Adam.
7:33 pm
2nd Grader
Mon 28-Dec-09
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Hi Adam,
seems to suit my girls ok, in fact one of them is still laying every other day. I feed them a main feed of layers (never have given them corn) and supplement with greens/peelings in small amounts to avoid rat problems. They also have daily access to grass.
I did use Flubenvet once this year to give it a go but did not notice any difference plus with it being in powder form I found it more fiddly.
hope this helps
Jane
12:27 am
2nd Grader
New members
Sun 25-Oct-09
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Need to use any product containing ivomectin . This is found in sheep and cattle wormers. Not approved for chucks - but never been tested i believe. I use 1cc of sheep wormer administered by syringe (no needle). No side effects but try to do it when egg production is low .
rgds George.
9:56 pm
Fri 1-Jan-10
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I read somewhere that mixing some food grade diatamaceous earth with their feed will eradicate the worms without affecting egg laying or meat production.
5:00 am
Sat 12-Aug-06
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Hello, Griz, and welcome to the forum.
That is a very interesting tip. I had never heard of diatomaceous earth so I looked it up in Wikipedia Diatomaceous earth - Use in agriculture and that confirms your suggestion. I guess most everybody on here would prefer a natural rather than a chemical treatment. Thanks for that.
Never knowingly underfed
3:01 pm
Knowledegable
Mon 21-Sep-09
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OMG there is so much to keeping chickens isnt there. I never knew how much work they are. I still cant touch one, but I now barter with a lady a work for our eggs. I bake her 2 loaves of my oat bran bread and I get 10 eggs. Which is more than enough for us to a week.
I have been to see her chickens, but I was slightly distressed when she said she had to make different areas as they beat each other up. One was really quite ill and something to do with its comb. But anyways. I think we are still a long way off from chicken keeping. But I am still most interested in reading these posts. So if and when I could cope with them, I will have some good knowledge from people doing so, and armed with books and the internet, we could maybe do it.
6:10 pm
Sat 12-Aug-06
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It may be a little work, S.O.L., but keeping chickens is very satisfying. Like all animals, they do have personalities and it's fun watching their individual characteristics emerge over time. Also, I was amazed to discover that simply watching them in their run is just like watching fish in an aquarium. Very soothing and relaxing.
We were amazed at the number of searches that came to the blog asking things like "how many eggs does a chicken lay a day" and even "how many eggs does a chicken lay in an hour?" !! 
One a day max, AKAIK.
Luckily, Fiona does all the chicken maintenance, like cleaning out their dorm and nesting box regularly, and spreading ant-mite powder about. The worst event was when some of them died young, and when one contracted the scaly leg mite condition.
This worming thread is very useful. Good info, everybody.
Never knowingly underfed
7:54 pm
Supreme Being
Mon 21-Sep-09
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I never found the chickens that much hard work either, let them out in the morning and give them some feed. Give them some food later on in the day or let them sort through the peelings from our evening meal or the leftovers when the kids were picky, put them away at night.
I used to clean them out once a week - they only had a small area as there was only three of them. Used sawdust from a local saw mill to put in their boxes and then the whole lot didn't take a great deal of time to brush out. 
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