Dealing with pests when you are allergic to pesticides?

[KDbeads]

Here's the problem, I'm allergic to almost every type of chemical pesticide. Can't even go within 100 ft of Sevin Dust! And now that we have chickens I know we are eventually going to have to deal with pests for some reason or another. I'm having a bit of trouble getting DE due to it being out of stock or so cost prohibitive.
Are there any other products out there I need to be looking for to deal with mites, lice, worms, etc?

 

[chookchick]

Wow, that would be hard! But if you keep your hens healthy, and their surrounding clean and dry, you may never have to deal with ANY of those. Many people on here have never had them. Also, don't bring in older birds. Use pine shavings, not straw or hay, in the coop. Use sand or mulch in the run and make sure it never stays muddy. Cover as much of the run as you can to protect from wild bird droppings. Feed the best of food, and never let them go hungry or thirsty. There has to be old time remedies, chemicals have only been around very recently.....

ETA--try doing a search on here for "natural pest remedies" there is a lot of info that you can sift through...

 

[KDbeads]

I finally found ways to deal with fleas and ticks for the cats and dogs that didn't make me sick. I have a flea powder that has essential oils and DE in it that may work for some pests. I worry because out here mites are so prevalent that every rescue animal that I've taken in, with the exception of my mutt chickens, has had mites /worms. Had my vet do a flotation on the chicken poo this morning to be absolutely positive before giving them a wormer, they were clear!
It really does bite big time though but at least it's avoidable in most things.

 

[Imp]

I haven't had time to read through this, but maybe there's some good info that will help you KDbeads.

Imp


http://www.eartheasy.com/live_natpest_control.htm

 

[LynneP]

And one of the products you might be able to use is called Dri-Kill which contains rotenone and sulfur...rotenone is a plant product.

With the food-grade DE as a preventive and the Dri-Kill for emergencies I bet you'll do fine!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotenone

 

[AK Michelle]

Quote:
We don't have fleas in Alaska but when I lived in Washington my vet told me to use 20 Mule Team Borax on the carpets and furniture to kill fleas. It's safe for babies and all the critters. It's a laundry additive by the washing powders. You sprinkle it liberally on pet bedding and all over the floor and furniture, wait an hour then cacuum it up. the borax makes a gas that kills the fleas and the eggs. If you're infested do it once a week for 3 weeks then once a month then periodically as needed and you will become flea free.

the gas also gets on the pet hair and makes it less likely that fleas will jump on when the pets are outside. It's the same stuff the commercial companies use when they treat your home for fleas, but it cost $3.50 for a box, which would treat my 2400 sq ft home 2 or 3 times, rather than the $300 the company wanted to charge to treat the upstairs.

I also make a tea out of a gallon of hot water, a 1/2 pouch of chewing tabacco, a packet of knox gelatin. Let steep about and hour and strain out the tabacco. Put in a hose end sprayer with a 1/2 dish soap and spray everything, the plants the trees the beautybark in the flower beds. Sticks to the plants, won't hurt them but very toxic to bugs.

Good Luck.

 

[KDbeads]

Yep, borax is a staple in this house! Haven't heard the tobacco tea one yet, will have to try that on the garden ants.
Hubby has sulfa allergies so I'll use the Dri-Kill only in the emergency situations. Thanks for the links!!!

 

[speckledhen]

In the coop, when we clean it, we spray Orange Guard, which is essentially orange oil It kills all pests, even termites usually, I hear. It is safe to use around pets and the chickens. ACE hardware carries it and it comes in a regular spray bottle and in a gallon size with sprayer. It's not for putting on the birds, but around the roosts and nest edges, etc. That may be a natural pesticide for you to try. Smells good, too.

 

[KDbeads]

We keep orange oil on hand and make a solution for a spray bottle when needing bug spray outside. When I take a wire brush to the coop this week, I'll spray it down with that and leave on for a few days before painting it, and hit it again after. Not a big fan of termites!
Inside we use an aerosol mint oil spray, wonder if that would work for them as well? We use the Sentry naturals on the dogs and cats for topical flea prevention, it works GREAT... thinking about that in case of mites or lice.

Hmmm.... lots of things to explore....

 

[gsim]

I use orange peel oil mixed with Safer soap and water for my garden. 3 oz oil, 2 oz soap, 1 gal water. Regular liquid soap would work as well to help mix the oil with water. I expect it would work well for litter and also for my peeps. I buy mine from Citrus Depot in Florida. Best price I have found. I expect also that it would take all day to spray all 24 of my peeps! Diamtomaceous Earth can be bought from swimming pool companies and swimming pool mtc compnies too. They keep it in large quantities. Expensive in small amounts online. Mix the DE with ordinary dry dirt and put in a box inside of the coop for a dust bath for the birds. Also, put some in the nesting material of your nest boxes.