Arizona Chickens

[K9Dave]

not yet. still have a renter in there. gradually moving my stuff in, and surveying for greenhouse, aquaponics, wood shop, and chicken pens. Want to get the new pens built before I move the chickens, so I have 2 houses right now, will be moving gradually. If the renter doesn't find a place soon, may keep her as a roomie, new place is big enough. 

LOL! Got a good price on the new place, and it might even come with a woman!

Now that's a good deal. I've bought 3 houses now and mine of them came with a woman. I'm calling my realtor.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Are you using what they consider food grade DE? My cockroach problem went away after some trapping and I think they must have been rampant from a hatch, but now I have billions of crickets when I put the girls to bed at night. I got the DE at TSC and it shows it as a food supplement for all types of livestock. Is that the one that kills bugs? I saw the pest control one but it said not to use around kids or pets so I figured it wasn't safe for my chickens.

Diatomaceous earth is the silicious skeletons of diatoms, microscopic little critters living in seawater, like plankton. (Hey, I used to live where they mine it, in central California!) The skeletal remains are tiny, and sharp. It kills bugs by wearing holes in their exoskeletons. I'm not sure what makes it food grade or not, but either type will kill bugs. The food grade DE can be used as a food supplement, and will kill many types of internal parasites.
In it's natural form, it looks very much like chalk, but with pronounced bedding planes. Really good for finding fish fossils in, by splitting it apart on the bedding planes.

what makes it food grade is the purity of the diatoms. Dirt, dust, and other organic or non-organic stuff. It is used in all kinds of things we use everyday. Tooth past has some in it. It polishes, scarring powders has it in it. I use it to clean my pans instead of steal wool. It is gentler on everything, but bugs. I have not looked it up to refresh my memory, the use of it in food has been now limited by the FDA. It has an absorbing ability so it will remove oily gunk from the counter. I have given jars of it away to a cleaning lady that used it at moms. She was impressed with is qualities. I did not tell her what it was. Oh! People used to ingest it for parasites a long time ago about and before the turn of 1900. I think my grandmother S used it. She had all kinds of things for health. Eating clay that she sent for, Mexican brown sugar (no white sugar), burnt toast and warm water with meals. There has always been health nuts.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

not yet. still have a renter in there. gradually moving my stuff in, and surveying for greenhouse, aquaponics, wood shop, and chicken pens. Want to get the new pens built before I move the chickens, so I have 2 houses right now, will be moving gradually. If the renter doesn't find a place soon, may keep her as a roomie, new place is big enough. 

LOL! Got a good price on the new place, and it might even come with a woman!

Now that's a good deal. I've bought 3 houses now and mine of them came with a woman. I'm calling my realtor.

I want to get a place that comes with a man... My luck I would find a place with an old fart.

PS: I'm going to miss this.
It is awfull living without Internet... Descent cell phone coverage... Not fun.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I want to get a place that comes with a man... My luck I would find a place with an old fart.

PS: I'm going to miss this.
It is awfull living without Internet... Descent cell phone coverage... Not fun.

Where are you now, how long are you staying and where are you headed next? We need an update!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

The worst thing was, that was the second bobcat that killed a bunch of pullets. This was several years ago, I was raising hatchery pullets for layers and had 42 of them in a pen. The first one dug UNDER that pen, something I didn't think a bobcat would do, and hauled off 17 pullets through the hole. Took 4 nights of continuous baiting of the trap right in front of the hole before it was hungry enough to come back, and it managed to kill an 18th one through the wire before it got caught in the trap. Then I took the remaining pullets and moved them into my poultry house which was still under construction. I thought they'd be okay since I had the hallway gated off, but I hadn't yet put wire in the "Vee" shapes where the flat chain link fencing met the slanted roof. Plus the end pen didn't have a roof or wire over it yet, so was open. The second cat came over the fence at the end, went UNDER a chain link fence, the up and over two more chain link fences to reach the pen where I had housed the remaining pullets. So I was still recovering mentally from the first attack, then the rest of the birds got killed. It took me 5 minutes to figure out how the cat got in and I could tell by the scuff marks, it had a puzzle trying to figure out how to get back out. Yes, I think I started with 42 pullets. Minus 18, the second cat killed 24. I caught that cat that very night after I set the trap right in front of the spot I thought it came in

Do not underestimate the determination of a bobcat. And the path of destruction they will leave if they get in a pen with confined birds.

Oh my gosh, what terrible cats!

 

[rockmissjess]

woo-hoo!!!! The two roosters are gone... a family just came and picked them both up!!! *dances with joy* —

feeling joyful.

 

[a little chiken]

not yet. still have a renter in there. gradually moving my stuff in, and surveying for greenhouse, aquaponics, wood shop, and chicken pens. Want to get the new pens built before I move the chickens, so I have 2 houses right now, will be moving gradually. If the renter doesn't find a place soon, may keep her as a roomie, new place is big enough.

LOL! Got a good price on the new place, and it might even come with a woman

Be careful if she wont move...and good luck.

Now that's a good deal. I've bought 3 houses now and mine of them came with a woman. I'm calling my realtor.

um your wife might not like that Dave lol

I want to get a place that comes with a man... My luck I would find a place with an old fart.

PS: I'm going to miss this.
It is awfull living without Internet... Descent cell phone coverage... Not fun.

Just remember be careful what you wish for....

 

[kpgoldstar]

NO kidding! I went to high school in Lompoc (and Cabrillo when I was living at Vandenberg). Joined the Navy a couple years later and never went back, but my mom and little sister still live there. On the "unauthorized" school holidays, frequently went to Jalama Beach or Gaviota, and drove past the Johns-Manville plant many times.

And the answer is yes. food grade DE is specifically for internal parasites, and also used for external parasites.

My husband was born and raised in Lompoc and attended Lompoc High as well. He's probably older than you I'm guessing. I was a Valley girl (SY).

Thanks to you, Gallo and LDK for all the info on the DE. I read the link cityfarm posted too and it still seems confusing. That site sells a 'crawling insect killer' that you are NOT to use around pets. They also sell a pet and human consumable DE. It just isn't clear that the food grade DE will also kill crawling bugs, but I am taking your word for it! I sprinkled some last night around my slider and the patio area where my girls eat their FF snack in the afternoons. There seemed to be FAR fewer crickets tonight, no small ones at all and all the big ones were very slow moving.

My humidity today was only 9% so I think I should be good to go. I'm going to douse my run tomorrow morning. I'm ready to reduce this sudden infestation! I will have to avoid watering down for a couple days. It was 116 yesterday, 112 today and supposed to be 112 again tomorrow. Thankfully will be cooling down over the weekend 103-108 most days.

 

[carnivore]

My husband was born and raised in Lompoc and attended Lompoc High as well. He's probably older than you I'm guessing. I was a Valley girl (SY).

Thanks to you, Gallo and LDK for all the info on the DE. I read the link cityfarm posted too and it still seems confusing. That site sells a 'crawling insect killer' that you are NOT to use around pets. They also sell a pet and human consumable DE. It just isn't clear that the food grade DE will also kill crawling bugs, but I am taking your word for it! I sprinkled some last night around my slider and the patio area where my girls eat their FF snack in the afternoons. There seemed to be FAR fewer crickets tonight, no small ones at all and all the big ones were very slow moving.

My humidity today was only 9% so I think I should be good to go. I'm going to douse my run tomorrow morning. I'm ready to reduce this sudden infestation! I will have to avoid watering down for a couple days. It was 116 yesterday, 112 today and supposed to be 112 again tomorrow. Thankfully will be cooling down over the weekend 103-108 most days.

I graduated in 1974.

 

[kpgoldstar]

I graduated in 1974.

Oh funny! He graduated in 1972!