Does age matter when starting to free range?

[Folly's place]

WOW! Tick central! Can you have bug repellant on your clothing, and hers? I grew up in NW Wisconsin, where there were lots of ticks, but nothing like that many.
Mary

 

[Isadora]

II'm

WOW! Tick central! Can you have bug repellant on your clothing, and hers? I grew up in NW Wisconsin, where there were lots of ticks, but nothing like that many.
Mary

I'm sure I could, We just try to avoid chemicals so it probably have to be an essential oil blend of some sort. I just need to do the research on what's bad for ticks and what's okay for kids, because some of the essential oils are too strong for children. If anyone has any suggestions on non-toxic tick repellent, I am all ears. My nightly routine at this point is to check all the kids for ticks after I brush their teeth, then I check the dog.

 

[Folly's place]

Everything is a chemical, and tick bites are no joke!
What kind of ticks do you have, and are you handling them safely?
We did that daily tick search, on us and our dogs. At that time we had brown dog ticks, and maybe wood ticks. All miserable critters with no redeeming social values...
Mary

 

[Isadora]

Everything is a chemical, and tick bites are no joke!
What kind of ticks do you have, and are you handling them safely?
We did that daily tick search, on us and our dogs. At that time we had brown dog ticks, and maybe wood ticks. All miserable critters with no redeeming social values...
Mary

While everything may be a chemical by technical definition, it doesn't mean that all chemicals have the same level of safety, especially where children are concerned.
I'm not sure what you mean by handling them safely. I tried to be as gentle as possible while also being effective. Keeping the tick intact and not bursting it or leaving the head behind is a priority.
We've had at least a couple different kinds. The only one I've recognized so far is a lone Star tick. We have some larger brown ones, as well.

 

[Folly's place]

Lone Star ticks are moving north as the weather gets less cold, and people and their dogs, especially, travel and bring them along. We have them in southern Michigan now too.
What I meant was, to not touch them bare handed, use a tool to grab the head, not the body, and kill them every time.
There must be something you can use on their clothing to help!
May your new chickens and guineas learn to love those ticks!
Mary

 

[Isadora]

Lone Star ticks are moving north as the weather gets less cold, and people and their dogs, especially, travel and bring them along. We have them in southern Michigan now too.
What I meant was, to not touch them bare handed, use a tool to grab the head, not the body, and kill them every time.
There must be something you can use on their clothing to help!
May your new chickens and guineas learn to love those ticks!
Mary

Thanks Mary, I'm sure they will! I actually brought a tick to their coop yesterday and one of the chickens grabbed it and ran off with it. So hopefully I'm in good hands. I have had several friends that have chickens and or guineas tell me that they have no problems with ticks since having their birds roam.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

3 mo old seems a bit late to start, actually, but waiting will only make it worse.

I free range mine (flock in Signature), my babies start going outside in a covered mobile run to see/be seen by 5 weeks, integrated by 8. I only feed once daily, in the evening, in the overnight runs. That encourages all the birds to "come home" to roost in the evenings, and ensures they go to bed with full crops.

It also means, when they wake up in the AM, knowing that they won't be fed for most of 12 hours by me, that they are strongly encouraged to go forage.

At first, the birds won't go far. As they gain confidence, they will range further and further. Mine consistently range about a 200' radius from the runs, but occasionally a single bird (or group of 2-3) will go a bit further. And when an aerial predator gets one, they become more cautious again. No effective way to protect acres from above.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'll add a story to this about age and free ranging. Dad had a totally free ranging flock, some even slept in trees. A few times Dad got a dozen chicks from the Co-op and raised them on the back porch. I remember Dominique one time, New Hampshire another. I won't go into how he did that, it would horrify many people on here and maybe cause some to have nightmares.

Fast forward until they were three weeks old. He would release the three week olds next to the hen house. Just turn them loose. He did not feed them or water them, they were left on their own to find their own food and water as well as make their way with the flock. They did. I never kept close track to see how many made it to adulthood but most if not all did. Our broody hens practically never lost a chick that they hatched and raised either.

 

[Isadora]

I looked up tick type comparison pictures and it looks like we have American dog ticks as well as the lone Star. Just pulled two off my 5-year-old. Again, they weren't embedded (I chalk that up to me checking frequently), just crawling around in her hair.

Everything is a chemical, and tick bites are no joke!
What kind of ticks do you have, and are you handling them safely?
We did that daily tick search, on us and our dogs. At that time we had brown dog ticks, and maybe wood ticks. All miserable critters with no redeeming social values...
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

So sorry! They are such miserable little critters, hope your new birds love them.
Mary