Heavy mite infestations in chickens lead to high levels of stress and can result in anaemia, reduced egg production and, eventually if not treated, death, so the effects of red mite are of considerable economic importance when considering production costs not to mention animal welfare...
Poor nutrition is one of the most common causes of poor hatch rates. The feeding programme for your breeding stock is essential for strong and healthy chicks - A majority of breeders will lock-up their birds for breeding season in smaller pens, so unfortunately they are not wandering around eating grass, grubs etc etc.
There are a few different options & many opinions on worming poultry - should I? shouldn't I? what should I use?
Well – it’s entirely up to you really.
Personally, we have never used chemical drenches - Reason is, we have never had to - Or should’ve we? We have had our fair amount of losses over the years, we've had the odd chook here and there go downhill - Most of the time, we have simply used Stockmans Friend AHE (As talked about in previous newsletters) Most of the time it has done the job, but sometimes it hasn't either.
On a Daily basis, We get phone calls and emails from poultry keepers with the same or similar problems – Egg bound chooks, misspelled eggs, eggs with no shells or hens simply not laying full stop – If any of these sound familiar, hopefully this article will have some answers for you.