Consolidated Kansas

[averytds]

Good suggestion about checking the ingredients. I have never compared the headlice to the animal fea and tick meds. I will have to do that. Actually, it's interesting if you look at over the counter medicine and read the active ingredients. So many of your brand name products are simply combinations of other medications. Cold medicine and analgesics are famous for this. Most often I think it is best to buy the simple ingredient and only treat the symptoms you are having, rather than buying the big combinations that often have stuff that you don't need. You have to read the generic names for the medications... just my opinion here.

Seriously, though, I'm going to have to look at those two you suggest. I'm curious. It's always been my understanding that the flea and tick medicine kills the parasite by allowing it to bite the host and then it dies. I don't think that is the case with headlice. I've never had to deal with headlice (thank goodness!)

I guess the problem with "Frontline for Folks" would be that I don't think very many people would want to offer their bodies as "bait" to the nasty little creepy crawlers in order to eliminate them.
Here ticky, ticky, ticky.... bite me!

(sick humor, I know!)

Lol, no. The flea and tick shampoo kills whatever is living on you already. You use it after you've been out and about to take care of anything that might already be on you whether it has bitten you or not. Our one and only run in with chicken lice....well it was also my only ever experience with any kind of lice. Thankfully. I knew absolutely nothing about them and kind of well, went a little overboard in response. So as my kids are getting their lice scrubs they didn't need and I'm getting everything together to treat the bird, well I started reading labels.

On the plus side, I don't freak or even worry anymore when those head lice outbreak notices get posted by the school.

Will get back on the AM thing. Forgot to get my trash out!

 

[Hawkeye95]

HeChicken-- Bravo on all that coop work!! Sounds like you got a lot done! Sorry about all the drill bits! We did the same for our pergola out back-- just drilled lots of holes, and it has sure held up great! Can't wait to see pictures!

Avery-- are you saying to use the puppy tick and flea shampoo on your hair?? I wonder if that would work?? I mean, why not?? Something to think about anyway. LOL I've noticed a lot of Silkie breeders in OK. Fun stuff-- at least they are close! I'd love to go to one of their shows!

Trish, congrats on the baby bunnies!!! Oooooh, I bet they are sooo stinkin' adorable! Sigh.

Ivy-- oh girl, sometimes I do wonder about your humor! LOL Is it wrong I laugh every time?? I'm a sick, sick person about the silkies-- I am reading about color genetics almost daily, having discussions with genetic gurus that really know what they are doing and studying the photos on the ASBC for faults and what they look like. I'm no expert, but I'm trying to learn as much as possible so I don't make mistakes with my own breeding. And thank you so much!! I'm goign to do what you suggested and go out there many times and check the nests. Thank you for that! Hopefully nothing amiss is going on.

Okay--- have to run! Preschool morning!!

 

[Ivywoods]

Lol, no. The flea and tick shampoo kills whatever is living on you already. You use it after you've been out and about to take care of anything that might already be on you whether it has bitten you or not. Our one and only run in with chicken lice....well it was also my only ever experience with any kind of lice. Thankfully. I knew absolutely nothing about them and kind of well, went a little overboard in response. So as my kids are getting their lice scrubs they didn't need and I'm getting everything together to treat the bird, well I started reading labels.

On the plus side, I don't freak or even worry anymore when those head lice outbreak notices get posted by the school.

Will get back on the AM thing. Forgot to get my trash out!

Oh! I guess I was comparing the head lice shampoo to the oily stuff you squirt on the back of the dog or cats neck, which does kill the parasite when they bite. It makes sense that the shampoo would kill what it comes in contact with.

 

[Ivywoods]

Ivy-- oh girl, sometimes I do wonder about your humor! LOL Is it wrong I laugh every time?? I'm a sick, sick person about the silkies-- I am reading about color genetics almost daily, having discussions with genetic gurus that really know what they are doing and studying the photos on the ASBC for faults and what they look like. I'm no expert, but I'm trying to learn as much as possible so I don't make mistakes with my own breeding. And thank you so much!! I'm goign to do what you suggested and go out there many times and check the nests. Thank you for that! Hopefully nothing amiss is going on.

Okay--- have to run! Preschool morning!!

Maybe we are BOTH a little sick!

 

[prairie]

Ivy, I too can't figure out why I got a tick disease last summer. At my age!!! I have lived on a farm most of my life and spent lots of time in the hay fields, garden orchard and pastures. Sure had a few ticks on my (attached) but never a problem until last summer. Can't figure it out! Kare

 

[Ivywoods]

Ivy, I too can't figure out why I got a tick disease last summer. At my age!!! I have lived on a farm most of my life and spent lots of time in the hay fields, garden orchard and pastures. Sure had a few ticks on my (attached) but never a problem until last summer. Can't figure it out! Kare

I really have no idea. I am still wondering if it is the "tick lottery." They must not all be carriers. I've found them attached more times than I want to think about, but the worst problem I have ever had was one swelled up one time after I took it off. The area remained somewhat swollen and sore for quite some time, but went away without further problems.

They sure manage to find some discreet spots on your body to dig in sometimes!


After your illness last summer, did you have any ongoing problems? What was the diagnosis?

 

[averytds]

Avery-- are you saying to use the puppy tick and flea shampoo on your hair?? I wonder if that would work?? I mean, why not?? Something to think about anyway. LOL I've noticed a lot of Silkie breeders in OK. Fun stuff-- at least they are close! I'd love to go to one of their shows!

Oh! I guess I was comparing the head lice shampoo to the oily stuff you squirt on the back of the dog or cats neck, which does kill the parasite when they bite. It makes sense that the shampoo would kill what it comes in contact with.

Avery-On your blue amerauanas, is this your first generation of them? I was just wondering if the blue color in them breeds true, or if you have to keep going back to the black? I haven't had the blue ones, but I have self-blue or lavender. They breed true, but people are still going back to black with them in order to improve feather quality and size. When I compare my lavenders to my blacks, the blacks do have better feather quality and are visibly larger. I think my lavenders have good type, and they have been some of my best layers so far. This is only the first year I have bred them though. I just wondered how the blue's were to work with. I know in other varieites of chickens blues can be difficult to get the right shade of blue and the lacing right, and then I've heard that some judges prefer a darker shade and some prefer a lighter shade. I think I would be confused!

The AMs are my DSs. I want to say he's been breeding them for only about 3 years. Don't know how many generations, but had a long talk with the AM breeder last week about his blues. For AMs, you'd probably say I prefer a darker blue and for Silkies, a lighter, Really though, I prefer the big contrast with darker on top lighter on bottom. I know there's a lot of discussion right now within the ABC about improving the blues. DS has not been happy with me for some time because I passed on some blue Sumatras he thinks would have been perfect. I don't think he really has the space, money, experience or time right now to add a different breed into the mix. Working with the breeder last week, he helped me with darker blues, better lacing and contrast, avoiding any from a certain line (slight issue we've both noticed) and advised for DS to pair them blue roo/black hens, black roo/blue hens to improve his overall color, lacing and contrast for a while, without crossing in another breed.

I'm the worlds worst pic taker, but here goes....

new blue roo


new pullet


Old hen


Now, watch us end up with a slew of "bad"blues.

 

[chicken danz]

Been doing some reading. They used to have a tick vaccination as I stated earlier but they took it off the market because of side effects and lack of people requesting it. (Probably because few knew about it!) There is now a group in Rhode Island working on a patch you can wear that doesn't keep the tick from biting but keeps it from infecting you. I can't help but wonder how many people have tried using frontline on themselves. As many doses as I put on dogs and cats around here you'd think I would have an immunity to them! I always get some on myself.
The best defense I think is to keep your yard and pets as tick clean as you can. I don't have ticks in the yard thanks to the birds and I treat my dogs. Regardless they still get a tick now and then. But the dogs go running after wildlife through the weeds and stuff in the fields and pastures and always come home with ticks crawling on them.
Trish or anyone going to Karens. I have some guinea keets I could bring along if you are interested. Just PM me.
It looks like I have several new ones hatching today. I haven't seen them but there's lots of pips and a few open shells in the hatcher this morning.
DH finally hooked up my tiller last night and so after dark I went out and practice tilled for a while. So now I need to get out and till a bunch today so I can actually finally get a garden in. I should have killed the grass with roundup before I started but I guess maybe the weeds will help keep the plants from sunburning. It is a bit intimidating with all the clunks and grinding that you hear but it sure is nice pulling that tiller with the tractor as opposed to having one beat me up by hand. I thought maybe I'd give the ground a few days and let the chickens work it a bit before planting.
I need to take eggs to town today but not sure I will make it. I normally do that on Wednesday.
Gotta load up the incubators today as well. I have a ton of eggs that need to go in.

 

[prairie]

Doctor said Echlicious (?sp) Only ongoing problem was stamina for a couple of months. I had one tick between my fingers! if you can believe I didn't see that one and the other 2 on my lower leg.

My hubby who is in the pastures and fields everyday never gets ticks -- I have only found one on him in the last 30 years that I can remember! He even lays down in the hay field if he has trouble with the baler or swather! He has extremely oily skin and I have thought that might be the reason they don't like him! I use Skin So Soft spray all over me whenever I go out and it is really oily but I had forgotten to spray myself when we went out to pick gooseberries last June and I got the ticks.

 

[Ivywoods]

I don't have the "blues" but I think I would prefer the darker, too. I had a few of the blue/red old english, and it just seemed that they came out with such a variety of shades, and then of course the occasional splash it just was too confusing for my simple mind. Well, that plus the fact that I hate having to consider one of those cute little boogers a "cull." I'm not too good at that.

The blues with the darker heads look kind of cool, I think. On my self-blue (lavender) ameraucanas, I recently emptied a pen from another variety, so I will start raising some lav/black splits now. I wanted to wait until I was done with some of the other hatches so I didn't accidently get some of the splits mixed with the pure blacks. My black rooster is super nice, from Blehm lines, and my lav hens are from Ribbick lines, so I think I will get a good mix.

I just took my silver ameraucana trio down to Checoukan. I had decided I needed to cut back on varieties. She had a silver roo and hen that she got from me last year, but the roo grew out to not be good at all. He had a cross beak and his coloration and feathering were not so hot. When I compared my trio to what she had, I was starting to doubt my decision to let her have my silvers. I wish I could keep them all, but I had to make a cut somewhere.

My silvers laid the best sky blue egg, too. Well, actually, my lavenders lay a pretty decent one, too. I guess I will stick with the blacks, lavenders and wheatens for now.