Chickens suddenly not perching

[CGinJCMO]

I've heard of using Seven Vegetable Garden dust - I haven't tried it myself. It comes in a red bag and you can find it at Walmart and home/garden stores. I'd probably put it out where the chickens could dustbathe in it and all around the inside and around the coop. We use Ortho Home Defense spray around the house so I'd probably put some of that on the bottom of the roost (mites like to hide there during the day and chickens won't come into direct contact with that spot) and in cracks and corners.

Knock on wood, but my birds seem OK. I've bought some flea powder and mixed it with ashes (they were already dustbathing in the ashes so I added a little extra peace of mind).

Good luck getting rid of them.
CG

 

[centrarchid]

Intall vent or screen near ceiling to release hot air that collects up higher. Will work like vents in roof of house.

 

[Chicken Love]

OK, so I washed out the coop with soap and water (scrubbed perches), then with bleach. When I put fresh bedding in, I added DE to the bedding, to the nest boxes, and dusted the perches. And dusted all the birds. They are still NOT perching. They seem to be a little happier, I got 2 more eggs today than I have been getting, but will they know that the perches are bug-free? Will they automatically start perching again or do I have to convince them by placing them on the perches?? So weird. In my 17 years of raising chickens, I've never come across this. I went into the coop tonight and didn't feel and creepy crawlies on me like I have the past few nights.

 

[CGinJCMO]

I'd give them some time (a week or two), then if you see that they aren't using the perches still, I'd see if I still felt creepy crawlies on me. It's possible all the bugs aren't gone yet and you need to treat again (eggs hatched, or one female/male pair was not killed, etc.) You may decide to treat again anyway for your own peace of mind. After all that, then I might put a few chickens up on the roost one night and see if the rest of the flock doesn't do it the next night. Once one starts doing it, the rest tend to follow.

Good Luck,
I hate being crawled on.

CG

 

[Chicken Love]

Thanks CG; I will re-treat in a few days. Egg production is back up to full, so that's a good sign. I appreciate your advice!

 

[CGinJCMO]

Hopefully it turns out to be good advice. LOL

There was a free book on amazon kindle about getting rid of creapy crawlies and I thought of you and this thread when I saw the title. I'll continue to wish you good luck. Keep us posted if things don't improve and maybe someone else will have other ideas.

CG

 

[Chicken Love]

You are sweet, CG

I really appreciate all your effort to assist me in my teeny tiny creepy problem. Chooks still aren't roosting, and the heat is back up, so egg production is down today. Bleh. I'm almost counting the days to September when my girls can catch a break! (Almost!) I'll keep y'all posted. Thanks a bunch!

 

[Chicken Love]

Update: re-cleaned coop 10 days after; chooks are starting to perch again. Not all as of yet, but I'm sure that they'll come around. yay! Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[CGinJCMO]

Horray!


CG