Re: [AlpacaTalk] snail control
I hope someone with some experience shares....
We had ducks once. I can't say if they actually did eat a lot of snails
or not. We also had geese, who took over the hay boxes for their nest
boxes. That wasn't a good fit. Raccoons and/or hawks got all but one of
our ducks, so we found the remaining duck a new, safer, home. The geese
were re-homed as well. I hear that guinea hens eat snails and slugs
very well. I also hear that they're about as dumb as they come, and
have a "suicide" gene. :) And they're noisy as heck!
We have pretty much always done our own shots. I really hate doing them
but I will if I have to. Generally on our farm, my mom is the shot
giver and I'm the tooth trimmer. To give ivermectin shots, it's easiest
to just buy 1/2" needles, 18 gauge so the thick meds go through
quickly, and you don't even need to tent the skin, just jab, push, and
you're done. So I've heard, anyway. :) Right now all we have are 1"
needles which makes it very hard, I think, to give shots. Harder than
it needs to be, anyway.
But since you already have experience with M-worm, I'd think that would
be a priority... Do you have any alpaca or llama breeders close to you
who might give you some help? You might think about contacting your
closest alpaca breeder's association and even join, just to have a
network of people for support and help. I know I'm always very willing
to go lend a hand to local breeders, who are also members of our local
group, if they ask! Networking is a wonderful thing, and I was never
any good at it until I got into alpacas. Now, it's so easy to network
when we all have pretty much the same goal!
Heather
On Oct 10, 2008, at 8:26 AM, houckj@aol.com wrote:
> I have been very bad these past 2 yrs about not giving the monthly
> dectomax injections that my guys used to receive every 6 wks. That was
> when I had an old style vet that came to the farm and didn't charge a
> fortune. He would stop by and do the injections for $10 - total! Then
> he went up to $15, then $25 and I decided I could no longer afford
> that
> luxury. Tho I *can* give injections, it is just a pain to do by myself
> and with everything else that has been going on, it just frankly fell
> thru the cracks....as did so many other things.
>
> Anyway, I have ducks and guineas in the same pasture as my
> alpacas.....
> ducks provide slug and snail control. I got the guineas for tick
> control, don't really know if they eat snails or not????
>
> What is your opinion(s) about the effectiveness of snail control with
> ducks? Anyone else trying this? I already know it is not as effective
> as a monthly injection. But in the face of reality, I am hoping this
> is
> offering a decent level of protection, until I get back up to speed
> with
> the injections (and everything else). I have had no problems with
> m-worm in these past several years. About 5-6 yrs ago, I did have one
> boy become infected. I was able to save his life, but he was somewhat
> lame afterwards.
>
> I also wonder if any of you use DE for parasite control? I know
> several
> people who use it great success with their horses and goats.
>
> Thanks!
> Janice in GA
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posted by Chaddo at 1:36 PM
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