Eastern Tennessee Thread

[TNBarnQueen]

Your not a bad chicken owner.....it seems all the parasites and predators as well are really bad this year. I'm not sure what the heck is going on. I have done a big clean this year and several bedding changes and in between sprays. I have never needed to work that hard. I think Terry has had to do a couple of big total cleans already too.

What your seeing is the lice eggs. They are not the same as the lice that affect humans (so don't worry about getting them) They are commonly called feather lice, and the female louse will "cement" her eggs to the feather shaft.

go to "my coop" under my name and scroll down to "how to get and stay bug free" Follow those directions.. EXCEPT... at the end where it say 10-14 day and treat with valbazen
Instead of that, wait 7 days and spray them with permethrin spray formula. you can find that recipe on the same page. Dump your eggs for 10 days from the clean out day.

Did you know there is a type of mite that only comes out at night. It stays in the wood and comes out at night crawling on the chickens to feed. Always make sure to spray nesting boxes and roosts!

 

[littlechicklet]

Your not a bad chicken owner.....it seems all the parasites and predators as well are really bad this year. I'm not sure what the heck is going on. I have done a big clean this year and several bedding changes and in between sprays. I have never needed to work that hard. I think Terry has had to do a couple of big total cleans already too.

What your seeing is the lice eggs. They are not the same as the lice that affect humans (so don't worry about getting them) They are commonly called feather lice, and the female louse will "cement" her eggs to the feather shaft.

go to "my coop" under my name and scroll down to "how to get and stay bug free" Follow those directions.. EXCEPT... at the end where it say 10-14 day and treat with valbazen
Instead of that, wait 7 days and spray them with permethrin spray formula. you can find that recipe on the same page. Dump your eggs for 10 days from the clean out day.

Thank you. I will be treating this afternoon when I get in from work. Thinking back on it he did not get treated last time I cleaned out.

I was getting ready to worm them but I will take care of this first & wait a week or so to worm.

 

[littlechicklet]

Did you know there is a type of mite that only comes out at night. It stays in the wood and comes out at night crawling on the chickens to feed. Always make sure to spray nesting boxes and roosts!

I have had mites before and they too creep me out. I always treat the boxes & roosts. I just forgot to treat him. If its not raining today I will also add Sevin dust and DE to his dust bath area.

I know we can't get these things but it makes my skin itch & crawl for hours after I find out I have something like this. The same goes if I see a flea or tick in the house or on one of the "kids"

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

Any LF Hamburg breeders in E. TN? I live in Seattle but my mom lives in Knoxville and could ship.

 

[Snozzle]

I don't know how to cancel this post but I received a reply and its lice. Gross. I have never seen these before. Now to find treatments. Thanks

I have posted in the emergency/disease thread but wanted to see if anyone here knows what this is. My young Orpington rooster has white crusty things under his neck on his throat. When I first noticed it I thought he had gotten it wet & something had dried in a few of the feathers (I know stupid on my part). Well I have been watching him & today when I checked him it has gotten worse. He now has more and is losing feathers in that area. He is acting normal, eating, drinking, dust bathing, normal poops, etc.

The "things" are white, hard, shaped like a football but flat. They are attached to the base of the feather shaft. I have never seen this before. Also I did not have my glasses but the "things" remind me of egg/larva deposits. I could just be a little over concerned but I have not had good luck with these Orps. Also I checked him & do not see any mites, lice, fleas or any bugs period. He is the only one who has these. He is in the bachelor pad but its inside the larger pen so if it spread easily I am sure the others would have it (they do not have any signs).

Thank you for taking the time to look and I promise I am not a bad chicken owner. Although I am starting to think maybe I am or maybe I am not meant to have Orpingtons.

I have heard that from a lot of people this year, they were extremely bad this year. I had them too and I only have 2 adult birds right now and I have a 10 chicken coop that I clean quite often even with just these 2 in there. I have DE under the litter and sprinkle poultry dust with Permethrin on top of it and spray the outside of the coop with lemongrass oil and I still ended up with those things. I used a combination of liquid and powdered Permethrin and DE and it seems to have worked, my big guy isn't losing feathers as much anymore. They weren't too hard to get rid off, though I did make my 2 bawkies mad, they wouldn't come to me for the rest of the day after I sprayed them down. It seems that the lose feathered breeds get them a lot worse then the more tight feathered breeds, I didn't see any signs of them on my hen. It is so odd that they are so bad this year and other pests aren't bad at all, I have only seen one tick this year and I only had to frontline our cats and dog a single time for fleas this year. You aren't a bad owner, you are doing stuff about it which makes you a good owner, good luck, hope you get rid of them in no time

 

[bairo]

Quote: As matter of fact, I am collecting eggs through Monday for the incubator and then I am going to do a full treatment myself. Those things creep me out also...especially the mites. I try to go out there around 11 pm a couple times a week to see if that specie that terry mentioned is invading as well. If you ever get around to rearranging the coop or doing more construction to it, you might consider painting everything with a high gloss white paint. It seals the wood really well and the mites hate it. I have yet to do mine (and I am a professional painter, LOL) but it is def in the plans.

 

[littlechicklet]

I have heard that from a lot of people this year, they were extremely bad this year. I had them too and I only have 2 adult birds right now and I have a 10 chicken coop that I clean quite often even with just these 2 in there. I have DE under the litter and sprinkle poultry dust with Permethrin on top of it and spray the outside of the coop with lemongrass oil and I still ended up with those things. I used a combination of liquid and powdered Permethrin and DE and it seems to have worked, my big guy isn't losing feathers as much anymore. They weren't too hard to get rid off, though I did make my 2 bawkies mad, they wouldn't come to me for the rest of the day after I sprayed them down. It seems that the lose feathered breeds get them a lot worse then the more tight feathered breeds, I didn't see any signs of them on my hen. It is so odd that they are so bad this year and other pests aren't bad at all, I have only seen one tick this year and I only had to frontline our cats and dog a single time for fleas this year. You aren't a bad owner, you are doing stuff about it which makes you a good owner, good luck, hope you get rid of them in no time

Thanks. I have only sprayed my dogs & cats about twice this year also. The exception is the Mini Schnauzer I always spray him when he gets home from the groomer (another one of those paranoid things I guess). I have never used the Frontline drops just the spray which I treat everyone with & the rugs, beds, etc.

 

[littlechicklet]

As matter of fact, I am collecting eggs through Monday for the incubator and then I am going to do a full treatment myself. Those things creep me out also...especially the mites. I try to go out there around 11 pm a couple times a week to see if that specie that terry mentioned is invading as well. If you ever get around to rearranging the coop or doing more construction to it, you might consider painting everything with a high gloss white paint. It seals the wood really well and the mites hate it. I have yet to do mine (and I am a professional painter, LOL) but it is def in the plans.

Yes they go beyond creeping me out. Until I shower I feel them crawling all over especially my head! I know I am not a host for them but I can't help it.

If the weather holds off I will do a complete clean out this weekend if not then when the weather breaks. I used to help a professional painter some and I do all my painting but not because I love it. I don't know how you stand doing ceilings its one of the things I hate. Nice to know about the white paint inside the coop. It is something to consider but I have 2 bedrooms & a bath to paint first and I will be done with the inside of the house.

 

[chigger bait]

I guess the wild song birds bring the lice to the flock if you never bring out side stock in.

Some of the cardinals around here have head mites in the summer.

They loose all the feathers on their heads.

Is this a problem with barn yard poultry?

Do I need to quit feeding song birds during the summer, since the chickens are under the feeders, getting what the song birds knock out?

 

[littlechicklet]

I just wanted to share: I found Valbazen at the Knox Co-Op on Asheville Hwy just off exit 394 (I think its the river bridge/Asheville Hwy one). I purchased a 500 ml bottle of the 11.36% for around $40. I know there are places online which are cheaper but I have not found it much cheaper and I am usually down that way at least once a week. They also have the Safeguard, Nutri-Drench, SOP book (I think it was $60) and told me they can order anything listed on the Co-Op website.

I went to my local Tractor Supply to get some of these things and they did not have any in stock (I have been checking for several weeks now) and they do not carry the Valbazen. I think you may be able to go to your local Co-Op and they would be able to get them from what the lady told me.