Arizona Chickens

[Tracydr]

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Not brown or white but I have some six week old Easter Egger Pullets.

 

[AZBootsie]

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Depends on how far you are willing to drive??
I can spare a couple BSL pullets from the Easter Hatch, 14 weeks old. Think we could also talk her into a few B/B/S Rock roos's from the same hatch??

 

[ca]

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[Gallo del Cielo]

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It damages their exoskeleton and insides because it is so sharp and they die.... Only effective dry, but that is most of the time here in AZ.

That is mostly correct. Most people think it's because of the sharpness of the particles, but in fact it's the sorptive nature of DE. It pulls the outer layer of cuticle from the insect by adsorption, not by cutting. Arthropods depend on that outer layer of cuticle to maintain hydration. Indeed, it's effectiveness increases as humidity decreases below 70%. Here is the abstract to a great article that examined the process in detail: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17972301

 

[southerndesert]

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It damages their exoskeleton and insides because it is so sharp and they die.... Only effective dry, but that is most of the time here in AZ.

That is mostly correct. Most people think it's because of the sharpness of the particles, but in fact it's the sorptive nature of DE. It pulls the outer layer of cuticle from the insect by adsorption, not by cutting. Arthropods depend on that outer layer of cuticle to maintain hydration. Indeed, it's effectiveness increases as humidity decreases below 70%. Here is the abstract to a great article that examined the process in detail: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17972301

Good information and thanks for posting it...

 

[AZBootsie]

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It damages their exoskeleton and insides because it is so sharp and they die.... Only effective dry, but that is most of the time here in AZ.

That is mostly correct. Most people think it's because of the sharpness of the particles, but in fact it's the sorptive nature of DE. It pulls the outer layer of cuticle from the insect by adsorption, not by cutting. Arthropods depend on that outer layer of cuticle to maintain hydration. Indeed, it's effectiveness increases as humidity decreases below 70%. Here is the abstract to a great article that examined the process in detail: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17972301

Wow!! A light bulb just turned on in my peewee brain. That makes much more sense. I always wondered how people could ingest the stuff without problems. I mean wet or dry if DE was sharp enough to scratch holes in exoskeletons how could it not cause intestional irritation? Although I still don't believe eating it or feeding it to your critters can be benificial. How sorptive can it be once saturated with digestive enzymes?? But, at least I don't feel like I would be dusting my coop with ground glass anymore.

Thank you Gallo. You do find the most interesting info!!

 

[mclevinson]

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LOTS of extra birds available--silkie project birds that didn't inherit the right mix of genes. They should still lay and brood well, though.

Can I come look and choose one?

 

[mclevinson]

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It damages their exoskeleton and insides because it is so sharp and they die.... Only effective dry, but that is most of the time here in AZ.

That is mostly correct. Most people think it's because of the sharpness of the particles, but in fact it's the sorptive nature of DE. It pulls the outer layer of cuticle from the insect by adsorption, not by cutting. Arthropods depend on that outer layer of cuticle to maintain hydration. Indeed, it's effectiveness increases as humidity decreases below 70%. Here is the abstract to a great article that examined the process in detail: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17972301

I'm in love with your geekyness.

 

[mclevinson]

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I think they are! In itsy bitsy increments LOL. My chickens won't even bother. When the new pen is raised I'm gonna dig 'em out, pour bleach in their holes, put fire ant granules down and nuke 'em. Or not. Still have a dog and cat and lizards and geckos to protect. Sigh.

I wouldn't bother with the bleach. It's and urban legend. It will only kill a few. Just sprinkle the fire ant bait somewhere that your chickens can't get it. Or, I've had really good luck making a bait with 3/4 sugar, 1/4 boric acid. Probably even less boric acid. Sometimes I use peanut butter or syrup, instead. Place it on a plate so that it doesn't kill ant plants in your garden, it's very plant toxic but very safe to chickens and other pets. Between that and lots of diamectacous earth and a little judicious use of amdro, my ant situation seems to have disappeared. The amdro doesn't need to be on the anthills and neither does the boric acid bait. They carry it back to the hill. I've used the boric acid mixed with sugar several times when they were invading the house. It will take a couple days and the ants will be gone, including the hill they were coming from! I would follow the ants trail and find where they were going back to. In a couple of days, no more anthills.
I also dust the kitchen with boric acid, especially under cabinets, refrigerator and dishwasher. I then take a broom and sweep it up, which leaves a tiny trace of dust which we can't see all over the floor. This will kill cockroaches. Because our neighborhood flood irrigates, the cockroaches are huge and come in large quantities during the summer. The boric acid really seems to help. I haven't seen one in months, since I really got serious about dusting and sweeping with boric acid.
For fleas, I would use the diamectacous earth, in the carpet, yard and furniture. It's too bad it has to be reapplied when wet. It even killed the squash bugs on my squash bugs this summer, which really makes me a believer. I think it works pretty well on ants. The problem is, you can't get it down the hole to kill all the ants, especially the queen. It does a good job cutting down on them, thou and I do use it all around the garden and chickens.

Thanks Tracy. I have had good luck using the fire ant bait, before I had chickens.
I was joking about the bleach, I'd do that just to indulge my irritation.

 

[mclevinson]

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LOTS of extra birds available--silkie project birds that didn't inherit the right mix of genes. They should still lay and brood well, though.

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