Flubenvet is the only licensed in feed wormer for chickens. It is very effective at killing worms and their eggs. Worms can cause a huge amount of damage to chickens and cause many health problems. As a rule of thumb, if I have a sick bird, the first thing I consider is whether or not she was wormed recently before exploring other avenues.
Worms lay thousands of eggs in a day that are not always visible in droppings. Eggs then either get picked up by birds scratching around the floor, eating from the ground or in their litter when housed (i.e. picked up directly) or are eaten by earthworms or other ‘hosts’ and passed on to our birds when they themselves get eaten (i.e. indirectly picked up).
These two routes of infection are called the ‘Direct Life-cycle’ and the ‘Indirect Life-cycle’ and can be understood better from the diagrams show that are kindly supplied by Elanco (formerly Janssen Animal Health) where two examples of direct infection and one indirect are shown.
Worm eggs are destroyed by heat, drought, a hard frost and UV from direct sunlight. For this last reason, after worming in the Spring, I keep grass short in runs over the hotter summer months where my hens graze so that worm eggs can be destroyed. Over the colder winter months or below 10 degrees Centigrade. Worm eggs cannot mature and therefore cannot become infectious so I try to worm in the Autumn as the temperature starts to drop.
Flubenvet is very effective and after the recommended 7 day treatment, chickens are free of worms and eggs. One thing to remember is that the thousands of eggs deposited via droppings (or coughed up in the case of Gape Worm) are still present in the environment so if the worm infestation is bad, you will need to repeat treatment with Flubenvet after 3 weeks to break the cycle before the newly acquired worms (picked up from the eggs) have a chance to mature and lay eggs themselves.
The withdrawal period stated on the tub is nil for eggs from laying hens. This means that you can continue to eat eggs whilst your chickens are being wormed with Flubenvet. I’m sure you won’t be eating your hens but they must not be slaughtered for human consumption during treatment. Treated birds may be slaughtered only after 7 days from the last treatment.
Where to buy Flubenvet
Click Image to visit MedicAnimal Flubenvet Page
If you have a small flock, there is a Flubenvet 1% 60g pack sufficient to treat around 20 large chickens. This comes with a handy little measuring scoop so that you can get the quantity right. One 6 g scoop treats 2 kg of food for chickens. This is the simplest way to worm and if you mix it as I suggest above with a little oil, you can be sure your chooks are getting the required amount. I have found Petmeds very good for fast delivery, with great customer service when I’ve spoken to them and a very good price. MedicAnimal give free delivery on your first order or when you spend over £19. Their price is sometimes a little cheaper too. The Amazon Marketplace sometimes beats both of these – Amazon Marketplace sellers compete with one another which drives the price down a little.
If you have 50 or more chickens, I would suggest you buy the Flubenvet 2.5% 240g gamekeeper pack which lasts longer. This is harder to find as it is more of a commercial quantity. In order to weigh out the small amount required, you will need some accurate electronic scales that can measure to 0.1 grammes.
How I mix Flubenvet.
Adding the Flubenvet 'paste' to the layers pellets before mixing well
Flubenvet comes as a powder that must be mixed with your chickens feed. In order to get this to stick to my layers pellets, I mix it in a small tub with a little Olive or Cod Liver Oil. The ‘Flubenvet paste’ that this makes can then be poured over the right amount of (weighed) pellets in a bucket and mixed well. It sticks to the pellets and won’t fall to the bottom of the bucket like I suspect some of the powder would without the oil.
Remember to wear disposable gloves for safety (yes I know we forgot in the photos!) and follow the ‘operator warnings’ given by the manufacturers below at the end of this page. Remember to dispose of empty containers in the domestic refuse. Used containers should not be recycled.
How often do I worm my Chickens
As you will see from my routine list of jobs and from what I said above, I use Flubenvet twice per year as a preventative measure but I also worm new birds that we add to our flock and if I become suspicious of worms / ill thrift.
In between times, I will use Verm-X and Apple Cider Vinegar monthly to help keep worm numbers down as well as keeping the grass short in the summer months to allow UV from the sun to kill worm eggs.
An interesting fact: According to Janssen Animal Health, Flubenvet has been used to treat chickens and other poultry in 56 countries for more than 15 years.
You can read more about worms on my worming chickens page
Operator warnings
The following operator warnings are given by the makers of flubenvet.
- The product is a powder and mixing may generate dust.
- Prepare the product in a well ventilated place.
- Do not breath dust.
- If accidental inhalation of dust occurs, move to an outdoor area with fresh air.
- To avoid accidental inhalation wear a disposable dust mask (that conforms to European Standard EN149)
- Accidental ingestion by humans should be avoided.
- Avoid direct skin contact. Wear impervious gloves when mixing and handling the product.
- Wash affected parts if skin contact occurs.
- If accidental eye contact occurs, immediately rinse thoroughly with water.
I have 9 chickens in a 20 x 20 pen. One of the chickens is showing signs of Gapeworm. It presented the signs 4 days ago. I started giving the chicken a water and apple cider vinegar on Monday by way of medicine dropper. Is there any hope for the chicken at this stage? What do I need to do to administer the medicine? So far, none of the other chickens are showing signs of the parasite. Thank you for your help.
Gapeworm is killed by Flubenvet, I would worm all chickens first. If they still show signs of gaping / gasping after a week then I would visit your vet as this can also be the signs of respiratory infection.
If the symptoms go after a week of worming but start to come back after a month then they are being re-infected from worm eggs in the environment.
We mix our girls pellets into a mash for them daily and have just purchased pellets ready mixed with the flubenvet. As most of our girls are ex-batts they don’t really eat pellets (too used to eating crumb) we found they were getting skinny until we made it up as mash and now they really tuck in! Will we be ok to continue mixing this ‘readymix’ into a mash do you think?
When giving Flubenvet, all other food should be removed, even corn treats so that they are getting the right dose. If your hens won’t eat the pellets, I would buy a 60g tub of Flubenvet and mix this in at the right quantity with their pellets. If not, I would change them over to pellets gradually and then give them the pre-mix.
Would it be ok if I mixed it up with water and mash cause that’s how my girls have their feed everyday
Mix it in well and that’s perfect…
Well the 7 day feed get rid of the worms
We bought our hens last April and have had to treat them with Flubenvet three times, 10 days or so after the treatment eggs have appeared in their poo despite following the instructions. We have used disenfectant powder in the pen and house to make sure there are no eggs so what are we doing wrong?
Eggs are incredibly small. Are you sure this isn’t grit that you see? If there are eggs, there are worms that lay these of course too…
Flubenvet is very good and kills worms and eggs. The repeat treatment a couple of weeks later is needed when the environment is infected and your hens are getting re-infected.
i have a problem with one of my girls the last two days she has just fluffed up with her tail down and really looks sorry foe herself,and her tummy feels full, but after reading this last page of yoursi will try the powder in her food, she does eat, and loves her bread and milk which i give them twice a week. sheis having bowel movements and the seem fine. I feel more confident now after reading your advice I do have some of the powder in.
Hi, if she’s not looking too perky it could be the bread and milk. Chickens are apparently lactose intolerant so any dairy should really be kept out of their diet or to an absolute minimum. Also bread and any pasta etc can block up the crop as its not as easily digested. The yeast in bread can also cause them problems so again its best to keep these kind of treats to an absolute minimum. You should also keep some grit available for the hens to eat as it will help them digest their food better. From what you’ve written it does sound like a crop problem, i hope your chicken has recovered well for you.
We made our ready-mix into a mash and its got rid of all the worms. We’ve also successfully managed to get our girls onto pellets so thankyou very much for your advice keeping chickens!
x
Hi i bought some Flubenvet but find it difficult to administer effectively. Surely they could come up with a soluable formula that could then be mixed in the drinking water?? Any I decided to buy some Marriages Layers Pellets with Flubenvet included. I found a deal where they where a 20kg sack was no dearer than plain pellets which I though was good given teh cost of Flubenvet. Am I wasting my money or do you know if it works OK? If it doesnt at least Ive got the pellets anyway !!!!
The Marriages is pre-mixed. The positive side is you don’t have any mixing to do. You must only feed this for 7 days then the rest gets wasted. That’s the down side…
Pellets won’t usually keep 6 months without losing their vitamins / goodness.
please could you tell me how much flubenvet 2.5 i need to give each goose. Could i put it in a small piece of bread with cod liver oil so it sticks. Thank you Susan
You will need to follow the instructions on the tub. You can’t really dose them on bread as you won’t know the right quantity or be able to do this daily for a week.
The problem with Geese is if they are grazing grass as well, you don’t know how much they have had.
Personally, I use Levamisole 7.5%. This is available from your vet, average size domestic geese need no more than 1 ml. A 2 ml syringe should be used to dose it down the throat although be careful not to put it into the lungs.
I am new to hens and have just collected my 4 18 week hens, should I worm them. They seem very happy and healthy, many thanks for any comments
I would wait until the Autumn, unless youy suspect worms or they are kept on ground that has older birds on it.
Hi, thanks for this really helpful website. I’ve just bought ACV for my hens and wormed them. I have been told that giving them live yoghurt is helpful for digestion as well. Could I have your oppinions on this. Thank you.
I’ve never used yoghurt myself but I believe it’s live yoghurt that’s good for digestion as it contains good bacteria.
I’m new to chickens and i’ve got 3 mums with chicks, yesterday we had one of the chicks die and this mornin i’ve noticed that 3 more of the chicks from the same mum have dirty bottoms, wot can i do, i’ve already tried the ACV in their water.
kelly
If the chicks have dirty bottoms, they could have picked up something. I would suggest you look at the Poultry Diseases section on the poultrykeeper website for some clues and if in any doubt, seek the advice of a poultry vet. Check out the Coccidiosis page as well.