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

[Beekissed]

Thanks for the lightning-fast reply!
The shower seemed to do the trick -- major scrubbing like you wouldn't believe -- and I'll look into some Rid-Ex tomorrow just in case. Should I wash the hen? Or just dust her with ashes? How often? And what would you put in/on the nest boxes?
I examined a couple hen butts and didn't see any egg masses or mites on them -- I'm not sure how I'll be able to hold onto the broody long enough to dust her without running screaming into the woods, scratching my skin off. (But I will.)
If she manages to hatch the chicks and the mites aren't yet under control, how long till they're bloodless little corpses?
Again, thanks!

The ashes worked on my flock lickety split and the NuStock on the nits put the final nail in the coffin.

Can't stand bugs ! I'll itch for days just imagining one on me. Sorry Bee, but if that was my hen, she'd be doused with permethrin powder, as would the whole flock. You can't wait for the ashes to work to save those eggs, or hen. You'll have to spray down your roosts with liquid permethrin, and the coop too. Were these little red mites, or lice? The tiny red guys are the worst. They are blood suckers.

I have a little wren that raises at least 3 clutches in a "See Rock City" house in my main coop. Safest wren in town. She flies through the chain link. She gets dusted every time she sets.She raised 15 bug eating babies this year, bless her ! The 5 wrens nesting in coconut shells in my garage get dusted too. They raise an average of 50 + bug eating babies every year, generation after generation.The wrens are H$^l on mosquitos,flies, and other nasty bugs. When I did re-hab for the DNR, the first thing I did was dust, to rid birds of mites. They will pull a bird down FAST, even a healthy one.They'll kill a sick one quickly.

Wait for the ashes to work? How much faster can you get than how fast they worked on my flock? The first application smothered the adult mites on most of the birds that got an application of ashes and the NS smothered and killed the nits.

The need for haste is a moot point if you find a bird infested with mites so badly that they are visible in many numbers, so the bird obviously has had them for some time....kind of silly to go all ballistic and have a need for speed at that point. The natural approach has proven to work more effectively than those who have tried the poison powders...at least, from the reports I have received on this, the ashes worked when the poisons didn't and when the poisons worked, they were much slower and also needed a repeat application as well.

I thought we went over all this on the Road Less Traveled?

Knee-jerk responses of drowning the flock in anything poison you can throw on them or in them is no insurance that it will work or work faster than a more natural approach. Everyone is free to respond in that manner if they wish, but I never recommend it....poisons on your food animals should always be the last resort, not the first. If at all...they are truly not necessary at all if one just takes the time to think about it.

 

[Beekissed]

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 always make my pop door only big enough to allow the largest bird to duck into the opening. If they can walk through upright, a dog can squeeze into that space if he is a medium sized dog. Two pop doors are great if you have the room and wall space, but be aware that when birds are being chased like that only a few will have the presence of mind to hit that other hole and it can also provide entrance to 2 dogs to enter your coop. You can play with it and see how it goes and let us all know how you like it? I've only ever had one pop door but see no reason one could not have another. Just have to remember to shut 2 instead of one if you shut down your coop at night.

 

[thedragonlady]

The ashes worked on my flock lickety split and the NuStock on the nits put the final nail in the coffin.

Wait for the ashes to work? How much faster can you get than how fast they worked on my flock? The first application smothered the adult mites on most of the birds that got an application of ashes and the NS smothered and killed the nits.

The need for haste is a moot point if you find a bird infested with mites so badly that they are visible in many numbers, so the bird obviously has had them for some time....kind of silly to go all ballistic and have a need for speed at that point. The natural approach has proven to work more effectively than those who have tried the poison powders...at least, from the reports I have received on this, the ashes worked when the poisons didn't and when the poisons worked, they were much slower and also needed a repeat application as well.

I thought we went over all this on the Road Less Traveled?

Knee-jerk responses of drowning the flock in anything poison you can throw on them or in them is no insurance that it will work or work faster than a more natural approach. Everyone is free to respond in that manner if they wish, but I never recommend it....poisons on your food animals should always be the last resort, not the first. If at all...they are truly not necessary at all if one just takes the time to think about it.

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.

 

[galanie]

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.

 

I can see your point. While ordinarily I would lean towards the wood ashes, not least because I've seen how well they work when my own flock dusts in them, Having a hen about to hatch eggs does bring a whole new ball game into focus. Good points. And I also admit, Pyrethrin makes me a lot more comfortable than Permethrin does. I know how long Pyrethrin lasts, I have yet to see literature on how long Permethrin lasts. Is it like Pyrethrin in that it is pretty much inert in 24 hours?

 

[thedragonlady]

I can see your point. While ordinarily I would lean towards the wood ashes, not least because I've seen how well they work when my own flock dusts in them, Having a hen about to hatch eggs does bring a whole new ball game into focus. Good points. And I also admit, Pyrethrin makes me a lot more comfortable than Permethrin does. I know how long Pyrethrin lasts, I have yet to see literature on how long Permethrin lasts. Is it like Pyrethrin in that it is pretty much inert in 24 hours?

No, Permethrin has a residual effect longer than pyrethrin. My husband was given Permethrin by the Army to wash his clothes in while he was in Afghanistan, as the quarters had become infested with all sorts of mites and lice. Hygene isn't big over there amongst the local troops, and the bugs were feasting on new US blood.

I think in this case the residual effect might save any chicks that hatch. It certainly is not toxic to them. I've used it on canaries, and all sorts of wild baby birds after their mothers died from an infestation of mites.

 

[al6517]

The main problem with lice and mite infestations is quite frankly prevention, we see post all the time of folks up in arms about the problem in their stock. They treat according to their own personal prefences some do well others not so much, the average backyarder IMHO is way to scared and way to lazy to do it right, they half a33 the deal from the start then prefer to come back on a forum and say OMG the problem is back again. Some can and do fair well with a more natural approach to an occasional bout of the crawlies, some use sprays and commercial treatments, other yet follow some goofy off the wall remedy that doesn't stand a snowballs chance in Haities of doing the job.

Keeping a good handle on infestations must include frequent attention, dry proper dust baths of the right stuff kept under cover so they stay dry and available at anytime they choose. inspect them often, inspect their areas often. If you must and choose a chemical aproach be sure to do it right and treat not just the bird but every place the crawlies lay in wait, roost, pen's, deep litter, coops to include walls, under things, wood piles, everywhere !!!! everywhere. Then stay on a natural constant flow of abatement. The problem is it's not rocket science and it's not hard, do what you feel is in your comfort zone, if your a natural touchy feely organic freak then go that route if your cool with that. if your lazy and would prefer to eradicate all at once then spray and dip/dunk the fire out of them, if you never in your wildest dreams would think of ever eating any of your birds then this method may work for you.

Either way is fine and both work well................ it is you who must decide if your willing to do things right in the first place once you spot a problem or do it right from the start so you never have the problem to begin with, most backyarders are not into thinking that far ahead, its too much effort LOL.

 

[galanie]

No, Permethrin has a residual effect longer than pyrethrin. My husband was given Permethrin by the Army to wash his clothes in while he was in Afghanistan, as the quarters had become infested with all sorts of mites and lice. Hygene isn't big over there amongst the local troops, and the bugs were feasting on new US blood.

I think in this case the residual effect might save any chicks that hatch. It certainly is not toxic to them. I've used it on canaries, and all sorts of wild baby birds after their mothers died from an infestation of mites.

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.

 

[mrsamplias]

Quote: Thanks for the info. We have a door that is too big; our dog has been going in. She gets into their food and drink....I think that we need to redo the door.

 

[normanack]

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.

 

[normanack]

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???????

D'OH!