Bay Area BYCers!

[whillergee]

Quote:
Yes, Jeremy, we've got tons of ivy in the back (the English kind, I think), and whenever I let the ladies out of the run to freerange they LOVE scratching around in it. They don't eat it though. If they've taken a nibble here and there it hasn't harmed them. What they REALLY love is scratching for bugs in all the oak leaf and redwood litter underneath the trees - must be like a treasure hunt.

 

[jeremy]

I would dust the entire flock, I honestly don't think it would hurt. That way if she's not the only bird with mites then you would be fixing the problem entirely, not just temporarily by only treating her.

Another good "preventative" method that I use, I mix DE & the mite eleminating powder in the wallow of ground where the birds dust bathe... that way they take care of the mites themselves!

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
Yes, Jeremy, we've got tons of ivy in the back (the English kind, I think), and whenever I let the ladies out of the run to freerange they LOVE scratching around in it. They don't eat it though. If they've taken a nibble here and there it hasn't harmed them. What they REALLY love is scratching for bugs in all the oak leaf and redwood litter underneath the trees - must be like a treasure hunt.

Well I'm glad to hear that the stuff won't kill them... though I can't say the same about the chickens not killing the ivy.

I hope all of their future scratching might eventually kill all of the ivy, at least in their area. It sounds like I'm going to have to break down and use some good ol' elbow grease in order to rid the rest of the vines in the backyard.

I wonder how much a gardener would charge for something like that...

 

[clio]

Hi Jeremy,

Although I took out the ivy along my back fence years ago, the neighbor in back still has theirs, and I do see ivy sprouting through the fence and on the ground on my side, which I pull out. The chickens don't bother with the ivy. With the fruit trees dropping leaves now, I'm sure the chickens will have more fun digging though those piles!

I'll email you later on when to meet up w/ you next Saturday . thanks

 

[jeremy]

There's about an 8 inch layer of organic matter covering our entire yard. Mostly tons and tons of dropped leaves from over the years.

When we firsts purchased the home last year it had been vacant sine 2002, the backyard literally looked like it was a thicket or a small dense forest!

After clearing some brush and taking out a few of the smaller spindley trees we've finally managed to see the shape of the land.

It'll be GREAT for the birds I'm sure. Hopefully all their scratching during ranging will cut down on how much feed they consume, and save me some moo-lah!

Clio, shoot me an email whenever you're ready. I'm typically available after 2 PM most Saturdays, I work in the mornings.

 

[whillergee]

Quote:
So you use the Sevin powder? Do you get it at the Concord feed store? I have some DE that I spread around the bedding occasionally, but I've been conflicted about using it so I haven't been consistent. So hard to know what to do - I guess we all just have to try things and stick with what works for us!

 

[whillergee]

Quote:
Yes, Jeremy, we've got tons of ivy in the back (the English kind, I think), and whenever I let the ladies out of the run to freerange they LOVE scratching around in it. They don't eat it though. If they've taken a nibble here and there it hasn't harmed them. What they REALLY love is scratching for bugs in all the oak leaf and redwood litter underneath the trees - must be like a treasure hunt.

Well I'm glad to hear that the stuff won't kill them... though I can't say the same about the chickens not killing the ivy.

I hope all of their future scratching might eventually kill all of the ivy, at least in their area. It sounds like I'm going to have to break down and use some good ol' elbow grease in order to rid the rest of the vines in the backyard.

I wonder how much a gardener would charge for something like that...

I've got a teenager who works cheap..!

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
So you use the Sevin powder? Do you get it at the Concord feed store? I have some DE that I spread around the bedding occasionally, but I've been conflicted about using it so I haven't been consistent. So hard to know what to do - I guess we all just have to try things and stick with what works for us!

I'll have to check the label of what powder I've got when I get home. I don't think it's Sevin though? I might be wrong. I picked it up from Mike's Feed in San Leandro.

I use DE EVERYWHERE. When I get a new bag it looks like a snowstorm just took place in my coop and run. I can't speak enough about how much I feel DE is useful as preventative care. We use it in the run and coop to keep flies away. We use it in their food to prevent internal buggies from forming. I spread it all over their poop board to keep that muck dry. I even have a bowl of it free choice for them. So far I've never had an issue with any sort of creepy crawlers.

Some folks will try to down play it's usefulness, I'm not saying it's a miracle cure all for your chickens but it will prevent most things from occuring rather than not using DE and having to deal with whatever problems down the road.

 

[Mrsfoote]

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I used mine on an egg turner ! lol go figure....Yea I was in the half moon bay feed store today and almost got some and was thinking of throwing it around the coop and such...

Never used it before.

 

[Mrsfoote]

Oh and by the way I just thought i'd show off my 90% done chicken coop it's not georgous but the girls like it and I'm pretty happy with it and I know i know about the run...its only temporary gotta figure out how we are doing that next.