Michigan - Page 4870  

ouch!!!  I would have been in a panic

Only going to have one chick this time round, giving that it makes it that far. Only one of Skatter's 2 eggs have developed. Bummer, but YAY! Hope its a pullet. I have no idea which hen it came from.

RB - Have you been communicating with the alpacas in secret?  What kind of treats are you promising them?  They seem to have been on their way to your place tonight. The youngest small human "forgot" to latch the gate and they took a walkabout.  They were more than 1/4 mile away when we realized it.  Little buggars.  Always fun high-stepping/running through mostly grown soy bean fields trying to herd Alpacas on foot.  And I thought I was going to have today off.  

Originally Posted by Olive Hill  Ivermectin is not labeled for poultry and feed store workers are usually minimum wage employees.  

Yeah, I wasn't really surprised about FFH and TSC, but our little local feed store is generally pretty experiences and knowledgeable. I didn't know it was marketed for cattle, though. In that case, if I were them, I wouldn't be suggesting it, either. Liability is a bee witch.

Originally Posted by Farmerboy16  Its not a place for a deaf person like me, and some other issues anyway.

Do you use ASL? Congratulations leaving a job that doesn't suit you, good luck with things to come.

Originally Posted by NovaAman  Some one decided that my green peppers would look better in their hands than on my plants. I had several that were getting good sized and now they are gone.

That sucks, Nova. Why not out back? Not enough sun? Space? I regret planting out fruit trees down by the road for the same reason... I didn't even think about it, it was was a good, sunny location.

Originally Posted by NovaAman    Oh, and does anyone know where the term "OK" came from?

This is the explanation I have heard most often: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/503/what-does-ok-stand-for

Originally Posted by Stacykins   Surprise! My goats and I found an underground bumblebee nest in the goat pasture.

Ouch!

Originally Posted by NovaAman   I don't misspell to often.

This is a good one! I hope you don't figure out how to turn off auto correct, OR start reading over what you've typed before submitting, you crack me up!

Okay.. Ivermectin Pour-on. I picked it up today and am going to treat tonight assuming I can get this worked out. There seems to be conflicting information all over the cursed place, so I wanted to bounce it off you guys first. These seem to be the most accepted standards I could find, agreed?

1 drop - OEGB sized small bantam female   
2 drops - OEGB sized small bantam male   
3 drops - average bantams 
4 drops - large bantams, small commercial fowl   
5 drops - most commercial fowl, small giant hens
6 drops - giant breeds of chicken  

So...

Mature: I have New Hampshire Reds, Isa Browns, Black Star. I don't think they are very big chickens... they are about a year and a half, I am thinking 4 drops?

Pullets: 2 Leghorns that are about the same size as my mature hens, and the other pullets are still small. They are all in the vicinity of 20 weeks. I am thinking 4 drops for the Leghorns, and 3 drops each for the other pullets?

Rooster: Also about 20 weeks, about the same size as my mature hens, so thinking 4 drops there as well.

Does this sound good?

A few other questions, thank you to anyone still with me here, teehee...

Egg tossing. I have read that some do, some don't, I am going to play it safe and toss for a couple weeks. I have also read though that you can feed the eggs to the chickens, good idea? Bad idea? Could this overdose them?

Coop. Should I rake out the straw and replace it now before dosing them tonight? Wait until after they are dosed and do it tomorrow? I will coat the place in DE again after replacing everything. In theory, there is only straw in the nest boxes, but that doesn't last more than a day, lol. Dirt floor.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

DH broke down (gave in?  indulged me?) and asked how many more layers I want to get so he knows how big of a coop to plan for.  I'm thinking maybe 4 copper marans, 4 EEs, 4 olive eggers, and 6 BLRW (2 "breeding trios" of those as the ultimate goal, but not obsessing over APA standard cuz I just don't have the patience for that) if I can ever find some non-hatchery ones for a reasonable price or get a broody.  Soooo......that would bring me to 26 layers.  Does that sound insane?  Espeically since I don't know if I'll be able to market or sell or even give away that many eggs???    I don't know what to take off my list!  Maybe cut it to 3 each of the 4 types?  That would get me to 21 layers?  Someone local to me has had the first 3 types on CL quite a bit this year, so I can get those reasonably........(aka not $10/bird from a hatchery) but I'm unsure of having that many ladies!

I get to go scrub screaming grubby boys now.  They played on the trampoline today and are filthy.

Gladahmae... I'd say build it for that amount, but wait until you have a general idea of how many eggs you are actually going to see. Also, you can always freeze up eggs for winter and cut the light and not provide as much light in the winter, that way your girls will last more than 2 yrs of continuous laying.... I mean, 15-20 eggs a day is a lot of eggs especially when you do not have buyers for them all. 

gladahmae  - If you want 26 layers, get 26 layers.  You can always feed the excess eggs back to the flock to cut your feed bill and make use of them. 

If the infestation isn't so bad, Juise, I'd do the least amount possible to get rid of the lice and eggs. I can always provide you with some eggs if you need some. I know I do not feed them organic, but I do feed them the sunfresh recipe and they do free range all day...