Unfortunately, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate contacted me to tell me it was against the law to advertise this wormer since it was classed as ‘Prescription Only Medicine – Veterinarian, Pharmacist, Suitably Qualified Person (POM-VPS)’. and that ‘Products classed as POM-VPS can only be advertise in publications aimed at professional bodies and not to the general public’.
I was surprised they considered this page as advertising so I spoke to them and they advised me that I should not use the product’s brand name but could say ‘A product containing Flubendazole‘. As a result, I have removed the product name.
Before using medication to worm your chickens, it is best to check they need worming first by using a Worm Count Kit like this one. This is a simple test where a sample is sent off by post and the results are returned to you (usually by email) and will advise you whether or not you should worm your chickens.
In the United Kingdom, a product containing the anthelmintic (wormer) Flubendazole is currently the only licensed in feed product available 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 because so many signs of illness can be as a result of worms.
The Direct Life Cycle
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.
The Indirect Cycle
Worm eggs are destroyed by heat, drought, a hard frost and UV from direct sunlight. For this last reason, 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 test my hens with a worm count kit and worm if necessary in the Autumn as the temperature starts to drop and in the Spring when worms become active again.
This product containing Flubendazole that I’m not allowed to name 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 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. 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
If you have a small flock, there is a 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. There is also a 240g tub or gamekeeper pack which is more suited to 50 birds or more and lasts longer.
Because of the tight regulations and a license that sellers need to hold (costing over £600 I was told by one company), both of these products are becoming harder and harder to buy. I bought a 60g tub in 1998 and paid £12.50. A year ago I bought another one and it was £70! Serious money.
The product containing Flubendazole can also be purchased pre-mixed in layers pellets on websites such as Amazon in 5 or 20Kg bags which is handy if you don’t want to mix it yourself.
I haven’t seen many places selling this product containing Flubendazole online and vets don’t usually stock it unless they specialise in poultry. The ‘regulations’ are pushing people to go to their vets or other suitably qualified people yet in fact if you chat to chicken keepers, they are being offered offer other large animal wormers containing Ivermectin instead that are often bought in large packs for use on farm animals. These haven’t been tested on chickens so you end up with vets advising anything from a 7 to 30 day withdrawal periods for eggs (depending on the view of the vet of what will be ‘safe’) and although this is perfectly legal, my personal opinion is that this is wrong when there is a tested product available.
How I mix this product containing Flubendazole
Adding the ‘paste’ to the layers pellets before mixing well
If you but the pack or tub then it will come 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 ‘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.
Pre-mixed layers pellets of course are easier and layers feed lasts for around 6-8 months before starting to spoil so you can use it for further treatments during this time.
How often do I worm my Chickens
As you will see from my routine list of jobs and from what I said above, I check my chickens for worms using a worm count kit twice per year as a preventative measure. Following the results, I worm if necessary but I also worm new birds that we add to our flock or if I become suspicious of worms / ill thrift.
I rotate the runs my birds use so there is no build up of worms. I would suggest you check for worms every 3 months if your birds are on the same ground continuously.
In between times, I sometimes use Verm-X and Apple Cider Vinegar 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.
You can read more about worms on my worming chickens page
I am just wondering if the flubenvet is given 1 tub each day or is one tub enough to treat for 7 days?, and do we have to repeat process a few days later? Thank you
Hi Jessica,
There is a scoop that comes with the Flubenvet for measuring the right quantity out. A pack is enough to treat about 20 hens. It does keep so if you had 10 hens, you have 2 treatments in the pack and so on…
One treatment is usually enough, however if the ground is well used and there is a high infection pressure, worm eggs picked up will soon hatch into worms again (in 2 to 3 weeks or so) if you suspect they are getting re-infected, you can repeat treatment before this time (known as the prepatent period) which is before the worms are old enough to lay eggs to continue the cycle.
Cutting the grass short helps in the summer because the UV light kills worm eggs.
Advice Please,
I have two bantams and I want to worm them with Flubenvet. They are free range in the garden and they only eat about 25gms of layers pellets between them. ( they are not keen on them). They are active , good face colour and approximately 25 weeks old. Flubenvet mixed with 2kg of layers pellets would last them ages. Can the pellets mixed with Flubenvet be kept for another worming session later?, or should I dispose of the uneaten pellets, if so where ?
Concerned and hopeful for an answer!
If your bantams are free range, they are probably topping up their diet with other goodies. Keep them in for a day or two (to get them hungry and just eating pellets) then feed them the pellets with Flubenvet added for 7 days whilst keeping them in. They won’t be too happy locked in for 9 days or so but it is better that than worms! The packet comes with a handy scoop for measuring – so only mix a small amount at a time / what you need. The rest of the Flubenvet will keep until next time….
Remember not to feed other treats such as corn unless it is mixed with the pellets and Flubenvet, just a few greens because you want them to eat the medicated feed mix.
i have two chickens that were wormed last year ,using porridge i added the flubenvet into large pellet ,then hand fed them ,forgot what measurement i used so now need to know how much i need to add to pellet per chicken so i repeat treatment this year
Whilst some people will estimate the right quantity and feed like this (or on a half a grape for example) this is not the recommended way of treating your birds. The manufacturers have tested the product using a given amount in a quantity of food. In other words the food is dosed a a certain percentage.
It has not been tested in the way you describe – you may be adding too much flubenvet to the dose and then it would not be safe to eat the eggs, in other words a small percentage of any product given to our birds will end up in their eggs and the huge amount of testing that has been done on flubenvet for safety is all based on a given percentage in the food for a given length of time (7 days).
I would follow the instructions on the packet at all costs to be safe. Once mixed, it’s easy to give to your birds in their regular pellet feed.
If you are worried about mixing up too much, you can measure the amount they eat in a week then the next week, mix this amount up.
Is flubenvet ok to use on ducks? We keep ducks and chickens in the same pen. Thanks
Flubenvet isn’t licensed for ducks – this is probably to do with the fact that commercially it’s not worth while. It is licensed for Geese though.
I use Flubenvet to worm my ducks at the same rate used for chickens. I mix 50/50 wheat and pellets with the Flubenvet in a half bucket and give it to them for 7 days.