Arizona Chickens

[smjacob]

Quote:
From what I understand DE in the food really doesn't do anything. DE breaks down when it gets wet and looses that nice sharp edges that give the bugs the problems so once it hits the chickens mouth (and their saliva) its ruined for the bugs. At least that is what i have read a few places.

Shaun

 

[Enjaytoo]

Quote:
I've never had the problem but I've heard DE in the food works well.

I use DE liberally in the feed and bedding too. I think, correct me if I'm wrong someone, that its still "debatable" if DE is fully efficient at intestinal parasites (due to moisture content and how DE works, mechanically so to speak)

Edited to say "What smjacob just said"

 

[rufus]

Quote:
Try pumpkin for worms. If you suspect gape worm, give them black oil sunflower seeds. Just another reason to keep dogs and chickens separate.

Beside the safety issue and the worm issue, I don't like the idea of them eating chicken poop or chickens eating dog poop.

Rufus

 

[Mahonri]

I use Valbazen. I bought mine online from Jeffers supply. Got a big bottle and keep it in the spare fridge.

I'll be worming mine in a couple of weeks... .when my New Years kids are 16 weeks and I introduce some of them into the bigger flock.

 

[gckiddhouse]

Laree - soooo sorry to hear. It is so hard to get the darn chicks hatched and then it is a pain to brood them and feed them and you finally get them to where you might get to add them to the flock and in your case, to the breeding program and poof! There goes all that. Darn!!

It may actually be a good thing that the dogs didn't bite into them and eat them. This would indicate (to me) that they were playing with the "squeeky toys". You can teach them not to do that. If they had eaten them, well, then, that wouldn't be something you couldn't convince them not to do again. Once they get a taste of chicken...

So sorry

On the DE - My understanding is that DE is from the ocean. It is fossilized diatoms, so it wouldn't make sense that it would disolve or change shape because it gets wet. I haven't done the research, but it probably has some pretty reliable properties in the way of internal pest control. But maybe it isn't the most effective.

From ARS 31 "BB guns and slingshots are forbidden within the city limits except (1) at an approved practice range; (2) for target practice in a safe location, if the back-stop is capable of stopping all projectiles; and (3) if the BB's do not stray onto other people's property."

Got a block wall?

I forget, sometimes, that I live in the county and am not as subject to all this government intrusion on our lives.

And BTW - I tried shooting the bunnies out here with my bow. That did not go as planned.

Went to Baker's Nursery for Ladybugs today! Thanks for the tip, Mahonri. They do get them in every week and have lots of them. The lady that owns the nursery lives up here in my neighborhood. Super nice people there! We really enjoyed our visit.

Signed the tax papers and went on a date with DH - a rare treat.

BTW - 5 babies total from my 38 eggs. Pathetic! Cute, though!! Pics soon

 

[Mahonri]

CKIDD... I hope I don't have your hatching percentage, that would mean I only get 10 chicks this hatch.

Off to buy lady bugs and caulk for a bathroom job.

I don't know what's blooming right now, but my sinus' don't like it at all!

 

[cap1717]

Quote:
African Sumac and Sweet Acacia. . . and the olives are just about to get started. Rough time of the year for those with allergies to airborn pollen.

 

[LarryPQ]

Cap1717- what are the little blue-gray plants, leaves similar to sage, wicked terrible spines, pretty light purple flowers, with blue-purple fruit/berry/seeds? EVERY YEAR I battle with them in my yard. Right now they are making their appearance, and will be flowering in a month or two. I worry the fruits/berries are poisonus to the chickens.


Thank you everyone. Poor chickes were getting extra "lap time". Ender took it in remarkable stride--he asked if they were going to be angels with the late Baroness von Poofeinstien. (um, yes?) Poor Pepper was that really randomly lucky genetic accident: she would have skipped the Alohas forward quite a bit. poop.

 

[cap1717]

Quote:
HENBIT

Illustration

Mint Family-Labiatae

HENBIT-Lamium amplexicaule L.

DESCRIPTION-A low slender annual, winter annual, biennial, or rarely a short- lived perennial, reproducing by seeds, by stems rooting at the lower joints, and sometimes by slender rhizomes. The weak 4-angled stems, 4 to 16 inches high, branching from the base, are erect at first but soon spreading, the lower part often reclining on the ground and rooting at some joints. The leaves are opposite, usually less than 1 inch long, hairy, and round-toothed or lobed. They are widely spaced except at the tops of the stems, often 3 to 6 inches apart. The lower ones are heartshaped on slender stalks; the upper ones much broader, stalkless and clasping the stem. The slender pink or purple flowers, 1/3 to 2/3 inch long, are tubular with 2 lips, the upper hairy on the back, and the lower spotted. The stalkless flowers are borne in the axils of the upper leaves, 6 to 10 or more forming a circle around the stem. The calyx, yellow hairy with 5 sharp bristlelike teeth, remains on the plant and encloses the 4-lobed fruit. The calyx separates into 4 seedlike nutlets, commonly referred to as seeds. They are 3-angled, 1/16 to more than 1/12 inch long, grayish brown, and sprinkled with silverish bumps.

DISTRIBUTION-Henbit is an introduced European weed, growing in moist often shady soil, but also in the sun. In Arizona it is primarily a pest in lawns, especially new lawns, also found in gardens, flowerbeds, plowed fields, and waste places. Troublesome mostly in the spring, and sometimes again in the fall at the lower elevations. Widespread throughout the southern and central part of the state and locally abundant in many areas, it is scattered in the northern part; 100 to 9,000 feet elevation; flowering February to November

could be this one. . . I will check in my weed book this afternoon when i get home to see if it sounds like anything else. . . can you describe the flower?

 

[LarryPQ]

Nope, not that one.

I am 99% sure this is it. http://www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/2369/solanum-elaeagnifolium-silverleaf-nightshade/

Looks like Shane gets "weeding" on the honeydo list while I am gone

I forgot to say they looked like potato flowers...which in reading the article, makes sense.