This spring, poultry owners are being made aware of the need to worm their birds. Whether you keep just a few birds in the back garden, breed pure-breds for show or fun, or own your own smallholding, your birds may be at increased risk of parasitic worms as the warmer weather returns.
Vet Nigel Underwood highlights three risk factors that domestic poultry keepers should be aware of, "Warmer weather, increasing age of the birds in the flock and a free range lifestyle are all significant risk factors when considering the likelihood of parasitic worms affecting poultry. More experienced keepers are well aware of these risks but novices often don’t realize that they should be worming their birds regularly."
The return of warmer weather can signal an increase in poultry worm numbers as the ambient temperature increases above 10 degrees centigrade and more worm eggs are able to complete the next stage of development and become infectious. Studies have shown that peak worm counts often coincide with peak chicken egg production. Unless chickens, turkeys and geese are de-wormed there is a risk that egg production could suffer, just when poultry keepers should be enjoying their best yields. Some may even notice smaller eggs and loss of shell and yolk colour. Birds may suffer weight loss, become anaemic or even die.
One study has shown that older birds are more likely to harbour worms and many domestic poultry keepers find themselves with an ageing flock because they allow their birds to live a full natural lifespan. Free range birds are also much more at risk of picking up parasitic worms because of increased exposure to the outdoors, more contact with wild birds and the opportunities to ingest insects such as earthworms, beetles and snails that can harbour infectious stages of parasitic worms.
Flubenvet® 60 gram pack is an easy to use in-feed treatment that is practical even for those with just a few hens in their garden. A proven poultry wormer with no egg withdrawal, Flubenvet 60 gram contains enough wormer to treat around 20 chickens and can be purchased from vets, pharmacists and agricultural merchants.
While worms are a year round problem in poultry it is especially important to treat in the spring to tackle the increasing threat of worm infection. Thereafter, poultry owners will also get the best results if they continue to treat regularly in spring, summer and autumn, when new birds are acquired and before putting birds out to pasture. This helps to ensure that contamination of the chickens’ environment with worm eggs is kept at a manageable level, reducing the risk of future infections.
A free leaflet about worms affecting chickens, geese and turkeys is available from vets, pharmacists or licensed agricultural merchants or by calling Janssen Animal Health on 01494 567555.
