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

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

I'm not an old-timer (at least as regards chicken-keeping), and I know that some have advocated spraying the nest with wasp spray, but you might also consider getting several cans of what I call bug bombs (an aerosol that one sets off and leaves in place for about 1-2 hours inside a building, it usually takes about 10-20 minutes just for the spray to dispense). You could use both products to be sure, or just one or the other. I am a chickensh*t so would probably opt for the bombs because you just place and activate them, walk out and close the door behind you, and when you come back ALL the bugs are dead. If you could get all the chickens out of the building overnight and set the bombs then, by sunrise you should be in great shape.

Bug bombs sound awesome! I'm a bit of a chicken myself, or at least I am now after getting stung twice. Do you know if the bombs would still be effective in a well ventilated coop? I suppose I could wrap the coop in plastic if we still have some left in the garage if need be.

 

[chicken curious]

I am not an OT and I have no idea what red wasps are, BUT we have had great luck using dish soap and warm water in a squeeze bottle on wasps. I thought I'd mention it as a non-toxic treatment in case you're interested. The squeeze bottle (like dish soap comes in) can put out a pretty far-reaching, hard stream. The dish soap in the water coats their bodies and wings so they can't fly or breathe. We were scared the first time and ready to run (and I'd still suggest that, of course!), but they couldn't move at all once sprayed and they died quickly. The soap coated the nest, too, so other wasps returning couldn't get in and the larvae (or whatever) inside was sealed in.

I hope this helps someone in their research.
Whitney

 

[Beekissed]

Bee, I enjoy reading you. I like how you call 'em like you see 'em. I like blunt honesty.

Let's face it, very few people can be like Fred, he's so smooth. I think Fred could tell someone they were a stupid, ugly, smelly, idiot and make them feel good about it at the same time.

It takes ALL kinds and I like reading you! You are intelligent and very helpful. THANK YOU BEE! Thanks for this thread!

My kids used to say that about me. They'd say, "Mom, you are the only person who can tell someone they are stupid and do it so sweetly and so nice that they think you are complimenting them!" That's in real life...on the computer it loses a lot in translation..or I got too old to pour some honey on it, I don't know. I've poured quite a lot of honey in my lifetime when dealing with the public and it never gets any easier.

 

[ChickChickChicky]

Bug bombs sound awesome! I'm a bit of a chicken myself, or at least I am now after getting stung twice. Do you know if the bombs would still be effective in a well ventilated coop? I suppose I could wrap the coop in plastic if we still have some left in the garage if need be.

If it's pretty well-ventilated you can either try to tighten the building up a bit or just use more containers of spray than what's called for on the packaging (I think it lists coverage in cubic feet on the package). I used it in the crawl space under a cabin that was just railroad ties stacked one atop the other (VERY well-ventilated) and used about twice as many containers as the packaging called for. It worked perfectly, went from being being a bug oasis to being a bug cemetary in just a couple of hours. You can find the bug bombs (made by Raid, etc) at Walmart and most anyplace that sells bug sprays. Just make sure you air the place out well before putting the chickens back in.

 

[smilingcat]

my father was an equal opportunity kind of a guy. I learned to use/handle tools from hammer, screwdrivers to circular saw, saws-all, chain saw to you name it. When I was around 16/17, I was spray painting a deck off the second floor when I spotted a nest of yellow jacket? It was a paper like nest with a hole in the bottom where all the wasps were flying in and out. It was a big nest so I just changed the spray pattern on my spray gun to shoot a stream of paint. Sprayed right into the opening and all the angry wasp tried to fly out. They all dropped onto the ground covered in paint. I didn't get stung by the wasp, destroyed the nest and killed off most of the wasps but I sure did get "stung" from my father for wasting nearly a gallon of paint.

So we all learn growing up. Some painful some funny, some sad.

No word of wisdom to give you here about wasp/hornet removal. Just my story of being stung by the two legged kind.

 

[fowlman01]

You get TWO six shooters of wasp spray, put on a hat, and long sleeves at night with a flash light. Go get 'em!

That's how Billy the Exterminator does it.

Walt

 

[bruceh]

i need to up my protein levels some. i like my layer mash and grower mash. has lots of good stuff. just missing something not sure what. it is all 16% i would like to get is a little higher in protein .around 18%. for my situation i think it would be best to try for a while to see what happens.

i also have the cornish x for meat. so i would like to up the grower to 19%


i have looked at the other threads but dang to many people mixing up the thread. i just want a simple additive to up protein levels.

the layers seem to be just missing something. they look good laying is not the best but they are first year pullets only been laying for a very short time some not laying yet.

to me they just have a skip in their step.

 

[bruceh]

oops

 

[bruceh]

deleted

 

[bobbi-j]

i need to up my protein levels some. i like my layer mash and grower mash. has lots of good stuff. just missing something not sure what. it is all 16% i would like to get is a little higher in protein .around 18%. for my situation i think it would be best to try for a while to see what happens.

i also have the cornish x for meat. so i would like to up the grower to 19%


i have looked at the other threads but dang to many people mixing up the thread. i just want a simple additive to up protein levels.

the layers seem to be just missing something. they look good laying is not the best but they are first year pullets only been laying for a very short time some not laying yet.

to me they just have a skip in their step.

Can you add soybean meal to their mash? That would up your protein, but I don't know how you'd tell the percentage. I don't know - just a thought.