Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Demosthine]

Do y'all know if DE kills ticks? I believe an experiment is in order! It won't be hard to find some "guinea pig" ticks for it!

Yes, it kills ticks quite well. For our dogs, we would get some serious hand fulls and rub it all over the dogs body and fur, doing our best to get every one of the ticks we possibly could. We'd recheck weekly and re-apply as necessary. It worked beautifully and was significantly less expensive than the commercial medications.

We also spread a layer of it anywhere we found the ticks inside the house and they would slowly die off. The problem is that they can lie dormant for over seven years without any food sources at all, so it's always going to be a problem at some point or another. You can never truly get rid of them, but you can try to manage their recurrence.

 

[Triple Willow]

Yer givin' me the skeevies, TW!!!     You might wanna make garlic a very big and real part of your diet for awhile.....

LOL I don't know what the heck to do! The regular sized ones are bad enough but these thing, I used a magnifying glass and couldn't tell what kind they are! Still couldn't see them! If they were not crawling across my lighted screen I'd never see them, seriously! Oh golly, I've got to get up and wage war on ticks... ohhhh boy. lol Oh yeah, me, the dogs and the chickens will be eating plenty of garlic for a while!

 

[Triple Willow]

Yes, it kills ticks quite well.  For our dogs, we would get some serious hand fulls and rub it all over the dogs body and fur, doing our best to get every one of the ticks we possibly could.  We'd recheck weekly and re-apply as necessary.  It worked beautifully and was significantly less expensive than the commercial medications.

We also spread a layer of it anywhere we found the ticks inside the house and they would slowly die off.  The problem is that they can lie dormant for over seven years without any food sources at all, so it's always going to be a problem at some point or another.  You can never truly get rid of them, but you can try to manage their recurrence.

I wish these dang things would take a 7 year nap, starting immediately!!! LOL I am about to make a DE cloud around here! Thanks for the info! ...maybe when I get a shower I should use DE instead of baby powder! hahahahahaha

 

[Triple Willow]

I know if a tick is attached to you, alcohol or Witch Hazel will block their skin breathing pores, so they back out in a hurry. Unfortunately, they usually "spit" in you in the process, so ideally you use fine tweezers... according to my doc (long story). If you are experimenting, try diluted clove oil, diluted Teatree oil or diluted lavendar oil.... They are all supposed to repel/kill some insects. Seems like DE would work... but might take a while. Good luck. Hate those things.

Usually when I find them on me I want them off so fast that I just pull them off but I do try to get as close to their head as I can (and not mash them). I bought a couple tweezers not long ago for this...now where are they!?! I will see how quick DE will kill them. I will mix up a spray bottle of Avon's "Skin So Soft", tea tree oil, lavender, and whatever else I can think of to spray on me (when I go outside) and the dogs and doghouses. Thanks!

 

[Kassaundra]

Really good article good pics of everything you ever wanted to know about ticks http://science.howstuffworks.com/zoology/insects-arachnids/tick.htm

 

[TexasLisa]

Yes, it kills ticks quite well. For our dogs, we would get some serious hand fulls and rub it all over the dogs body and fur, doing our best to get every one of the ticks we possibly could. We'd recheck weekly and re-apply as necessary. It worked beautifully and was significantly less expensive than the commercial medications.

We also spread a layer of it anywhere we found the ticks inside the house and they would slowly die off. The problem is that they can lie dormant for over seven years without any food sources at all, so it's always going to be a problem at some point or another. You can never truly get rid of them, but you can try to manage their recurrence.

7 years?????

After that piece of info, I now move ticks into the same category as Roaches--ewwwwwwww!!

Lisa

 

[Lacy Blues]

Why are you using Beet Pulp? Does it get frothy when you soak it?
CX are Cornish Cross, the basic white, meat chicken sold by hatcheries and feed stores. Fast growing, short lived and you need to make sure you restrict their access to food or they will be even shorter lived, prone to heart and leg problems. They really are not genetically suited to live very long so you need to make sure you can and will dispatch them, pretty much on schedule. They are bred from a cross of 2 different lines so wont breed true even if you could get them to live long enough to do so. That being said there are slower growers now available that are healthier, without most of the anomalies that tend to be present in the CX.

I use beet pulp because I have read that beets are extremely healthy for your liver. There have been a few of my birds that I have discovered, upon processing, have unhealthy livers. I don't understand this as they all get the same food. Most have livers that are a nice dark red and some are otherwise!

No, it does not get frothy. It just soaks up water and expands quite a bit so I don't have to use much.

I know if a tick is attached to you, alcohol or Witch Hazel will block their skin breathing pores, so they back out in a hurry. Unfortunately, they usually "spit" in you in the process, so ideally you use fine tweezers... according to my doc (long story).

If you are experimenting, try diluted clove oil, diluted Teatree oil or diluted lavendar oil.... They are all supposed to repel/kill some insects.

Seems like DE would work... but might take a while.
Good luck. <shivers> Hate those things.

If you have a tick attached to you, you need to use some kind of repellent and put it on yourself around where the tick is attached. If you put it on them, they will definitely puke inside your skin!

I treated my son, years ago, who had a tick on his shoulder (I think it was) and it took quite a while, maybe 20 minutes or so before the tick backed out.

I wish these dang things would take a 7 year nap, starting immediately!!! LOL I am about to make a DE cloud around here! Thanks for the info!

...maybe when I get a shower I should use DE instead of baby powder! hahahahahaha

Just be careful when using the DE. You don't want to breathe that stuff in. It will cut up your nasal passages and most likely your throat/lungs. When I've had to work with it, I try to cover my mouth/nose with something that can filter it out of the air I'm breathing.

 

[Beekissed]

I've always heard about that whole making the ticks back out and such...we've never done that. We just pull them off and take the skin and all. Quick and painless...what does tick puke look like, BTW? Whatever it looks like we've never seen any at the sight and had no lasting evidence of the tick bite afterwards. Maybe we yank them off before they can puke? Never lost the head of one either. We just yank 'em off and burn them alive..chuckling with evil pleasure...

 

[RoseMarie1]

I've always heard about that whole making the ticks back out and such...we've never done that. We just pull them off and take the skin and all. Quick and painless...what does tick puke look like, BTW? Whatever it looks like we've never seen any at the sight and had no lasting evidence of the tick bite afterwards. Maybe we yank them off before they can puke? Never lost the head of one either. We just yank 'em off and burn them alive..chuckling with evil pleasure...

You must be finding them before they bury into the skin very deep. I've never seen puke from them either but hubby is usually the one that gets them on him.

 

[Triple Willow]

I've always heard about that whole making the ticks back out and such...we've never done that.  We just pull them off and take the skin and all.  Quick and painless...what does tick puke look like, BTW?  Whatever it looks like we've never seen any at the sight and had no lasting evidence of the tick bite afterwards.  Maybe we yank them off before they can puke?  Never lost the head of one either.  We just yank 'em off and burn them alive..chuckling with evil pleasure... 

When I was a precious child (LOL) I would put a tick on a light bulb. They pop like popcorn. How gross! lol

I'm back in for a rest after tick wars. LOL I mowed a big part of the yard, dusted both chicken pens with DE, dusted one dog a little bit, sprayed both, sprayed dog houses and have a tub of water ran so it can warm up in the sun for probable dog bathes tomorrow or Monday. Now it is getting dark on me, so another day. They were all looking at me like I was crazy. lol

The ability to go dormant for 7 years is freaky but one dang tick laying 2,000-18,000 eggs (baby ticks!) is ...nightmare material!