[Andt]

I have 2 white leghorns that have dirty feathers around their vent, they seem to be eating and drinking well. I have started worming them today with Verm-X after noticed this. They were also wormed last month.

Could there be anything else causing this problem?

[manian]

ours sometimes get mucky bums (except baggy bum 'cos she has no feathers there!! )- especially if they have had a change in diet..... (more worms/slugs etc) and their poo a bit more runny. so long as the vent itself is clean I wouldn't worry. I don't worm that frequently either
Mx

[little blue]

ours get muddy bums!
Or chests .. it dries like dreadlocks if I don't spot it quickly

[Mel]

My French Marans get mucky bums,or feathers below,I have to stick them in the bath as these also dry like dreadlocks

[chrismahon]

Verm-X is not a thorough wormer. Just a herbal discouragement and we've stopped using it. Found that we were treating too often and it was not cost effective. We now use only Flubenvet and buy it premixed with Marriages layers in 10Kg bags. We do occasionally have to use the powder which we mix with a little olive oil before adding to feed as instructed. It is easier and safer to mix that way and it all sticks to the feed and doesn't fall or blow off. We have had to use Flubenvet with Olive oil in a daily syringe dose as well. Very effective it was, without the stress of being kept in the run with no treats. I know it is time consuming but we will do it that way for all of them in the future as one of our Orpingtons has stress related illness after 7 days in the run.

[Dogwalker]

What's the daily dose of flubenvet per bird/weight and is it OK to use panacur (same active ingredient), Have to buy more than I need of wormer for the goats and wondered if I can use the same on the birds.

[chrismahon]

White Leghorn large fowl are serious layers (good choice of hen) and will be consuming 150 grammes of pellet feed a day, if that was all they ate. 1 level scoop of Flubenvet treats 2 Kg of feed which will be enough for both of them for the 7 days. So mix scoop with Olive Oil and (stiring thoroughly every time) give them each a proportion of the mix. Having done this before I can say that if you mix 1.5mL of oil with the scoop the resulting thin paste is about 3.3mL. So give them each 0.2 mL a day. There is some left over, but it is difficult to draw up and there is a margin for error anyway.

[Dogwalker]

Thank you, I'm never quite sure how much they're supposed to eat cos mine freerange over 12 acres,
Just need to catch them now.  Think it'll be taking them off the perch at roosting time and trying not to freak them out too much.

[chrismahon]

We grab ours as they come out of the run in the morning. Two person job, one holds and one administers to back of throat.