Buckeye Breed Thread

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Looks like Chris is pretty popular!
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I too have to PM him.
 
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DE has been proven to work But lets take northern fowl mites for example. It takes Aprox 15 days for DE to destroy the plastic protectent of a pest. NFm hatch eggs roughly every 2-3 days. So used as an aid to prevent mites I understand. Used as a repellent to rid an invasion Just isnt happening.
 
I agree with Tailfeathers, and I also provide each coop with it's own DE and sand dust bath.
The birds LOVE it, and dust regularly.
The DE mixed with sand provides the perfect bath, and IF mites come along & bite, then they die to injestion of the DE.
DE can be found in 50# bags for $27 here, so it lasts a long time.
DE is also sprinkled on feed here, to kill internal worms.
I regularly use wazine and ivermec 2 X a year also.
The DE will not kill gaps as they are blood feeders in the bird's throat and so do not ingest feed in the bird's gut.
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a shot of one dust tub.
The birds will kick shavings & straw in from time to time, and I sift it out with a cat pan spoon.
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you can also add some permethrin poultry dust to the sand/DE dust bath if you care to..
These tubs are perfect, and can be found at Home Depot for $8 each.
They are for mortar, and probably can be had at other home warehouse stores as well.
There is a smaller size in the $5 range and a bigger tub for I think $12
They are fantastic for duck pens as well.
 
I have found, that the only time we have a mite problem, is deep winter, and experience will tell you, the birds are often huddled in the coop, and there is mud or hardpan everywhere, no dust bath to be had.
Easy pickings for MrMite to move in.
On letting my birds free range, I watched them, and under the house they went.
I could hear them kicking up sand & pebbles under the floor !
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I went with a flash light to inspect the noise..and there they were, in a haze of dust, kicking upp dirt and bathing in a scene not unlike the moon's surface, they had several holes,and were going at it.
So...I got them dust bath pans, and they come out of the coop with dust all over them looking like chickens on fire !!
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they love it.
I love the fact that I no longer have to dust them or apply anything to them, they will take care of themselves if provided the essentials to do so.
Here is Western Washington, we have so much rain, and everything is muddy for so long, and that is mite season.
Birds provided with what they need to survive & be healthy & happy, do so.
I have to sift the shavings out once a week or so, but not a high price to pay for healthy and very happy birds.
I have a picture somewhere of the Blue Copper Marans coop, with 3 hens in the dust bath at once, and boy is it ever dusty!!
But they like it, alot.
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Edited to add: Heck, our forefathers knew about dust bathing, they all wore powdered wigs!!
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The head lice problem with our grade school kids going to school every fall is also a good example..kids are huddled, indoors, wearing hats & scarves, and presto!
Right here in this time zone, we humans STILL have a head louse problem, every fall, in elementary school chicldren.
Where do these bugs come from ?
No one knows but they show up every fall.
Maybe we should dust bathe also
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CHickie lady--thanks for the full scoop on creating a fun dust bath that is also a preventative; the cement mixing tub is just the pan to do the job. Thanks for the solution, I just couldn't figure out a solution on my own. I love BYC!

MMpoultry Farms--this is exactly my point. And your right--There's no good reason to purposefully bring in disease to a flock but to find those flocks that have developed some immunity to various diseases and use those birds as breeding stock to perpetuate the genetic ability to resist diseases. Populations that are never challenged develop a higher risk of a dastardly disease destroying more birds.

Maybe the plus side is that so many of the poultry diseases that were wide spread have been dramatically reduced due to good hygene, good feed and biosecurity procedures.So now I have finally figured out it's not worth worrying about natural resistance . . rather follow good biosecurity procedures. Thanks for everyones input while I figured this out.
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Chris, just FYI, I tried to send you a PM but get message saying your box is full. Tried to send you two different personal emails but get message saying they're being delayed. Please let me know if you don't get them.

God Bless,
 
When you go to a building or hardware, or home depot & get the mortar tubs, buy sand there.
I use at least 1 bag of clean dry sand, and have big feed scoops, about 2 feed scoops of DE, mix it up with your fingers, and you are done.
Incidently, you can use a wire collander instead of a cat pan spoon to sift undesirables out, like wood shavings, poop or straw.
This helps it stay fluffed and clean.
 
Is it Spring yet? Hatched 19 chicks. Also had a Buckeye go broody, so I put 15 eggs under her that are due March 24th. -Marci

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