AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

[youtube]http://beckyshomestead.com/what-do-chickens-eat[youtube]

She calls it egg layer, but she also refers to corn meal.

For what it is worth, this video is full of inconsistencies.

1) Saying that having eggs contaminated with faeces is a sign of worms is at best simplistic and at worst totally incorrect. Any disease that results in diarrhoea will cause faecally-stained droppings.
The only way to know if your birds have worms is to perform a faecal float and look at it under the microscope to see if any worm eggs are present; or if you are very lucky see an adult worm in the droppings or even in an egg.

2) Her "magic powder" is DE- diatomaceous earth. This product has become very popular again in recent years as a cure-all, external parasitacide and internal parasite eradicator. However, there is no documented evidence that it works for any of these problems- just testimonials.

If you want to use it then that's fine, but to trust it alone to eradicate worms in your collection is foolhardy IMO.

First you need to show you have worms. Then you need to prove that using this product has eliminated these worms.

We all want to use less chemicals around our birds, but not all "natural" alternatives are safe. For example it is advised not to breathe in the dust from these products because they can cause respiratory problems.
Yet it is recommended that the birds be allowed to dust bathe in it for external parasite control.
Does anyone else see the inherent contradiction here?

For those still keen to give it a go, an Australian-made product is Avi-Natural.

When you have used the product and it works , why worry about scientific documentation most of them are funded by chemical company's and are paid to find in there favour.

And how do you know it works CK?
That is the crux to the argument. You have no evidence that the problem exists ie have you diagnosed a worm problem? Then have you proven that your treatment has worked?

I diagnose the problem by performing faecal floats or during post mortems.
Then after using any treatment- and these are nearly always chemical wormers- i retest the faecal sample to see if the treatment works.
And I am not funded by any chemical company. I always take what they say under advisement, but test the product myself to see if it works as they claim.

Just saying it works because you say it works doesn't necessarily make it so.

I am not pro drug company and anti natural products.

But I am pro evidence-based treatment versus testimonials

Well I use it for weevil control in the grain and pellets , it killed the weevils and no more seen since.
it doesn't kill worms but the silica and calcium and other nutrients in it build the health up to enable
the animal to have a tolerance to them .

I totally agree with those comments CK.

So its called Corn Meal?

I give my girls Pumpkin seeds for natural worming and some of the pumpkin too at a treat they love it.

How affective are the pumpkin seeds

I don't get messy eggs afterwards but I did get the idear about using pumpkin seeds from youtube.