Westgate Labs for Smallholders

03/12/2024

🎄 Christmas tunes are playing in the lab and the tree is up! You can really help us stay merry by planning ahead and getting worm egg counts sent as soon as you can this month!
📮 Pressure on Royal Mail with the festive rush and reduced deliveries means that the risk of samples being lost or arriving too old to test is high at this time of year. We wouldn't recommend sending samples in the post between Friday 13th December and Monday 6th January.
🎅 From 19th December we'll also be operating a reduced hours service over Christmas and the New Year. For more info on our Christmas opening times 👉 bit.ly/Christmas-Opening-Hours-2024

01/12/2024

❄️🐓🐛 Winter is officially here and that means it’s time to consider a worm egg count of your flock and herd. The aim is to do something every season through the year to keep a check on parasite levels and ensure a burden doesn’t get out of hand

For guides and information on bird keeping 👉 bit.ly/Bird-Keeper-InfoZone

🛒Shop tests 👉 bit.ly/ShopPoultryTests

21/10/2024

🦠Not what any of us wants to hear, but some great advice from Clare Taylor at The Hen House nevertheless. Do give it a read.

Yep, you read it right - it's that time of year again. I've been reading through the trade press, and DEFRA has raised the risk level of AI in wild birds from low to medium. It never really left our shores after that lengthy outbreak of 2022-23, but incidents of infected/dead birds are rising, espec...

12/10/2024

Giveaway! Make sure to enter on • Hen Weekend • Chicken boarding original post!

We’re proud to be working with Westgate Labs to spread the word about hens and the importance of testing for worms to keep our flocks healthy! 🐔💪 To celebrate, we’re hosting a giveaway 🎉

Heres what you can win… 🐓
🪱 Worm count testing kit
👒 Headband
🖊️ Pens
🌸 Air fresheners
🧣 Neck scarf/mask

To enter on Facebook:
📸 Post your cutest hen pictures in the comments!
🔁 Share this post

Collection from Hen Weekend or postage (at your cost) can be arranged for the winner! 🏆

Let’s spread the love for healthy, happy hens! 🐓🐔🫶🏼

AD | Sponsored Westgate Labs for Smallholders🥼

13/09/2024

💚 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗸𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗴𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲! We're celebrating a momentous breakthrough, with the launch of a new sample pot that eliminates single use plastic from our test kits! They look like plastic; behave like plastic but are completely compostable and will help reduce our waste to landfill by a total of 90%!

♻ Our new green container is made from a cutting-edge biomaterial and once processed through the lab can be composted on our farm, along with the returned pouches, envelopes and letterbox packs that went compostable in 2020. As an added benefit the material encourages micro-organisms to feed and thrive, contributing to the decomposition of other items in the compost at the same time.

🥳 Look out for them in your next order as we filter out the old to replace with these innovative pots that make our entire range of test kits 100% sustainable and zero waste!

Find out more here 👉 bit.ly/Test-Kits-Go-Plastic-Free

02/09/2024

🍂🐓 The Autumn season has arrived which means it’s time for a worm egg count! You can choose to test individual birds or to test a composite sample from groups that are housed together. We advise submitting one sample for every 5 birds if using this method with a larger flock.

🐛 Only when the test indicates worms are present will you then need to step in with a treatment. Checking your flock in this way helps give peace of mind that your birds aren’t carrying unwelcome parasites that will impact their health, while reducing the need for regular worming doses.

Poultry parasite advice 🤓 bit.ly/Bird-Keeper-InfoZone
Shop tests 🛒 bit.ly/ShopPoultryTests

23/06/2024

⚡️𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗘⚡️ Last Chance to get 10% OFF!

🥳 This limited time deal ends tonight, so don't miss out on 10% off our worm egg counts and test kits for poultry, farm animals and equines!

⚡️ Shop now and use the code 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝟭𝟬 at checkout!
👉 bit.ly/Westgate-Shop-All

*Offer excludes EquiSal tests & all subscription plans. Sale ends at 11:59pm on Sunday 23rd June 2024.

22/06/2024

⚡️𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗘⚡️ This weekend only, take advantage of our limited time deal and get 10% OFF worm egg counts and test kits for poultry, farm animals and equines!

⚡️ Shop now and enter the code 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝟭𝟬 at checkout
🛒 bit.ly/Westgate-Shop-All

*Offer excludes EquiSal tests & all subscription plans. Sale ends at 11:59pm on Sunday 23rd June 2024.

21/06/2024

⚡️𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗘⚡️ For this weekend only get 10% OFF everything*

🥳 We're still buzzing from the success of our 25 mile hike which has raised vital funds for horses in need and don't want the celebrations to end just yet! As a thank you to all our customers for your support and donations, we're offering 10% off our worm egg counts and test kits for poultry, farm animals and equines.
⚡️ Shop now and use the code 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝟭𝟬 at checkout!
👉 bit.ly/Westgate-Shop-All
🦄 bit.ly/Westgate-Walk-For-WHW
*Offer excludes EquiSal tests & all subscription plans. Sale ends at 11:59pm on Sunday 23rd June 2024.

07/06/2024

🌞 Summer is officially here and that means it’s time to consider a worm egg count of your flock and herd.

🐓🐛 The aim is to do something every season through the year to keep a check on parasite levels and ensure a burden doesn’t get out of hand

For guides and information on bird keeping 👉 bit.ly/Bird-Keeper-InfoZone
Shop tests 🛒 bit.ly/ShopPoultryTests

22/05/2024

📢 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁! There's a Bank Holiday ahead which means worm egg counts often get lost or delayed in the postal system. To avoid this, please don't rush to send samples now until after the long weekend. Thank you!

🔬 For more advice and our opening hours 👉 bit.ly/May2024-BankHols

03/05/2024

🤩 Happy Bank Holiday! We hope you're able to spend the long weekend ahead enjoying time with family, friends and of course your hens and herd!

🔬The lab is closed on Monday 6th May as there's no postal delivery, so please delay sending samples in the post until next week, in case they get caught up in any bank holiday postal disruption and arrive too old to test 👉 bit.ly/May2024-BankHols

23/04/2024

📻This is an interesting listen, but it may make your skin crawl!

We've seen an increase in tick activity this year and scientists are worried that tick bourne disease is starting to pose more of a health risk to humans and animals as our climate warms.

👉 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001y87f

🛒 bit.ly/Tick-Remover

James goes looking for ticks and asks how worried should we be about them.

31/03/2024

🥚🔬 If you haven't already factored in your flock or herd spring time parasite control, then how do you know how their egg count is looking this Easter? Without testing you just can't tell. Large numbers of worms can be present without any clinical symptoms, so be sure to make regular testing an important part of your animals health routine.

Shop Poultry tests 👉 bit.ly/ShopPoultryTests
Shop Farm Animal tests 👉 bit.ly/FarmAnimalTests

We do hope you got plenty of eggs of the real chocolate variety this Easter too! 😍

26/03/2024

⚠️Important!

New mandatory registration requirements are to be implemented for bird keepers in Great Britain.

Under these rules, all bird owners are required to register their birds annually 🦆
This will help manage potential disease outbreaks like and keep your flock healthy 💚

By registering, owners will receive crucial updates and guidance for bird care.

Keepers need to follow these new requirements by 1 October 2024 📆

Scottish Keepers need to follow these new requirements by 1 September 2024 📆

Read more: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-measures-to-help-protect-poultry-industry-from-bird-flu

14/03/2024

👀 We had a suspicion that red mites were back in the Westgate chicken run, so used the carboard trick to see if we were right!

🔎 Mites are nocturnal so tuck themselves away in cracks and crevices during the day then emerge at night. We placed some cardboard in the hutch to give them somewhere to hide and at the end of the day you can see what we discovered and then quickly burned! Next job is to disinfect everything and treat the hens to be on the safe side.

🤓 If you need any help with mites or how to keep your flock free from them, Chicken Whisperer, Clare Taylor who runs The Handy Hen Facebook group has got some great advice on her website 👉 bit.ly/Chicken-Whisperer-Articles

11/03/2024

🌧🌷🐔 With the wet and mild winter this year we could see a flush of parasites. As Spring is now in the air, it’s an important time to consider a worm egg count of your flock and herd.

🐛 The aim is to do something every season through the year to keep a check on parasite levels and ensure a burden doesn’t get out of hand.

🛒 Poultry 👉 bit.ly/ShopPoultryTests
🛒 Farm Animals 👉 bit.ly/FarmAnimalTests

28/02/2024

Spring is around the corner so it's a great time to get your test kits.