Anyone against a younger person raising chickens

Pics
Date sort Score sort
Sounds like you are doing just great. Even at MY age (and I'm no "spring chicken"), I get lots of so-called advice from people. Some of those old-timers have info that makes me cringe! One told me to paint the inside of my chicken coop with used motor oil to control mites! HOLY COW...WHAT???? I guess that was done for years on fences and barns, too, but we all know now that used motor oil is a carcinogen and contains heavy metals. I can't imagine how much of that has washed off the fences into the soil and contaminated it and even groundwater below it. I don't want that around me, my flock, my dogs, my grandbaby, or anyone! I research everything before I use it. (Also, I teach Hazardous Waste classes, so he was talking to the WRONG person!)
Simple things like making sure they have fresh drinking water....like you said: DUH! haha I've got 29 chickens. Just had a serious mite infestation. I found a couple of safe products that cleared up the mites, and now my henhouse smells like cloves. (If you want the recipe, let me know.) I won't even use Sevin dust after finding out that it's a neurotoxin.
I was able to get used lumber from a construction school (no chemicals or anything unsafe on it) for free to build my henhouse. Just had to cut off the ends that had split, but the rest of the board was still good. You can always post something on craigslist or other sites to let people know what you need and someone might have it. And if someone brings me something I can't use, I very politely tell them thank you but no thank you. I've been overly nice in the past and ended up with junk on my property that I couldn't use and had to haul away; I already have enough chores! :D
All the best luck to you and your flock, kiddo!:thumbsup
 
When I was ten I had a room full of rodents, cockatiels, parakeets, finches, one chicken, several aquariums. I remember living in Oklahoma, I was a guardian of a flock of hens when I was six. I followed those white chickens around everywhere. Unfortunately they were all roosters until a miracle happened one day and they all turned to hens that laid eggs. (I found out much later that the roosters were swapped for hens). Of course I had lots of help because I was so young but I never forgot my main job: collect the eggs. And let me tell you if my dad forgot to give me the bucket to collect the eggs I was right there reminding him. By ten I was responsible enough to take care of an assortment of small animals and at 12 I had my own horse. Even though I was young (of course I thought I was old enough), I was serious about tending to my pets. Nobody had to remind me to feed, clean cages or so forth. I was always at the library getting books on how to take care of my critters. Of course all these animals needed food, cages and other supplies so I was given the job of cutting grass. I also collected glass bottles, aluminum cans and so forth. I was a very busy little kid who slept well at night. Well....until the hamster wheel started squeaking and I had to oil it. So, in my opinion young people can be responsible enough to take care of a flock of chickens. Of course parents need to be involved to make sure everybody needs are being met. (Did you close the coop door? Did you check for eggs under the wheelbarrow? Make sure the water bucket is not leaking.) As I matured and became an old lady (when did that happen?) I realized how lucky I was to have parents who allowed me to be who I am--especially since we lived in the city and owning a horse had to be expensive for them. And I expect I will continue to take care of animals and when I am in a nursing home I will be the first one waiting for the therapy dog to arrive and telling everybody, "I remember when....."
 
See all kinds of folks we are and all ages but all are right think for yourself over
what is right or wrong for yours, never decide one cannot learn we all can and should
never be afraid to ask....
 
Debbi H said:
Sounds like you are doing just great. Even at MY age (and I'm no "spring chicken"), I get lots of so-called advice from people. Some of those old-timers have info that makes me cringe! One told me to paint the inside of my chicken coop with used motor oil to control mites! HOLY COW...WHAT???? I guess that was done for years on fences and barns, too, but we all know now that used motor oil is a carcinogen and contains heavy metals. I can't imagine how much of that has washed off the fences into the soil and contaminated it and even groundwater below it. I don't want that around me, my flock, my dogs, my grandbaby, or anyone! I research everything before I use it. (Also, I teach Hazardous Waste classes, so he was talking to the WRONG person!)
Simple things like making sure they have fresh drinking water....like you said: DUH! haha I've got 29 chickens. Just had a serious mite infestation. I found a couple of safe products that cleared up the mites, and now my henhouse smells like cloves. (If you want the recipe, let me know.) I won't even use Sevin dust after finding out that it's a neurotoxin.
I was able to get used lumber from a construction school (no chemicals or anything unsafe on it) for free to build my henhouse. Just had to cut off the ends that had split, but the rest of the board was still good. You can always post something on craigslist or other sites to let people know what you need and someone might have it. And if someone brings me something I can't use, I very politely tell them thank you but no thank you. I've been overly nice in the past and ended up with junk on my property that I couldn't use and had to haul away; I already have enough chores! :D
All the best luck to you and your flock, kiddo!:thumbsup
Click to expand...
Yes please, please post the recipe, I just got my first ever mite infestation and my family has autoimmune challenges, so I have been VERY hesitant about using dangerous chemicals.
 
Legendchicken, I think every parent on here would be enormously proud to have a kid like you, don't let anyone discourage you please. Alot of people became disconnected from their food and don't even understand where it comes from, and those are most likely the same people trying to discourage you. They are the same ones that think US grocery store eggs are clean and safe to eat, even though they have been washed and then stored for up to 2 months without their bloom, then get surprised when someone gets sick from it and blames the chicken for salmonella. (Human interference byproduct, not naturally occuring) please don't let anyone tell you chickens are dirty, they are awesome for anybody of any age to care for.
 
Bluechick2u said:
Yes please, please post the recipe, I just got my first ever mite infestation and my family has autoimmune challenges, so I have been VERY hesitant about using dangerous chemicals.[/QUOTE
Click to expand...
Here's my "secret" recipe. Yes, I actually did keep it a secret years ago...it took my months of trial and error and research to find something that was effective and safe:

You need two different products:
#1: Monterey brand Garden Insect Spray concentrate. Contains .5% Spinosad
#2: SaferGro brand Pest Out concentrate. Contains Cottonseed oil, garlic oil & clove oil
I was able to find these products locally, one at a farm supply store and the other at a hydroponics store (yes, you can find good things there even for your chickens!). But I know that both of these are available online, too. I saw both of them on Amazon.
I bought quart-size bottles of each of these. I think they were around $25 each, and they will last quite a while. I even mix up a small spray bottle of the mix to use around my house and garden if I see any kind of "bad bugs" that will be controlled by this. (There are a lot listed on the labels.)

If you just have a few mites, you can use the "recipe" according to the amounts directed on the bottles, which would be 1.5 oz (3 TBSP) Pest Out, PLUS 2 oz (4 TBSP) Monterey G.I.S. per gallon of water. I use a garden sprayer that you can get just about anywhere that you can fill, pump up the pressure, and then just spray until you have to pump it up a little more. I usually like to use a 2 gallon sprayer.
If you have a serious mite infestation, you can multiply that recipe. I made mine 4x as strong to kill all the mites in the henhouse because they had really taken over. We've had an explosion of all kinds of bugs this year: mites, spiders, flies, mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, etc. I guess maybe because we had a good wet winter for once after several years of drought? Just guessing.
I started by completely cleaning out all the shavings on the floor and in the nest boxes. Then swept up what I could. All of that went into my green waste barrel that is picked up by the garbage company. I sprayed the top of the dirty shavings, too, to kill the mites and keep them from climbing all over the barrel and trying to escape!
Then I used my recipe to spray the entire inside of the henhouse, ceiling to floor, including the roosts and nest boxes. I coated it really well so that you can see the oils soaking into the wood.
I let that soak in for a couple hours (yes, the hens were upset that they couldn't get into the nest boxes, so I gave them a couple of wooden boxes and propped some small pcs of plywood so that they had a semi-private area. They seemed happy enough with that for the day, and actually laid their eggs there.
Then I put fresh shavings into all the nest boxes and on the floor. I sprayed a good mist over all of the shavings. Then I stirred them up and sprayed again. The chickens started coming in right away and were not deterred by the moistness on the shavings.
If you make a batch using just the lowest dose in the recipe above, you can actually mist that right onto the hens (just not in their eyes...the clove oil could sting).
My henhouse now smells like Christmas...all nice and "clovey". And even the hens smell good!
I knocked down the mite population to almost nothing. It's been a couple weeks, and I'm going to clean and spray again tomorrow. I don't want those darn mites to ever get to be an infestation like that again.
NOTE: there is another product that contains something like 40% spinosad (called Elector PSP), but it's pretty expensive at about $150 for a BIG bottle, but I would imagine that you'd use a lot less of that per application and the bottle could last a LONG TIME!
Hope this helps everyone.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom