Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Pozees]

Okay, it's time to play, "Just How Stoopid Can She Be?" (Answer: epically, incredibly, voluminously stoopid.)

After treating my mite-ridden broody, she wouldn't go back on her eggs. I put the eggs under another accommodating hen. When the mitey broody started sitting on different eggs in the second story of nest boxes an hour later, I wanted to give her her own eggs back . . . but couldn't figure out a way to do so that would be clean and safe for possible chicks as she wouldn't go in the lower boxes.

Maybe a dog crate in the coop? Or try a lower nest box again?

Or . . . . . 






MAYBE USE THE BROODER MY HUSBAND SO LOVINGLY BUILT FOR ME???????

[COLOR=0000FF]D'OH![/COLOR]

 

[JeffOeuf]

So now I'm going to ask you one more thing. The website that I posted links to above is a local gun store that I can walk in and purchase from. Would you be willing to suggest a couple that you'd recommend from that site?

I breezed through the site a little and here's what I would do in your shoes. GO THERE! They have an amazing selection. I'm guessing they also will have very knowledgeable and helpful staff. Tell them what we talked about, tell them what you want, talk to them about your size, weight, and experience or lack thereof with weapons. I'm sure they'll point you in the right direction.

That said, if they try and talk you into an expensive weapon, when what you need is a simple single shot, then leave and go find someone else to do business with.

 

[thedragonlady]

I guess I'm just a bit anal (LOL) when it comes to this. I want to know just how long Permethrin stays active and how long until it breaks down. I've been unable to find that information anywhere. It's a known with Pyrethrin which I've had amazing results with. I have to say I haven't had nearly the successes I've had with Permethrin. The difference for me now is, that real Pyrethrin is nearly impossible to find at a halfway reasonable price.

Sarah,

It's that residual effect with permethrin that gives success. No matter how much you shake and bake, and spray your birds, you are going to miss a few mites on them, and in the coop in the deep cracks. The residuals will knock those out. Pyrethrin only lasts 24 hours, less in direct sun. That's why I use PERMETHRIN. No bugs here. My wrens are happy and healthy too!

 

[thedragonlady]

Well, now I'm gonna have to go and look at the bottle. The warning label made it sound very innocuous. . . . Just looked at it again. It's 0.2% sulfur, 0.01% Pyrethrins, and the rest inert ingredients.
I am new to all this, and in my paltry defense, everything looks scary when it happens in your own birds for the first time, even if you've read about it. And I was trying to do everything right, so when those mites started crawling up my arms and driving me crazy with the itching, and when I saw how heavily the hen was infested, I had six hissy fits of guilt and worry for my chickens.
The nest boxes are only a few weeks old -- I thought I was inspecting them adequately -- looking for bugs in the bedding and on the wood surfaces -- but didn't realize how small mites are. Smaller than small. Smaller than that. Odd fact: on me, they itched when they were moving, not when they were biting. Poor hen.
I'm one of those fruits/nuts/whole grains type of people. We don't use chemical fertilizers or any herbicides or pesticides in the garden or yard. (Just ask the caterpillars who ate all the chard and most of the kale. Fat, healthy little bugs.) Treating for mites, I tried to keep the toxicity level low and the effectiveness high with cleaning the boxes, using the pyrethrin instead of organophosphates and carbamate pesticides on the wood, and using wood ashes instead of pesticides on the hen.
Yes, I did come to byc immediately for advice, specifically to this thread. I may be scared, but I'm not lazy. And I tried to keep a brain in my head when I ran into this problem for the first time, although that's difficult for me because I don't have much of one to begin with.
You are all helpful and I greatly appreciate it. Al, you're just gonna have to hang in there and deal with newbies like me. I like what you write and respect what you have to say. Darn it, I like you. So please put up with me when I get all nervous and stoopid.

To me the main thing is that you CARE ! You can emphathize with that poor little Silkie hen bravely undergoing that torture, but still sitting on her eggs. Thanks for treating her, and keep at it!

 

[ChickChickChicky]

Two questions for the OT's:

1. How big should a pop door be for large fowl to be comfortable going back and forth, while keeping out larger predators (such as loose dogs)?

2. Would it make sense to have two pop doors - one on each end - so if a predator does get into the coop the birds have another way out? It sounds like many predator issues are due to the birds being trapped in an enclosed space.

Right now my coop/run has no pop door. Wasn't planning on letting the birds out of the enclosed run when I built it. Now I just leave the people door open when the birds are out. New coop will have both kinds of doors.

Sarah

I'm not an old timer, but I built my pop doors (two coops) 12" wide x 16" high, mostly to add more ventilation (both doors open into well-secured runs so I don't have to worry about predators). In the winter, though, the girls like to hang out in the coop more, so I just used scrap plywood to temporarily make the opening smaller (9" x9") to keep more of the cold wind out. I just screw them to the inside door framing, then in spring I take them down again. The chickens have no trouble whatsoever getting through the smaller opening, but I think anything but the smallest of dogs would have a hard time squeezing through an opening that size.

 

[Beekissed]

Have to disagree on this one Bee. For the following reasons :

1. That Silkie is just about to hatch. If you used Nu-stock on her, good as it is, you would close up the pores in her eggs due to the mineral oil, and those chicks would die in their shells. Ever seen a Silkie doused in oil? Not pretty.

2. This is MAY be a sudden heavy infestation due to the sitting Silkie providing a food source for the mites to multiply.

3. If those eggs do hatch during this heavy infestation of mites, the chicks will be eaten alive in no time.

4. Permethrin is one of the least toxic, chemically identical to Pyrethrin, effective, insecticides you can use. It is routinely used for children.

5. I HAVE read all of your threads, and enjoyed them. You must admit though, that you have had to retreat birds for lice after using ashes and Nu-Stock too.I just don't think that ashes and Nu-stock are the treatments of choice with a heavily featherd Silkie due to hatch.

You could have some points, as you seem to have experience with mite infestations in birds that are not typically healthy and I do not. As this is my first go round with sick birds~NOT caused by my own mismanagement~I guess I have little to offer in the way of knowledgeable treatment options. I only have success in preventative management and not so much in taking care of birds with parasites...particularly Silkies, who hardly even can be classified as a chicken.

My advice still stands....ashes and NuStock on the nits. The NS will merely be on the nits around the vent and won't be "dousing the bird in oil" unless you are really sloppy with the treatment. Silkies are not heavily feathered, from all the pics I've seen...mostly just hair, which is easily dusted.

But then, what the heck do I know about Silkies or skin mite infestations? I've only dealt with them one time, no matter the speed and success and long term effectiveness of the treatment, it all could have been a fluke. Or just luck..who knows?

 

[bruceh]

i am lurking on here

 

[Mountain Momma]

laughing. Won't Dimioutritious (sp?) earth food grade keep the mites away?


BTW sick chick is sick again. I think full blown body yeast infection was the original illness and this bout of antibiotics for the cough -caughing chicken -made it way worse.
I will help cull her early next week. She has been a lot of trouble and this cannoto keep going on. Of course I offered to help cull before but its a tough decision. I'm glad its not one of mine.


Would that be a gleet case? Yeast infection?

L

BTW, turkey had very good flavor, a little dry white meat but not much. Dark was fine. We need to get better at smoking poultry cause I like it that way a lot. Not much leftover, was very popular among the folks there. Hardly any left to take home.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

... Won't Dimioutritious (sp?) earth food grade keep the mites away? ...

Diatoms are microfossils and make up Diatomaceous earth. That makes it easier to remember the spelling.

 

[galanie]

...  Won't Dimioutritious (sp?) earth food grade keep the mites away? ...

Diatoms are microfossils and make up Diatomaceous earth. That makes it easier to remember the spelling.

DE might or might not help with that. It's a real hit and miss kind of thing. Seems to work for some, not for me. It's more of a desiccant than anything else and once moist is not very effective. I live in a humid climate so that's probably why it has little effect on anything here. Got a big bag a couple years ago and ended up tossing most of it. Ashes do more.